Flight cancelled? Airlines must offer seats on rival carriers, says regulator

Airlines that cancel flights must book seats on rival carriers if they cannot find space on their own flights on the same day, the aviation regulator has said.

Under EU legislation which has been in effect for over a decade, known as Regulation EU261, if an airline cancels a flight – for any reason – stranded passengers are entitled to “re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity”.

If the cancelling airline does not have space on a suitable flight within a reasonable time, then it must buy seats on a competing carrier.

But the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) studied the re-routing policies of the 30 leading European airlines and concluded there was “little clarity that customers may be entitled to be flown on another airline”.

The Independent has had dozens of examples of passengers told that they must wait for up to a week for a flight on the airline that cancelled the departure, even though seats on other carriers to the destination are available.

Typically the stranded travellers end up paying a very high fare on a different airline and then struggle to recoup the cost from the carrier that cancelled the original flight.

The CAA has said that affected passengers “are entitled to be re-routed on the next available flight to their final destination, in the same class of cabin, regardless of which airline is operating the flight”.

Ryanair currently says: “We will first try to accommodate you on the next available Ryanair flight on the same route. If this option is not available on the same day or next day then then we will try to accommodate you on the next available Ryanair flight from/to a suitable alternative airport within the same country.

“If this isn’t available on the same or next day then we will accommodate you to your end destination on airlines with whom we have a reciprocal agreement.”

At present easyJet’s policy is to source flights on a different airline if it cannot get travellers to their destination within 48 hours of the cancelled flight.

But the CAA has made it clear that if the cancelling carrier, and any partner airline, is unable to provide a seat on the same day as the original flight and via the same route, “the airline should next seek to identify re-routing options on the services of alternative airlines on the same day as the original flight and via the same route”.

Paul Smith, the CAA’s group director, Consumers and Markets, said: “We expect airlines to work towards making the necessary adjustments straight away.

“We appreciate that it may take some time for airlines to make the necessary adjustments, in particular to IT systems, but also to train consumer facing staff and update passenger information.”

He has demanded that airlines comply by 30 June 2019 – just ahead of the main summer season.

Airlines are likely to face sharply increased costs, which they say they must pass on to passengers. But Mr Smith indicated that carriers would be given some leeway if their own flights would get the passenger to the destination only slightly later than a rival.

Depending on the cause of the cancellation and the delay in arrival, passengers may also be entitled to cash compensation of up to €600 (£525).