Can we claim over drone trouble?

Q We were due to leave Gatwick for Marsa Alam in Egypt at 8.20am on Thursday 20 December. But due to the drone incident at Gatwick we did not depart until 11am the following day. We lost more than 24 hours of our all-inclusive holiday. Are we entitled to any form of compensation?

Adriana T

A Assuming you booked a proper package holiday (flights and accommodation in a single transaction), then I believe you are entitled to compensation – and I am concerned that you have not already been offered it.

The “drone attack” which shut down Gatwick airport and wrecked the travel plans of upwards of 150,000 people was certainly beyond the control of the company that organised your holiday and the airline that was due to fly you there. Consequently, there is no cash compensation due under the European air passengers’ rights rules – known as EC261.

But with a package holiday, separate legislation also applies: the Package Travel Regulations 2018. This law gives you the right to expect the trip that you booked and paid for. As you lost a day of a one-week holiday, then compensation is due from your travel company.

The question is: how much? Here there is a divergence of views. From a consumer perspective, it seems reasonable that on a holiday costing (say) £700 per person, you should get one-seventh, ie £100, back.

But the tour operator may take a different view, and say that you are entitled only to the accommodation costs for the lost day. Because you got the flights and transfers that were included in the package price, they may argue, the value of these elements should be deducted from the claim. If those totalled £350, the entitlement to compensation is halved to only £50 per person.

They may even try to “nickel-and-dime” you by arguing that as you were provided with hotel accommodation and meals at Gatwick (which I hope was the case), your entitlement is even less – or even zero. But I think an Abta arbitrator or a Money Claim Online judge would agree that 24 hours in a budget hotel in the Crawley area does not equate to a day in a luxury resort beside the Red Sea in Egypt, and accordingly award you with some cash.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder