As an estimated 20,000 easyJet passengers were grounded due to bad weather over the weekend, Britain’s largest low-cost airline offered a passenger who had booked a flight from Gatwick to Edinburgh the option to go via Berlin .
“Severe weather conditions” on Sunday caused 93 easyJet flights to and from its main base, London Gatwick, to be cancelled. More than 26 flights of the airline serving Luton Airport have been grounded.
Under airline passenger rights rules, all affected travelers have the right to “be rerouted, under comparable conditions of carriage, to their final destination as soon as possible.” maybe”.
The Civil Aviation Authority said that if an airline that canceled a flight was unable to provide an alternative flight on the same day, it must pay for a seat on another carrier if available.
But Tracy Thompson, an easyJet passenger who had booked to go from Gatwick to Edinburgh, whose flight was canceled due to the storm, was instead offered a connecting journey via Berlin – the total journey was 1,320 miles, almost four times that compared to a direct journey and adds a distance of nearly 1,000 miles.
She told independence: “The flight was delayed three times. We then received a cancellation email and were told Gatwick to go to Berlin and then to Edinburgh – this would work if we had passports but don’t expect that on domestic flights.
“We are not offered any other option unless we choose to fly on a Monday or later in the week. But we need to go home on Sunday.”
Passengers on the canceled flight were told: “We have three options for you.” One is to request a refund, the second is to accept a coupon for the cost of the flight. Tuesday – “Free transfer to another flight” – offers easyJet flights only.
Ms Thompson found a direct British Airways flight from London City airport to Edinburgh, which she booked using Avios points. Her flight to the Scottish capital was about half an hour late.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Our self-service booking manager is designed to help customers rebook quickly and easily, offering free direct and indirect flights. further subject to availability.
“While indirect routing may work well for many of our networks, especially in Europe, we understand that in this case the option provided was not appropriate.
“However, customers have the option of booking with another carrier or an alternative means of transport such as train if a suitable easyJet flight is not available and we will refund them.”
On Monday morning, an additional 16 easyJet flights to, from or within the UK were cancelled.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “EasyJet operated approximately 1,700 flights yesterday and will operate a similar number today, however, yesterday’s extreme weather conditions affected the The UK and much of Europe has resulted in disruption at some UK airports and like other airlines operating out of Gatwick, easyJet has been instructed to reduce its flight programme.
“This has resulted in a knock-on effect on the flight program this morning and we have notified customers in advance where possible to help realign their plans.”
“The safety and well-being of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and while this is beyond our control, we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience caused. “
British Airways has canceled more than 40 short-haul flights (Europe and domestic) to and from London Heathrow on Monday due to weather-related disruption.
