As holidays are back on the cards for many again, airlines are seeing a surge of customers book and prepare to jet off.
However, due to a resourcing problem, airlines such as British Airways and easyJet have been forced to cancel and reschedule flights.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: "The past few weeks have been challenging and so we're completely focused on three priorities: our customers, supporting the biggest recruitment drive in our history and increasing our operational resilience, to help provide certainty for our customers.
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"We've taken the decision to reduce our schedule by merging some low occupancy flights and flights to destinations with multiple services each day and using larger aircraft, giving customers the maximum flexibility to either rebook with us or another airline as close to their original departure time as possible, or to receive a full refund."
Here's what you need to do if Ryanair, easyJet, TUI, British Airways or Jet2 cancels your flight.
What are your rights if your flight is cancelled?
According to Citizen's Advice, you have the legal right to either:
- A full refund - including other flights from the airline that you won’t use in the same booking such as onward or return flights
- A replacement flight to get you to your destination.
Travellers are also entitled to compensation if their flight is delayed. You can read more about that here.
Citizens Advice also points out that if your flight is delayed over five hours, then you don't have to take it and you're entitled to a refund.
easyJet
If easyJet cancels a flight, customers will be notified directly via email and will be informed of their options. These options include transferring to an alternative flight, receiving a voucher for the value of the booking or applying for a refund via Manage Bookings on their easyJet account.
On easyJet's terms and conditions, it reads: "Has your flight been cancelled?
Has your flight been delayed so that you arrive at least three hours after the original scheduled arrival time?
Have you been denied boarding involuntarily?
If so, you may be entitled to the following compensation:
- £220 for flights of 1500 km or less;
- £350 for flights within Europe of more than 1500 km, and all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km;
- £520 for all other flights of 3500km or more."
You can see easyJet's terms and conditions for cancellations here.
British Airways
British Airways offers flexible booking on their flights. On their website, they state: "Our book with confidence policy means you can change your dates, destination or even cancel if you need to, with no additional fees."
They also allow customers to cancel their flights if they need to and with a voucher, rebook it, if their journey is before September 30 2022.
BA state: "If your journey is due to be completed by 30 September 2022 you can claim a voucher to the value of your booking, valid for travel until 30 September 2023."
If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a refund and can see more options on Manage My Booking.
You can see more information and BA's terms and conditions here.
Ryanair
Customers whose flights have been cancelled can apply for a refund or change their cancelled flight for free.
If you want to cancel your flight, Ryanair states: "Once a Ryanair flight is operational, and does not have a delay exceeding 5 hours, then it is not possible to get a refund. All Ryanair flights are changeable but they cannot be cancelled."
If Ryanair changes their schedule, they state: "You will be entitled to a full refund of all amounts you have paid to us in connection with that flight, if:
- We change the scheduled departure time by at least 5 hours;
- This is unacceptable to you; and
- We cannot book you on an alternative flight which is acceptable to you."
You can see more information here.
TUI
Tui states: "If we've cancelled your booking - for example due to a hotel closing or a flight cancellation - you won't need to pay any fees. "
However if you want to cancel your holiday, they add: "If you've booked a package holiday, or have a flight-only or accommodation-only booking, you're entitled to your money back within 14 days if we have to cancel it.
"Unless we've cancelled your booking or given you the option to cancel your booking, any cancellations are subject to our standard booking terms and conditions. We know how important flexibility is at the moment, so we've introduced a flexible changes policy for selected bookings."
Depending on how far in advance you want to cancel your holiday, you will have to pay a fee. You can read more about that here.
Jet2
Jet2 flights are non-refundable unless the airline cancels it.
They add: "Even though bookings are non-refundable and non-transferable, we can help you with date changes. For date changes, we'll charge the administration fee [£35] plus the difference (if any) in price between your original fare and today’s fare price (including any increase to taxes, fees, or other charges). If the overall fare has decreased since you made the original booking, no refund will be paid."
You can make date changes by visiting Manage My Booking, contacting their Customer Service team.
