Thousands of holidaymakers excited to jet off for a week or two in the sunshine have been left furious after hours-long delays at UK airports and dozens of flight cancellations. All passengers flying with easyJet were warned on Thursday, May 26 that the company's IT systems were experiencing problems - with more than 30 flights completely cancelled - and several other flights were delayed for quite some time.
At Cardiff Airport, some unlucky travellers were stuck waiting more than 40 hours to board a TUI flight to the Greek island of Zakynthos, also known as Zante, whilst passengers flying to Ibiza and Dalaman in Turkey were reportedly delayed more than 24 hours. The Zante-bound flyers were due to leave Cardiff Airport at 2pm on Tuesday, May 24 - but passengers were still waiting to fly out on Thursday morning. They eventually flew out to the Greek sunshine at around 11am, landing at their destination on Thursday afternoon - two days late. It's understood the group did board a flight at Cardiff Airport on Wednesday evening but had to vacate the plane again after a health emergency - and were not able to fly later that night as the Zakynthos airport had closed for the night.
Read more: TUI holidaymakers delayed more than 40 hours at Cardiff Airport in chaotic scenes
Not only is it disappointing and frustrating to have a delayed flight as any delay inevitably eats into your time on holiday, but it can also be extremely stressful re-arranging connecting flights, coach transfers or arriving to your hotel or accommodation much later than planned. Not to mention not being able to truly rest and recuperate at the airport, for fear of missing your flight, and the struggles of keeping little ones entertained in a changing situation.
Fortunately, under UK law, people departing from UK airports on any airline, people arriving at an airport in the UK on an EU or UK airline and people arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline are all entitled to compensation if their flight is delayed and they meet certain criteria. Whilst a cash sum doesn't fully make up for the stress of a delayed or cancelled flight - and doesn't make up for the hassle and disappointment of missing time on your holiday - it does go some way to financially compensate for the inconvenience.
Here's everything you need to know about your rights as a flyer when your flight is delayed or cancelled - and how you can claim compensation.
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Information from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the organisation which oversees and regulates civil aviation across the UK, explains that consumers have legal rights when their flights are delayed, cancelled or when someone is denied boarding. A statement on the authority's website explains: "Airlines do their best to avoid disruption and delays to your journey. However, sometimes problems do occur. As a consumer you have important legal rights when the flight you are booked on is delayed, cancelled or when you are denied boarding.
"Under UK law, you have important legal rights on many flights to, from or within the UK. To be covered [by the UK law], your flight must be either: departing from an airport in the UK on any airline, or arriving at an airport in the UK on an EU or UK airline; or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline."
What you're entitled to while you're waiting for your delayed flight to board
The UK Civil Aviation Authority says that UK law dictates that airlines must provide flyers with "care and assistance" if their flight is delayed. The law is split into set timeframes: for a short-haul flight of under 1,500km flyers must be delayed more than two hours in order to be eligible for "care and assitance", whilst for a medium-haul flight of 1,500km to 3,500km the flight needs to be delayed more than three hours for people to be eligible for a claim for "care and assitance." And for a long-haul flight of over 3,500km, the waiting time needs to be more than four hours for the care and assistance claim.
What is 'care and assistance'?
If a delayed flight meet the minimum requirement for number of hours' delay, the airline must provide people with: a reasonable amount of food and drink (usually provided in the form of vouchers), a means for people to communicate (often by refunding the costs of your calls), accommodation if you are re-routed to the next day, and transport to and from the accommodation or your home (if you return home to wait out the delay). "The airline must provide you with these items until is is able to fly you to your destination, no matter how long the delay lasts or what has caused it," the UK Civil Aviation Authority says.
WalesOnline understands the amount given for "care and assistance" can vary from airport to airport - and can be very low. One woman who flew from Cardiff airport to Palma de Mallorca airport in Majorca in May, 2022 and had a four-hour delay said TUI issued vouchers to delayed holidaymakers of £8 each. These vouchers could be spent on food and drink at cafes or shops at the airport or on board the flight - but could not be spent on alcohol.
What compensation you're entitled to after your flight has been delayed
Under UK law, airlines may have to provide compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late. However, airlines do not have to pay any compensation if the delay was not their fault, for example due to extreme weather or airport strikes.
The amount of money you can claim depends on how long your flight is, in kilometres. For a short-haul flight (under 1,500km), travellers who arrive at their destination more than three hours late are entitled to £220 compensation each. For medium-haul flights (1,500km to 3,500km), travellers delayed for three hours or more can claim £350 each. People on long-haul flights (3,500km+) who are delayed three to four hours can claim £260 each, or for a long-haul delay longer than four hours, travellers can claim £520 each.
How can I claim?
The easiest way to claim is to contact the airline you flew with directly. Whilst you can share your flight details with compensation companies to make the claim for you, they typically charge a fee for their service - whereas claiming your compensation directly from the airline won't cost you a penny.
Many airlines have online forms you can fill out quickly and easily to claim your compensation. To claim for a flight delay from TUI, the TUI Flight Delay Claim form can be found online here, and for EasyJet's Compensation Claim Form go here. For Ryanair, the form can be found online here.
It should be noted that compensation claims are not automatic - you have to claim for the money yourself. TUI asks customers to wait 48 hours after they've landed at their destination before applying for compensation to allow their computer systems to update with information about their delay, but other airlines may have a different amount of time after a delayed flight, before they can start receiving compensation claims. After this initial period, you usually have two years to file your flight delay compensation claim.
You should also remember that the airline will have to verify that your flight was delayed (and that you were on it) and then authorise your compensation. If approved, people can usually expect their compensation to be transferred to their bank account within a few weeks.
