Sunrisegirl - while it may not be such an issue with BA one of the really useful ways this law halps passengers is for those travelling on low cost airlines.

We've all seen editions of documentaries where passengers have been stranded because of overbooking or an avoidable flight cancellation, sometime for two or three days because later flights have been full.

We have seen how the low cost carrier has offered only a refund. Now the passenger may have paid 50 quid for the fare, but their only alternative is to wait three days (with no hotel offered under the old system), OR, to fork our 200 or 300 pounds for a regular carrier such as BA.

These new rules at least provide the passenger with the money to go book another airline.

Yes maybe the passengers should have been aware of some of the risks of low cost flying, but many do not understand how things work.

So while BA may do the right thing and have lots of flights, or the ability to put the paassenger on another carrier, unfortunatley the rules apply to them as much as anyone else.