Hi Flyertalk,
On 26 March 2018 I was scheduled to fly Wow Air (I know, I know, but it was last minute for a funeral) Montreal YUL --> Reykjavik KEF , KEF ---> Gatwick. On the booking this was listed as one journey (WW252/WW810) rather than two legs.
The Montreal-->KEF ended up being delayed by 22 hours because ants were discovered on the plane when it landed in Montreal:
https://nypost.com/2018/03/30/passen...t-infestation/
I ended up arriving home 24 hours late. I put in an EU261 claim on the Wow Air website the next day.
Finally, today, Wow Air have responded to my claim, denying it, saying that it is clearly an Extraordinary Circumstance.
I have fought EU261 claims in the past successfully. The airlines' response has always been to say no to the initial claim. I've then had to go to the hassle of back and forth and threatening to take them to court before they've paid.
However, this time I am wondering if this is an Extraordinary Circumstance in the truest sense of the word, rather than a lame excuse. If some knucklehead smuggled produce onto the plane which was infested with ants, should Wow Air be held responsible?
Their ground crew in Montreal was crap, but they did provide an overnight hotel and transported me back.
What do you all think?
Thanks
CM