Originally Posted by
travellingowl
I received a reply from BA today offering me the EU compensation of €250 (since the flight was less than 1,500km) but they have declined any compensation for the flight I’ve booked. They have offered to refer to the refunds department to see if they can refund my original booking (it was on miles so it’s going to be a handful of miles and £15 taxes at best).
[snip]
As I see it BA have failed to fulfil their obligations under EU law as they did not offer me re-routing with another carrier. I would guess that they made a late commercial decision that morning at Gatwick to cancel the Alicante flight as this would minimise their exposure to compensation as the flight was under 1,500KM
As
Often1 has pointed out, BA have met their obligations, and there isn't a formalised requirement in EC261 to use alternative airlines. I suspect that will come, in due course, and informally the CAA appear to be using a "same day" test on shorthaul - in other words if BA don't rebook you the same day - even if very late on - then it's OK to book yourself. In the recent Ryanair difficulties, FR seems to have pushed this to "same day or next day" before using other airlines, after some to-and-fro with the CAA. As it happens there isn't much of a mismatch here, given the value of Avios and the easyJet fare.
If it happens again, or for anyone else affected, I would urge you to put a post on FT at the time, if you can. As it happens there were other options that day, including Iberia via MAD and empty seats on the Valencia service. Plus there was the option of taking the train to Atocha and the MAD service from there. There is usually someone around who can give you better options, but if that isn't possible, just go to the airport. Those who didn't get the notification and went to ALC were rebooked on to other services.