My parents were trying to make the most of the Business Class fare that was posted over Christmas, from TLV to JNB with AZ vis FCO
The lunchtime flight TLV-FCO has been cancelled (not sure if corona-related but they say the Israelis were not letting anyone into immigration with Italian citizenship on inward flights!).
They are being accommodated on the later TLV-FCO which means that they should catch FCO-JNB tonight.
They have been told that their flight back next week, JNB-FCO has been cancelled and this is where I am seeking some advice on from the collective
- how do they go about finding out what alternative flight AZ has put them on.
best is call center, possibly ticket desk in TLV, and AZ has been good about sending emails with the revised itinerary, if they have an email on file. Also, service desk at FCO
- I expect that sorting this out in TLV airport is will be a waste of time?
I think you are right, the station is likely outsourced and if anyone can do ticketing, they probably have plenty of a headache with the rebooking of denied entry folks
- is there a ticketing agent at the AZ Lounge in FCO they could enquire with?
the lounge (e11 or so) does not (IIRC) but the service desk is a 2-min walk away and you'd pass it en route to the lounge
- will AZ be obliged to rebook them as close to their original inbound date and time, I assume this would be Air France or KLM?
They should, but I could also see them offering a refund and leaving you to your own devices...
- I assume AZ would have to rebook using the same Business class travel class?
in theory, yes 
- will AZ dig its heels and get them to wait for next AZ flight out of JNB?
they shouldn't but I wouldn't be surprised if they do. I am not sure how intelrine accounting works but I am pretty sure they'd have to pay AF/KL some good chunk of cash for rebooking onto them - def more than the EU compensation and potential refund amount (hence my comments above)
- what compensation would they get if delayed by more than 4 hours?
ec 261/2004 should apply - so about 600 euro bc the flight is long. There is also a downgrade compensation but didn't check the amount. I could see them offering an option to rebook in Y on the intended travel date on af/kl or offering a change date option to a day with an AZ flight
- what are the chances of them having any redress from AZ, as opposed to other carriers.
slim but not impossible. persistence and assertiveness pay off, especially if escalation is necessary