I got my case sorted after 6 months with CEDR...
flight LHR-SOF cancelled inside 14 days...I was moved to next day service...
now I must claim turnaround flight...quite surprised by decision because after CEDR gave BA 6 times extra time to respond... I had bud filling....
Flight: BA0892 from London Heathrow (LHR) to Sofia Airport (SOF) on 28 March 2020 (“the Flight”)
Agreed facts
The passenger was booked on the Flight.
The Flight was cancelled on 17 March 2020.
Issues in dispute
The passenger claims £400.00 for the cancellation of the Flight.
The airline submits that the Flight was cancelled due to exceptional circumstances such that it has
no obligation to pay compensation.
Decision making principles
In order to succeed in a claim against the Airline, the Passenger must prove on a balance of
probabilities that they are owed compensation under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 (“Regulation 261”), under the Convention for
the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (“the Montreal Convention”), or that
they have some other legal entitlement to compensation or a refund.
The Airline will not have to pay compensation where it can prove that a delay or cancellation was
caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable
measures had been taken.
I have carefully considered all of the issues raised and the documents provided. Both the passenger
and the airline should be reassured that if I have not referred to a particular issue or document, this
does not mean that I have not considered it in reaching my decision.
Reasons for decision
1. The airline submits that it has no obligation to pay compensation in accordance with Regulation
261 as the Flight was cancelled as a result of the global pandemic caused by Coronavirus (Covid19). The airline submits that the cancellation of the Flight amounts to extraordinary circumstances
which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
2. I have had provided correspondence in evidence illustrating that the passenger was informed on
17 March 2020 that the Flight had been cancelled. I have no evidence to illustrate that the
passenger was informed of the cancellation earlier than this date and therefore I find that the
passenger was informed of the cancellation eleven days before the scheduled time of departure.
3. As the passenger was re-routed and arrived in SOF 18 hours and 35 minutes later than the original
scheduled time of arrival, I find Article 5(1)(c)(ii) of Regulation 261 relevant to the passenger’s
claim.
4. Article 5(1)(c)(ii) of Regulation 261 states that in the case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers
concerned shall have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier in accordance with
Article 7, unless they are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before
the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than
two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four
hours after the scheduled time of arrival.
5. Article 5(3) states that an operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in
accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary
circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been
taken.
6. The Interpretative Guidelines on EU passenger rights from the European Commission clarifies that
where public authorities take measures intended to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, such
measures are by their nature and origin not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of carriers
and are outside their actual control. The guidelines state that in situations where a flight may
remain empty due to a limitation of the movement of persons, it may be legitimate for a carrier to
cancel the flight in good time in order for appropriate organisational measures to be taken. In cases
of the kind, and depending on the circumstances, a cancellation may still be viewed as “caused”
by the measure taken by the public authorities.
7. I am satisfied on the basis of the news articles provided in evidence by the airline that the FCO
had issued a travel advisory notice advising all British Nationals against all but essential
international travel. I also note from the news articles and press releases provided in evidence that
Bulgaria had temporarily prohibited the entry of all persons arriving from the United Kingdom, with
the exception of Bulgarian Nationals, family members of Bulgarian Nationals and persons with
permanent and long-term residence status in the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as their family
members.
8. Considering the circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 global pandemic, and the government
guidelines surrounding movement of persons, I accept that the cancellation of the Flight can be
found to have been caused by extraordinary circumstances.
9. The airline is also required to prove that the cancellation could also not have been avoided even if
all reasonable measures had been taken.
10. The airline submits that there were no reasonable measures that could have been taken to avoid
the cancellation of the flight due to the travel restrictions imposed by the Bulgarian Ministry of
Internal Affairs and the UK Government advice, and it was not commercially viable to operate the
flight on 28 March 2020.
11. I am satisfied that the FCO travel advice and Bulgarian travel restrictions did not completely prohibit
travel between the UK and Bulgaria on the date in question, and as such I find that it was still
possible to operate the Flight where passengers were still intending to travel. I am also mindful of
the fact that the passenger was re-routed on a subsequent flight to SOF the following day,
demonstrating that travel was still possible and flights to SOF were still being operated by the
airline.
12. The airline has not provided any evidence to illustrate that there were any concerns over the wellbeing or health of the crew scheduled to operate the Flight. The airline has also not provided any
evidence to illustrate that passenger numbers would have been sufficiently low as to have required
cancellation of the Flight for commercial reasons. The evidence provided is not sufficient to
persuade me that the airline had no choice but to cancel the Flight.
13. It follows that the airline has failed to establish that the cancellation of the Flight was caused by
extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures
had been taken, and as such I find that the passenger is therefore entitled to compensation under
Regulation 261.
14. In view of the distance of the Flight, Regulation 261 provides for compensation of €400.00 per
passenger. The total sum therefore due to the passenger is €400.00.
Decision
The passenger’s claim succeeds in full.
I direct the airline to pay the passenger the total sum of €400.00 in compensation.
The conversion rate from Euros to Pounds Sterling shall be in accordance with the exchange rate
published on the European Central Bank website on the first working day of the month in which this
decision is issued.