Originally Posted by
MichielR
EU261 fully applies to an EU carrier flying ex-EU into EU. The exception in case of extraordinary circumstances (war, volcano, etc) is for compensation but EW still need to rebook the OP on another flight.
The question is if EW need to rebook the OP on the next available flight (on any airline at any cost), or on the next available EW flight.
EU261 says airlines must offer:
re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity;
The current business practice for many airlines is to offer re-routing typically within the same airline group (i.e. comparable transport conditions), even where that is not the earliest opportunity of all airlines. I would also be interested in any case-law that defines the comparable transport conditions part.
In any case the OP has done the right thing - booking the most reasonable flight to get them home.