5 hours delay compensation
Hello. Thanks for reading!
I recently travelled in J class from HYD to LHR via DOH. On the original booking, HYD to DOH was a Qatar flight. DOH to LHR was a BA. Same booking reference, but ticketed with the respective airlines on the respective legs. I'm not even sure how that works, it was booked by egencia. Even my outbound legs were split between BA and Qatar.
So my first flight from HYD to DOH was delayed by 5 hours. 03.35 departure eventually left at 08.35. Qatar informed me about the delay via text just over 3 hours before original departure, saying new departure is 08.00. I was already close to the airport (and saw the text 45 min after I got it) so chose to just get there and wait around in the lounge. In the text they had provided a WhatsApp link, via which I managed to get my second leg rescheduled. I'm glad I found out about the delay before checking in and changed my second leg, as it meant my luggage got checked in to the correct second leg (which wasn't the case for many passengers who found about the delay after checking-in, which meant they only found out their fate once they got to Doha).
Anyway, so Qatar rescheduled my second leg and put me on a Qatar flight from DOH to LHR. My original arrival time in LHR on the BA flight was 13.00. On my rescheduled Qatar flight I arrived in LHR at 18.00.
Also, when I asked Qatar staff for the reason for the delay they told me the original flight from DOH to HYD had a technical fault which meant they needed to find a new plane and new crew. That arrived late in HYD and the knock-on effect.
So I believe I would have satisfied the criteria for the EU compensation. I know I'll only be officially eligible for that from BA. But considering the delay was by Qatar in the first instance, I'm not sure BA will be interested? If BA won't be interested, then what can I expect to get from Qatar in terms of general delay compensation (any point in even bringing up EU261?). How should I be framing my complaint to them and what should I be asking for?