I booked the following itinerary on the same PNR: LHR-AUH-MLE. All sectors EY operated.

I was booked on EY26 schedule to arrive in AUH at 06:45 in order to take EY260 schedule to depart AUH at 09:00 and arrive at MLE at 14:30.

EY26 arrived in AUH at 08:46 today (2 hours late) causing me to miss EY260 and be rebooked onto EY278 which is schedule to arrive at MLE at 05:10 the next day (14 hours 20 mins late). The reason for the delay was a technical fault with the aircraft, we pushed back returned to the gate and the problem was eventually fixed.

EC261 as transposed into UK law applies to all flights leaving the UK/EU even if operated by a non-EU/UK carrier like EY. The AUH-MLE segment is not operated by a UK/EU carrier and is not leaving the EU. Does this mean that I can’t claim EC261 compensation even though it a connecting flight where the booking originated from the UK? Is it the segment that counts or the booking for this part of the rule.

EY were very good organising a hotel with full board and transfer in Abu Dhabi even though this wasn’t an overnight delay however this has meant losing an expensive night in the Maldives. I paid the Maldives accommodation with points so I don’t think my Amex Platinum insurance will cover me for this so the EC261 £520 per person comp would be very much appreciated here indeed.

Does anyone have experience with EY handling such claims if I am eligible? I have Silver EY guest status if that counts for anything.

I’ve trawled through the flyertalk advice on this but most of it relates to BA so it won’t apply.