Hi all! I am hoping someone here could help me figure out what in the world happened with Avianca 11 on 21 December-- the airline contacted us 24 hours in advance of the flight saying it had been delayed 24 hours (they told us on 20 Dec that the 21 Dec flight was delayed to 22 Dec). After multiple phone calls and conflicting info, it seems the flight was actually delayed per Avianca's site. But then on 21 Dec, AV11 departed MAD and flew to BOG as planned per flightaware and the MAD airport website. They initially said it was delayed due to lightning strike, but if the flight took off, then even it's a weird repositioning flight, the plane was functional. Trying to figure out my options with EU261, and honestly I am curious about what happened!

Welcome to FT, LooseMoose!
What flights did you accept as an alternative, or did you receive a refund instead?

I was unable to change to a different flight on their website or via multiple phone calls due to AV's lack of customerservice support and anysmal website. I finally received a call from AV <24 hours before the flight confirming the "new" flight details, and at that point, there was not an option to switch to any of the other flights. I ended up flying on a nearly empty AV11 that departed the same day and time as the 22 Dec AV11 completely booked flight (leading to a very hectic airport sprinting experience to find the correct AV11).

Welcome to Flyertalk LooseMoose. As this is a specific AV inquiry, we're relocating your query to our AV forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

The aircraft operaring 18DEC AV10 BOG-MAD was idle in Madrid for 3 days before returning to BOG as AV11 on 22DEC.

20DEC AV11 MAD-BOG was cancelled but 21DEC AV11 MAD-BOG seems to have operated as scheduled (slightly delayed but nothing extraordinary).

22DEC AV11 MAD-BOG was operated by the aircraft idle in Madrid for 3 days.

I can't retrieve any info on an extra 22DEC AV MAD-BOG flight but that might be due to system flaws.

Anyway, try to submit a claim for delay EUR 600 to Avianca under EU reg. 261/04. Any hotel and meal expenses for the extra day in Madrid should be reimbursed by Avianca under the duty of care in EU reg. 261/04

Thank you so much! I found N794AV and N781AV flying that route on 22 December. I'll submit for reimbursement.