Help! Missed Connection
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: Emirates Gold
Posts: 225
Help! Missed Connection
Hi
My wife is travelling from BKK to LHR via HEL in Biz.
Her depature from Bangkok was delayed by 2 hours which means she has missed her connection to London.
The airline has put her on tomorrow mornings flight but they won't give her a room for the night as she isn't allowed to leave the airport
They've given her 25 euros voucher but told her she has to sleep in the airport.
I've told her the lounge should be open until 12am but I would of thought the airline has to give her accommodation irrespetive of Schengen ?
I presume I can claim compensation for delays of over 6 hours?
Is there anything she can do ?
TIA
My wife is travelling from BKK to LHR via HEL in Biz.
Her depature from Bangkok was delayed by 2 hours which means she has missed her connection to London.
The airline has put her on tomorrow mornings flight but they won't give her a room for the night as she isn't allowed to leave the airport
They've given her 25 euros voucher but told her she has to sleep in the airport.
I've told her the lounge should be open until 12am but I would of thought the airline has to give her accommodation irrespetive of Schengen ?
I presume I can claim compensation for delays of over 6 hours?
Is there anything she can do ?
TIA
#2
Join Date: May 2014
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+Plat, ALL Plat, Scandic L2
Posts: 3,620
There are no hotels in the non-Schengen area, so if border guards won't let your wife in the country, there is not much that the airline can do.
AFAICT, the only option is to go to the border check and ask to be let out the airport due to exceptional circumstances.
AFAICT, the only option is to go to the border check and ask to be let out the airport due to exceptional circumstances.
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: HEL
Programs: lots of shiny metal cards
Posts: 14,105
Is she otherwise eligible to enter Schengen? Passport/visa? If yes, she should definitely (try to) go landside and take a room. there are several airport hotels. Afterwards try to recover costs from AY or insurance.
If she's not, there's not much to do but rough it out at the airport airside. AY cannot override immigration rules.
She could try to claim EU261 compensation, AY will definitely say vis maior (and in this case they might have a point). Then if you want you can follow up at the small claims court.
If she's not, there's not much to do but rough it out at the airport airside. AY cannot override immigration rules.
She could try to claim EU261 compensation, AY will definitely say vis maior (and in this case they might have a point). Then if you want you can follow up at the small claims court.
#6
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Programs: Finnair (AY) Platinum, Air France Silver, Tallink Club One Silver :)
Posts: 1,655
Out of curiosity, does EU261 even apply here? Pax is travelling from non-EU to no-EU. (Genuine Q, not saying that it does or doesn't)
#7
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Finland
Programs: BA gold, OWE
Posts: 373
#8
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2,016
Unlikely. The passenger was delayed because Russia declared war with Ukraine and the following sanctions prevented Finnair from using Russian airspace. This is obviously an extraordinary circumstance. I don't really see what Finnair could have done differently here.
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: Emirates Gold
Posts: 225
It's not the delay per se that grates me, its the fact that she has been dumped in a releatively cold airport (for her) with only token amount for food. Incidentally she couldn't find anywhere open to use the voucher and luckily she was able to get some food in the lounge but that shut at midnight.
She's a tough cookie but in circumstance like these surely she should had been allowed a temporaryr pass to stay in a hotel.
She's a tough cookie but in circumstance like these surely she should had been allowed a temporaryr pass to stay in a hotel.
#10
Join Date: May 2015
Location: ATL/MCO
Programs: Costco Executive, RaceTrac Sultan of Soda, Chick-fil-A Red
Posts: 5,662
#13
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Platinum, TK Elite, BT VIP, AA, BA, SK, DL, NT, WB + hotels
Posts: 8,749
It's not the delay per se that grates me, its the fact that she has been dumped in a releatively cold airport (for her) with only token amount for food. Incidentally she couldn't find anywhere open to use the voucher and luckily she was able to get some food in the lounge but that shut at midnight.
She's a tough cookie but in circumstance like these surely she should had been allowed a temporaryr pass to stay in a hotel.
She's a tough cookie but in circumstance like these surely she should had been allowed a temporaryr pass to stay in a hotel.
While HEL would like to market itself as a smooth connection airport, there are two main problems:
- Firstly, Finnish border guard is known not to make exceptions. If you don't have a visa to enter, and need one, then no entry. Heck, they even left Estonians stranded at the airport during covid because Estonians were not allowed to enter the country. Those Estonians could have taken the train and ferry back home, or stayed a night at the airport Hilton, but no exception. I'm pretty sure none of them would have stayed in Finland illegally
- Secondly, HEL is not a 24/7 airport. Neither is there an airside transit hotel, which would have been the case at eg. DOH or IST. Hardy anything is open in the middle of the night, There's a 24/7 grocery store – but it's landside.
While I'd be happy if half the world flew AY, in honesty, I would say that next time, if your wife doesn't have a visa to enter Finland, have her fly another route.
Last edited by ffay005; Mar 1, 2022 at 1:12 pm Reason: mother -> wife after I noticed my mistake
#14
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
While I appreciate staying overnight in a "cold" airport isn't nice, you have to take things into perspective. Would you rather AY fly into Russian airspace and the plane possibly get shot-down? Staying at an airport isn't the worst thing in the world. And it's a good thing the airport isn't prohibiting this, cause else what would the options be? Re-routing? Waiting another day?
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: HEL
Programs: lots of shiny metal cards
Posts: 14,105
This is definitely HEL's weakness. Of course, when planning a trip, one must always take into consideration what will happen if one ends up stranded at the transit airport. That is why I would never book a transit in Russia, for instance, as I don't have a visa to enter. It doesn't need more than heavy snowfall and I'd end up with 10 000 others on a bench somewhere in the nooks of SVO. No thanks. Similarly, during the early pandemic, QR was out of the question as I wouldn't have been able to enter Qatar if any irrops occured.
OT - we seems to be back in the early 90's, when one advice was to avoid flying "to and over Russia and on Russian aircraft" - back than it was less to do about warfare than the level of Russian ATC, plane maintenance, pilot training, etc. These days state sponsored piracy and AAC fire is a concern. (including BY here)