If your flight is delayed or cancelled, what are your rights? Depends which airline you have booked with. To help passengers choose the right airline for their needs, airport parking specialists APH has compiled a comprehensive guide comparing the cancellation and refund policies across 16 airlines. The research is available in the Know Before You Go section on www.aph.com/airlinepolicies
APH compares the policies of 16 major airlines including British Airways, Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic and outlines the procedures relating to flight cancellations, missed connections, re-routing of flights and long delays.
Overall, 14 of the 16 airlines were found to provide passengers with two options when a flight is cancelled, re-scheduled or delayed. The first option is for a passenger to be transported to their destination on the next available flight with the providers’ own aircraft or on another carrier free of any extra charges. If this is not available or acceptable to the passenger, the second option is to cancel the remaining ticket and refund the unused portion. The remaining two airlines, Flybe and Lufthansa, however do not specify the level of assistance or compensation that they will give.
Only four of the airlines offer compensation for expenses, with British Airways compensating for refreshments and Singapore Airlines reimbursing passengers for any costs relating to communication. Delta Airlines and easyJet were both found to be the most accommodating to customers however, providing each passenger with a meal voucher as well as an overnight stay in a hotel close to the airport if appropriate.
The individual refund policies of each airline was also found to vary, with British Airways, KLM and Virgin Atlantic stating that customers will be issued a refund on unused tickets equal to the fare. Passengers with part-used tickets however will be offered a refund not less than the difference between the original fare paid and the applicable fare for the part-journey. Ryanair also offers passengers a full refund, whereas easyJet tailors the amount of compensation to the length of the flight.
With regards to problems relating to unusual and uncontrollable circumstances, not many of the airlines outline the options available to passengers and only Delta Air Lines and Emirates openly state they will not accept responsibility for cancellations or diversions.
