UK airport chaos live updates: Ryanair boss calls for air traffic chief to resign over Gatwick flight delays
Thousands of passengers flying to and from the UK have had their flights cancelled after a combination of bad weather and air-traffic control staff shortages
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Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has issued fresh calls for the resignation of the chief executive of air traffic control (ATC) provider Nats.
Mr O’Leary urged Martin Rolfe to step down and “allow someone competent” to take over after flights were disrupted at Gatwick Airport on Sunday due to “Nats staff shortages”.
Analysis of data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24 shows 49 departures and 51 arrivals were cancelled on Sunday between 3pm and midnight, affecting more than 16,000 passengers.
“Ryanair again calls on UK Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe to step down and allow someone competent to run an efficient UK ATC service, which airlines and passengers are entitled to expect,” Mr O’Leary said.
“If he won’t go, then (new Transport Secretary) Louise Haigh should sack him.”
Around 3,500 passengers expecting to fly to or from London Gatwick on 20 flights on Monday morning have been grounded. Most are booked on easyJet, which cancelled its first flight of the day, to Ibiza, and six others including links to Naples and Nice.
Passengers were told the cause was “air-traffic control restrictions” outside the airline’s control.
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Air passenger compensation: What are your rights when a flight goes wrong?
The rules are tangled and depend on where your flight begins and the airline involved. Sometimes you may be entitled to a hotel room, all meals and hundreds of pounds in cash; in other circumstances you may just have to put a dismal aviation episode down to expensive experience, and see if your travel insurer can help.
For flights from the UK and EU airports (as well as those in the wider EEA), European air passengers’ rights rules prevail. These were introduced in 2006 and are known as EC261. They were devised to require airlines to do the right thing for their passengers.
They specify the care and compensation you can expect when you are denied boarding despite showing up on time, or when your plane is delayed or cancelled.
Whatever the cause of a cancellation, and regardless of the amount of notice that is given, you can insist upon replacement transport: the airline must get you to your destination as soon as possible if that is what you want.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority says that means if a flight is available on the original day of travel, the passenger must be booked on it – even if it is on a rival carrier.
What to do if an airline says it can’t deliver an alternative flight today
If the cancelling carrier does not carry out its duty to rebook you as soon as possible, or you find it impossible to contact the airline, you can make your own arrangements in the expectation that reasonable costs will be refunded.
That means booking the cheapest alternative ticket possible, staying in a budget hotel if there is one, etc. You must keep all your receipts, of course. If the alternative travel is expensive (eg only business class is available) you will need to be able to show evidence of that – such as screenshotss showing the limited availability.
Can you get cash compensation if your flight is cancelled or delayed?
You are due hundreds of pounds in compensation if the airline:
- gives you less than 14 days’ notice of the cancellation and cannot find an alternative way to get you to your destination close to the original departure and arrival times, and
- is responsible for the cancellation – ie it cannot plead “extraordinary circumstances” as causing the grounding of the flight.
The payment varies according to the length of the trip. There is also a slight variation depending on whether the flight starts in the UK or the EU. (After Brexit the UK retained largely identical legislation but with amounts in sterling, not euros).
- Under 1,500km, for example London to Nice: £220 or €250
- 1,500-3,500km, such as Manchester-Malaga: £350 or €400
- Above 3,500km, e g Birmingham-Dubai: £520 or €600
If the airline can get you to your destination within two/three/four hours respectively of the expected time, the compensation is halved.
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Ryanair boss calls for air traffic control chief to resign
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has issued fresh calls for the resignation of the chief executive of air traffic control (ATC) provider Nats.
Mr O’Leary urged Martin Rolfe to step down and “allow someone competent” to take over after flights were disrupted at Gatwick Airport on Sunday due to “Nats staff shortages”.
Mr O’Leary said: “UK Nats staff shortages caused multiple flight delays and cancellations at Gatwick Airport yesterday, Sunday September 8.
“This is the latest in a long line of cock-ups by UK Nats, which has yet again disrupted multiple flights and thousands of passengers at Gatwick. Airlines and passengers deserve better.
“Ryanair again calls on UK Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe to step down and allow someone competent to run an efficient UK ATC service, which airlines and passengers are entitled to expect.
“If he won’t go, then (new Transport Secretary) Louise Haigh should sack him.”
How can you claim if your flight is cancelled or delayed?
Each airline should enable you to fill out an online form, but these are sometimes difficult to track down. The pages for Ryanair and British Airways is below:
- British Airways (click on “Submit a new claim”)
The payment must be made by cheque or bank transfer, except if the airline obtains the prior signed agreement of the passenger to pay with vouchers for future travel.
For example, an airline might offer a 30 per cent uplift if you accept vouchers that are valid for a year – so a choice between £350 in cash or £455-worth of flights.
What if you have a justifiable claim but it is turned down?
You can go to a claims handler such as AirHelp, but be warned that the company will keep between 35 and 50 per cent of any payout (the higher amount if court action is involved).
Another course of action is alternative dispute resolution, but The Independent has serious reservations about some of the decisions of these arbiters.
Writing a Letter Before Action – warning that you will go to Money Claim Online if you do not get a positive response within two weeks – is worth trying, so long as you follow through. For a £350 claim the fee is £50, which is refunded if you win.
Since Brexit UK citizens no longer have access to the European Small Claims Procedure, so if you are chasing compensation on a flight originating in the EU it might be easiest to go through a claims handler.
Flight delays and cancellations caused by poor weather and ATC restrictions
Aviation analytics firm Cirium said a combination of poor weather and ATC restrictions led to a surge in cancellations last week.
A total of 427 departures from UK airports were cancelled.
That represented 2 per cent of all scheduled departures, and was a three-fold increase from the previous week.
Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, saw the most cancellations with 165, followed by Gatwick (87) and London City (36).
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Aviation minister commits to tackling ‘long overdue’ airspace modernisation
Tackling issues with Europe’s airspace is “long overdue” and will speed up flights, a minister has said.
Aviation minister Mike Kane said UK airspace management is “an analogue system in a digital age”, and improvements will lead to “quicker, quieter, cleaner flights”.
He was speaking at an easyJet sustainability event at Cranfield University, where the airline said inefficient use of airspace contributes to increases in fuel consumption, carbon emissions and flight times.
The carrier described the problem as a “universal issue” across the whole of Europe, but the “greatest inefficiencies” for its operations are in the UK.
Among the causes are aircraft being required to climb in steps after take-off, complex routing, and delaying descents to manage the workload of air traffic control (ATC) staff.
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