Flight cancelled by Airline. Not allowing rebooking to new dates.

[axil23]

Had a flight booked via BA but operated by their partner Finnair which was cancelled by them in December 2020. Originally I was told I could leave it pending and call back to rebook when I knew the new dates or claim a refund. Since the flights for Dec 21 were not released then I decided to call back later. When I called back a couple of months back they said my ticket was only valid till September 21 as I bought the ticket in September 20 and refused to rebook me. 

 

This is a trip to Lapland and it hardly makes any sense to go before September. It needs to be done around Christmas as it was a winter activity holiday. Spoke to a few people about this and they advised that I take BA to court under EU261 Article 8 Schedule C which says - re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger’s convenience. According to EU261 they can't force their own ticket rules onto you as the EU261 supersedes it. 

 

Quote

Article 8 – Right to Rerouting

4

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the
choice between:
(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in
Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was
bought, for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer
serving any purpose in relation to the passenger’s original travel
plan...
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final
destination and at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final
destination at a later date at the passenger’s convenience, subject to
availability of seats.

 

 

The airline is saying I can have a refund but its too late to book the new flights now as they are £1,000pp.

 

Took them to MCOL after booking new tickets and they have replied that it was Finnair who was the operating carrier and that BA are not responsible under Article 8. So I guess I need to go after Finnair but I was reading a thread on here about Ryanair where the OP couldn't take them to the UK court and had to go to Irish court?

 

Finnair says they can't do anything as its a BA ticket and they can't reissue it which they are right about. BA needs to do this after talking with Finnair. 

 

What do I do for my case now? 

 

 

[axil23]

I took BA to MCOL and they replied to the court. Basically claiming that they weren’t the operating carrier and their terms state tickets only valid for a year which I accepted when I booked ticket. 

[axil23]

Yes. They are saying the following - 

"The rebooked flights were subsequently cancelled due to the ongoing restrictions and travel advice on COVID-19."

 

But that doesn't mean they don't have to rebook me. Even if they cancelled due to border restrictions they need to give me the options as per EC261. 

 

The claim forms and defence have personal information on there which I would rather not put online. Would be grateful if you can assist without those? I can supply any information that you need. 

[axil23]

Any chance you can help without that as I don't feel too comfortable putting up the personal case details. 

 

Basically they are claiming they aren't the operating carrier. 

 

1. Court has allowed me to add Finnair to the claim as a joint defendant. Can I take them to MCOL though considering they are a Finnish company? 

 

[axil23]

Ok I will redact the information and upload. It's legal to upload court documents and ask for advice? I always assumed that was private court information which shouldn't be shared online? 

Edited May 21, 2021 by axil23