Mumbai: Air India passengers whose London-to-Mumbai flight was delayed by 49 hours last week have grouped to claim compensation under the European Union regulations.
The debt-ridden national carrier’s liability would work out to around Rs 1.2 crore on compensation. But Air India has already conveyed its “regret” to some passengers, stating that the airline will be unable to accept liability.
Under EU regulation 261/2004, passengers onboard any airline flight originating from Europe are entitled to a compensation of up to 600 euros if their flight lands at the scheduled destination more than three hours late. In case of passengers booked to fly on May 28 on AI-130, the delay due to an engineering problem stretched to more than two days.
“We reached Mumbai at 4am on Friday. We had to wait for 50 hours to board the flight. The airline said they put us in a hotel and fed us but airlines have to do that under the European law,” said Heather Gupta, a passenger. “Of the 276 passengers affected by the delay, 50 have come together to seek compensation,” she added.
Keeping with the EU regulations, in London, Air India gave each passenger a letter stating the flight was delayed due to technical reasons. “We are mindful of EC Regulations 261/2004, effective 15 February 2005 and our obligation under the act,” the letter said.
The airline now seems to have changed its stand. In a “final reply” to some passengers who sought compensation, AI offered its apologies. “You will understand that in an airline industry there may be occasions when fights could be delayed and and are unavoidable. Further, these extraordinary circumstances were unforeseen and beyond our control. That is why our conditions of carriage do state that times shown are not guaranteed...,” stated the AI letter to passengers on Friday.
02/05/19 Manju V/Times of India
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The debt-ridden national carrier’s liability would work out to around Rs 1.2 crore on compensation. But Air India has already conveyed its “regret” to some passengers, stating that the airline will be unable to accept liability.
Under EU regulation 261/2004, passengers onboard any airline flight originating from Europe are entitled to a compensation of up to 600 euros if their flight lands at the scheduled destination more than three hours late. In case of passengers booked to fly on May 28 on AI-130, the delay due to an engineering problem stretched to more than two days.
“We reached Mumbai at 4am on Friday. We had to wait for 50 hours to board the flight. The airline said they put us in a hotel and fed us but airlines have to do that under the European law,” said Heather Gupta, a passenger. “Of the 276 passengers affected by the delay, 50 have come together to seek compensation,” she added.
Keeping with the EU regulations, in London, Air India gave each passenger a letter stating the flight was delayed due to technical reasons. “We are mindful of EC Regulations 261/2004, effective 15 February 2005 and our obligation under the act,” the letter said.
The airline now seems to have changed its stand. In a “final reply” to some passengers who sought compensation, AI offered its apologies. “You will understand that in an airline industry there may be occasions when fights could be delayed and and are unavoidable. Further, these extraordinary circumstances were unforeseen and beyond our control. That is why our conditions of carriage do state that times shown are not guaranteed...,” stated the AI letter to passengers on Friday.
02/05/19 Manju V/Times of India
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