Travellers using Aberdeen and Inverness airports will be among the hardest hit by plans to cut airlines’ compensation for delayed and cancelled flights.
The UK Government is considering capping compensation for domestic flights at the cost of passenger tickets.
Based on the average ticket price for a domestic UK flight, this would be around £57.
According to consumer champion Which?, this means passengers entitled to compensation will typically get £163 less than they currently do.
For some routes Which? looked at, the average ticket price was even lower.
Scots and Irish would be hardest hit
Which? said that if plans to cut compensation go ahead, people living in Scotland and Northern Ireland will be disproportionately affected.
This is because flights between Scotland and London account for five of the 10 busiest UK routes, while the other five are between Northern Ireland and London.
Passengers securing the cheapest prices available from Aberdeen and Inverness to other UK destinations would be among those losing out.
Domestic flight cancellations rocketed during post-pandemic travel chaos.
There were almost twice as many in the three months after mass travel restarted this year, compared with the same period in 2019, despite there being fewer flights overall.
In just 13 weeks – between April 4 and July 3 – 1,397 domestic flights were scrapped with less than 48 hours’ notice, according to data from aviation analysts OAG.
EU legacy protections at stake
Passengers on these cancelled flights were eligible for £220 compensation, as were many thousands more who had their flights cancelled within 14 days of departure.
Current compensation arrangements were part of EU legislation that has been retained in UK law post-Brexit.
The government’s plans would make future flight cancellations far cheaper for airlines and costlier for passengers.
Which? said: “The Department for Transport’s proposed scheme currently only mentions flight delays, but says it’s consulting on introducing changes for cancellations.
“Under its scheme for flight delays, more people would be able to claim as compensation rights would extend to delays of just an hour, but for much lower amounts.
“For an average-priced ticket, passengers might be claiming for as little as £14. This would barely cover the cost of getting to the airport. It’s likely that many would not bother, unless it’s made much easier to claim.”
Campaign under way
Which? is campaigning to support passenger rights, give the airline regulator more power and make the government drop the proposal to cut flight delay compensation.
“We can’t allow compensation rules to work in favour of the airlines,” the consumer group added.
Holidaymakers have faced major travel disruption in recent months, with a raft of flights being cancelled or diverted.
Many thousands of people across the UK have seen their long-awaited holidays start or end – and sometimes both – in tears amid a wave of flight cancellations.
Airlines and airports have struggled to cope with labour shortages and strong demand for travel following the easing of Covid restrictions.
One airline, Flybe, even ran out of aircraft and was unable to deliver its planned summer schedule.
Holiday giant Tui has been at the sharp end of stinging criticism from unhappy passengers, including people flying to and from Aberdeen, after they were stranded.
Tui was forced to shell out for 120 taxis after Aberdeen-bound passengers got stuck in Newcastle.
And an 81-year-old north-east man suffered a “complete fiasco” of a journey from Cyprus to Glasgow, with multiple delays. It took him more than 40 hours to get home.
‘Dream holiday’ ruined
In July The Press and Journal reported how an Aberdeen family’s £12,500 “dream holiday” was shattered after spending 17-and-a-half-hours waiting for a flight home.
And just last week a diabetic man from Aberdeen said he would not use Tui “ever again” after it left him “stranded and dehydrated” in Edinburgh after his flight back home from Mallorca was diverted.
Alan Rea said he was refused a bottle of water while he was stuck on the plane for an hour and a half after it landed in the capital.
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