'We lost over £1,000': Why some passengers were hit harder than others by air traffic chaos

Catie, 30, and Phil, 34, were left stranded on a British Airways flight to Ljubljana on Tuesday after the service never departed. When a flight is cancelled, airlines must re‑route passengers to their destination as quickly as possible at no extra cost – even if that means using a rival carrier – or provide a refund, which is also required for delays longer than five hours. The alternative flight BA offered would not have arrived until Saturday morning, four days into their week‑long holiday. Choosing the refund, the couple faced obstacles: the airline’s chatbot only allowed rebooking, and it took more than an hour on the telephone before a BA agent confirmed the reimbursement. The money will not reach their account for another week. Although UK and EU regulations oblige airlines to pay additional compensation when they are at fault, the air‑traffic‑control disruption that caused the cancellation was deemed beyond the carriers’ control, so no extra payment was due. Nevertheless, BA has said it is furious to be left with a bill running into millions of pounds. BA did refund the couple’s car hire, which had been booked through the airline. However, because the pair had arranged their accommodation and excursions independently, those prepaid expenses remain unrecovered, leaving them out of pocket by over £1,000.