What to do if your flight is delayed including free rebooking and compensation

If you’re scrambling to salvage holiday plans from the chaos plaguing UK airports as the half-term break begins, you’re far from alone.

Tens of thousands of holidaymakers have been subjected to delays of up to eight hours, with some told their flight was cancelled at the last minute.

Tui customers have borne the brunt of the disruption so far, with another 400 flights due to be operated by the holiday giant over the next month set to be axed.

Several other big operators have also announced cancellations including BA and Easyjet, who have grounded more than 240 flights since Sunday, while hundreds of departures have affected by huge queues at airport security.

While customers have a host of strongly-enforced rights to assistance and compensation when it comes to cancellations, their entitlements in the event of delays are less well-known.

In fact, travel experts say passengers are far more likely to fall into this category as the vast majority of disrupted flights will still take off despite lengthy waits if the operator can staff them.

The first step to protecting your holiday from delays starts before you even pack your bags: travel insurance.

Many insurers offer cover for customers who can prove they missed their flight due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’ out of their control, according to Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel.

He said: ‘Evidence that you turned up at the time advised by the airport or airline could be crucial, so keep your bus ticket or parking stub, and any receipts from shops or restaurants inside the terminal.

Travellers who experience delays at check-in or security processing should also ‘make a fuss’ if their flight is due to take off soon for example by asking staff to take them to the front.

Mr Boland added: ‘Buried in the T&Cs of many airlines is a promise to help, and some will let you rebook for free in such instances.’

If staff are hard to come by, airlines must usually provide updates online – but if this fails, you can also enter your flight number on FlightRadar24 for real-time tracking of the plane you’re due to catch.

Under UK law, airlines must provide passengers experiencing ‘significant delays’ with food and drink (usually in voucher form), means of communication and, if their flight is pushed back a day, temporary accommodation and transport to the lodgings.

‘Significant delays’ mean waits of more than two hours for short-haul flights, three hours for medium-haul and four hours for long-haul.

Passengers due to travel on UK or EU-regulated flights are also legally entitled to compensation for delays of more than three hours to the arrival time – starting with £210 for short-haul flights – unless caused by ‘extraordinary circumstances’ out of their hands.

These rules cover any flights leaving from a UK or EU airport and do not change if the airline is based in another country, according to MoneySavingExpert.

That means they still apply if you fly between two EU countries, or fly elsewhere on an EU-regulated flight that has nothing to do with the UK.

They also usually apply if the delay stops you from boarding a connecting flight from a non-UK, non-EU airport if both legs were part of a single booking, or if that connecting flight was similarly delayed.

If your flight is delayed by more than five hours and you no longer want to catch it, you are entitled to a full refund regardless of the cause, according to Citizens’ Advice.

Be wary of doing this if you still plan to get to your destination by other means: the return flight purchased through your original operator may be included as part of the same refunded booking.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.