Technical issue causes disruption at Birmingham Airport – your rights

What did passengers say?

Passengers flying to or from Birmingham Airport hit out on social media after their flights were delayed, or in some cases cancelled, due to the issue. Here's what some had to say:

Flight cancelled? You can get a refund or alternative flight – but no compensation

If your flight was cancelled, the airline must give you a choice of two options, regardless of the reason for the cancellation and how much notice you're given.

You can choose between:

• A full refund. This includes money back for both legs of your journey if you have booked a return ticket.
  
  
• An alternative flight. If you still want to travel, your airline must find you an alternative flight. This has to be a) at the earliest opportunity or b) at your leisure, subject to seat availability.
  
  It's worth noting you may be entitled to ask for a flight on an alternative airline, if the one you're offered by the original airline is inconvenient. If you find a better flight with an alternative airline, you can ask to be booked onto that instead – don't just book it yourself.
  
  There's no firm rule on when your airline has to agree to put you on an alternative airline, but the regulator the Civil Aviation Authority says you should be re-routed on the same day as your original flight.

In the first instance, contact the airline to see what help it can offer – you shouldn't be charged for switching to an alternative flight.

If you need to fly from a different airport, the airline should arrange your transport, or cover reasonable costs – so ask about this when it is rebooking your flight, before deciding how you'll get to the new airport.

Under EU rules, airlines must often pay additional compensation for delayed or cancelled flights if the cause was something within their control. See our Flight Delays guide for full info. However, air-traffic control issues aren't likely to be classed as something within an airline's control, so you're unlikely to get additional compensation in this case.

What if I've lost out on hotels, car hire etc?

Flight cancellations or delays can have a large number of knock-on costs, and unfortunately the EU rules don't cover what's known as 'consequential loss' – ie, if you've booked non-refundable hotels, car hire or other parts of your holiday and are unable to use them because your flight's delayed.

First, check if you can cancel these bookings and get a refund, as part of the T&Cs or as a goodwill gesture from the provider. As an alternative, it's worth checking if you're covered on your travel insurance.

We've also heard in the past of a small number of cases where a credit card company has paid out for consequential losses after a Section 75 claim – though there's no guarantee this will work for everyone. The Financial Ombudsman Service has said it will depend on each individual case and factors such as whether you still manage to use part of your bookings.