Passengers left in limbo as Jet Airways cancels flights – what you need to know

Jet Airways cancelled some international services last week but now says it is temporarily suspending all operations after failing to raise enough money to run its services.

In March, India's Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Suresh Prabhu asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in India to look into the grounding of planes by Jet Airways and to keep monitoring the airline.

Last week, he asked for a further review of the cash-strapped airline, which is one of the largest in India, and earlier this week, it failed to secure emergency funding from its lenders.

What are my rights when my flight is cancelled?

Under EU flight delay law, you have rights if your flight is cancelled or delayed. For these rules to apply the flight must have left from an EU airport, or you must have arrived at an EU airport on an EU airline, so they will apply if you're flying from London, but not if you're flying from Mumbai or Delhi.

Under the EU law, if your flight is cancelled you're entitled to an alternative flight or a refund – regardless of what has caused the issues.

It's also worth noting you may be entitled to ask for a flight on an alternative airline if the one you are offered by your airline is inconvenient. It's a bit of grey area as to when the airline should agree that its offer is inconvenient, but if you have found a better flight with an alternative airline you can ask to be booked onto that instead.

It's important that you ask your airline to rebook you, rather than just doing it yourself, to ensure you're not left out of pocket.

We've asked the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to confirm what you're entitled to if your flight from an Indian airport is cancelled. We'll update this story when we hear back, but it does have a cancellation section on its website, outlining your general rights. 

Jet Airways says that for passengers flying from India, "the DGCA rule will be applicable", but we've asked for more clarity on what this means. It says passengers who are disrupted should email guestrelations@jetairways.com more information. 

If you're flight is cancelled at short notice you may also be entitled to compensation. See our Flight Delays guide for more information.

What does Jet Airways say?

In a statement sent to us today, Jet Airways said: "Since no emergency funding from the lenders or any other source is forthcoming, the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going.

"Consequently, with immediate effect, Jet Airways is compelled to cancel all its international and domestic flights. The last flight will operate today."