EMIRATES, Ryanair and BA are among the worst airlines for cheating customers out of cash by refusing to reimburse for delayed flights.
Aviation giants refused to compensate customers in up to 74 PER CENT of cases – even after being ordered to pay out by the Civil Aviation Authority.Shock stats released by Which? found travel authorities had to step in to order payments in up to 80 per cent of cases last year.But even then airlines are not obliged to pay – with Emirates emerging as the worst for ignoring orders and leaving customers emptyhanded.
The CAA backed 60 per cent of 19 delay claims on Emirates last year – but the airline still refused to pay 74 per cent of these.British Airways was another bad offender – with the UK’s flagship carrier refusing to pay 13 per cent of cases ordered by the CAA.Shock compo figures by Which? have led to calls for automated payouts for delaysThe watchdog backed 48 per cent of 1,166 delay claims with BA.EU rules state passengers are entitled to a £220 payment for short haul flights within Europe that are delayed by more than three hours.Long haul delays of over four hours should guarantee compo payment of of £527.Ryanair had 70 per cent of its compo refusals overturned by aviation watchdogs last year .Monarch had 53 per cent of its compo refusals overturned by CAA chiefsEasyJet had the most severely delayed flights with 1,513 compo cases. CAA chiefs told it to overturn 39 per cent of its payout refusals.Legally, carriers can still refuse to follow CAA orders when they blame delays on circumstances beyond their control, such as bad weather.The worst offenders include BA, Emirates and RyanairBut there are now calls for airlines to be forced into an automated compensation scheme to make sure money is dolled out to delayed passengers fairly.Some airlines seem to be making it as difficult as possible for passengers to receive the money that they are rightly entitled to for flight delays,” she said.
