EasyJet has been accused of disregarding European passengers’ rights, following a delays at Luton Airport. This is after a Geneva flight was cancelled on short notice, leaving passengers stranded.
The airline insists it offered 158 affected passengers flights on other airlines following the flight cancellation.
Flight EZY2061 was initially delayed for 45 minutes but was then cancelled abruptly, after which the travel chaos ensued. EasyJet said the delay and eventual cancellation was as a result of “the knock-on effects of thunderstorm activity on previous sectors” and so the crew was unable to operate the service.
One passenger took to twitter to express frustration with the airline saying: “Thanks @easyJet @easyJet_press – 18:10 Luton to Geneva cancelled last minute and 10th wedding anniversary plans ruined. Chaos at Luton.”
European legislation on flight cancellation requires that passengers whose flights are cancelled and want to continue with their journey must be offered re-routing to their final destination as soon as possible.
Despite this, some Easyjet passengers claimed they were told they would not be able to fly until Sunday.
One passenger, Susan Griffith who was travelling to Annecy in the French Alps for a wedding said: “They offered to put us on the first Easyjet flight, which was on Sunday.
“They said: ‘We have no access to any flights apart from Easyjet flights'.”
She said she had queued for four hours at Luton airport’s customer service desk.
An Easyjet spokesperson said: “While the situation is outside of our control, we would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience.”
The airline said it will not pay cash compensation for the cancellation, because it was due to “extraordinary circumstance”.
However, Coby Benson of the law firm Bott & Co said: “The courts have ruled on countless occasions that in order for bad weather to be extraordinary it must affect the flight concerned.”
Easyjet has had several such incidents where passengers accused the airline of disregarding passenger rights during cancellation.
