Customers 'expect too much compensation' for delayed flights

Consumers tend to overestimate their entitlement to compensation from airlines after their flights are delayed, consumer champions Which? have warned.

Some airline passengers who feel let down when flights are delayed, overbooked or cancelled often "seem to think that they have more rights than they actually have", commented Which? Legal Service lawyer Suzy Valentine.

In most cases, she stressed, passengers are entitled to receive accommodation and refreshments to tide them over the waiting period if a flight is delayed and to make free phone calls or emails to let friends or family know the situation.

However, airlines are not obliged to provide monetary compensation for the inconvenience, she added, unless they transfer passengers across to another provider.

"What's important for the passengers to understand is whether they've been denied boarding [and been forced] to take a different flight – or whether in fact it's a delay of that same flight," she explained.

However, if the delay lasted more than five hours, passengers who choose not to travel are able to have their tickets reimbursed, Ms Valentine added.

The issue has received attention recently following a series of delays linked to a climate change protest rally at Heathrow Airport.