Heathrow bosses are still urging passengers on Sunday to check their flight status before travelling to the airport
Passengers are facing another day of disruption at Heathrow Airport after a cyber attack targeted check-in and boarding systems. Brussels and Berlin airports are also being affected, with several airlines continuing to carry out operations manually.
Those due to depart from Heathrow’s Terminal 4 say they have been met with queues, delays and confusion as to whether they’ll be able to make their planned trips. Travellers may be entitled to care as they wait but this wholly depends on where the flight begins and which airline is involved.
Under law, passengers on flights from the UK and EU (and the wider EEA) must be provided snacks, meal vouchers and transport during severe delays. The airline must offer this support until it is able to fly you to your destination, no matter how long the disruption lasts or what has caused it. The law splits the set timeframes into three categories:
short-haul flight of under 1,500km (e.g. Glasgow to Amsterdam)
more than two hours
medium-haul flight of 1,500km – 3,500km (e.g. East Midlands to Marrakesh)
more than three hours
long-haul flight of over 3,500km (e.g. London to New York)
more than four hours
If the delay extends overnight, the airline is additionally obliged to find and pay for a hotel room. For delays of under two hours, you have no rights, unless a hold up in the UK triggers a missed connection and much later arrival time.
Sometimes airlines are unable to arrange care and assistance for all passengers when staff are stretched. In this case, the Civil Aviation Authority recommends paying for things yourself, keeping every receipt and claiming it back later.
Am I entitled to compensation?
If you’re flying from a UK/EU airport, or on a British/European airline, and have your flight cancelled or arrival time delayed by at least three hours, then you could be owed compensation.
The payment amount depends on distance:
- Under 1,500km e.g. London to Pairs: £220 or €250
- 1,500-3,500km e.g. London to Rome: £350 or €400
- Above 3,500km e.g. London to New York: £520 or €600 (compensation is halved if a long-haul arrival delay is under four hours)
Disruptions caused by things like extreme weather, political instability, airport or air traffic control employee strikes or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are not eligible for compensation. Sadly, this weekend’s cyber attack is likely to fall under this category.
How do I make a claim?
For applicable flights, each UK/EU airline will direct you to fill out an online form. Here are the compensation pages for the three most popular:
Compensation can only be paid by bank transfer (or cheque), except if the airline obtains the prior signed agreement of the passenger to pay with vouchers for future travel.
When will Heathrow Airport return to normal?
Heathrow said on Sunday that passengers should check their flight status before travelling to the airport. It is currently unclear how long disruption to flights will last.
A statement reads: “Work continues to resolve and recover from Friday’s outage of a Collins Aerospace airline system that impacted check-in. We apologise to those who have faced delays, but by working together with airlines, the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.
“We encourage passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to Heathrow and to arrive no earlier than three hours for long-haul flights and two hours for short-haul.”
It is understood British Airways at Terminal 5 remains unaffected and has been operating as normal. Around 14 flights were cancelled and some delayed across the other terminals on Saturday, although it is not clear which of these were caused by the technical issue.
The European Commission, which takes part in managing airspace across Europe, said it is monitoring the situation but added there were no signs the alleged cyber attack was “widespread or severe”.
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