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Welcome to San Stefanos (NW Corfu) => San Stefanos news and views => Topic started by: RedroseMax on July 29, 2016, 11:52:30 PM

Title: Flight delays
Post by: RedroseMax on July 29, 2016, 11:52:30 PM
Does anybody know if we can claim for a flight delay? Was 3 hours 40 minutes from Corfu back to blighty, my insurance company say its got to be more than 10 hours,but I believe there are EU regulation on this?
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Jimbo on July 30, 2016, 01:42:58 AM
EU regulations say that you can claim for a delay of three or more hours. So claim.

Make sure you claim before we leave the EU, when it could be no claim at all.
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Lesley on July 30, 2016, 12:39:31 PM
Check out www.airhelp.com
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: RedroseMax on July 30, 2016, 12:47:00 PM
Thanks Jimbo and Lesley!
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: rilo57 on July 30, 2016, 01:28:17 PM
We will be claiming from Ryaniar even though we havent flown yet..they changed flight by one whole day, so a longer holiday.They never informed us , so i contacted them and explained..They already sent me claims form and told us to keep receipts of extra costs, accomodation meals etc..curious how it will go..
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: RedroseMax on July 30, 2016, 11:25:33 PM
This was Ryanair funnily enough, they did sent an e-mailed delay confirmation but I am waiting for the catch!
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: rilo57 on July 31, 2016, 01:27:51 AM
They said that they emailed us also, said we did not recive any mails, and asked them to resend it, they said that was not possible.that is a lie..and yes i am wondering what the catch will be...time will tell..will post outcome in a year or two..lol
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Jules on August 04, 2016, 02:55:05 AM
delay from Manchester of 39 hours this week. Hope no one was caught up in that
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Teamnickos on August 04, 2016, 11:10:42 AM
Wow, that's horrendous
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Jules on August 06, 2016, 11:20:39 AM
Was with Small Planet a Lithuanian airline. Reading other peoples reports they are prone to long delays due to only having a small fleet. When something goes wrong they don't have any back up planes to take over.
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Jimbo on August 06, 2016, 12:31:00 PM
They have a terrible reputation of time-keeping! Avoid...
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: rilo57 on August 07, 2016, 02:21:11 AM
Have to admit after our unforseen flight change Ryanair came up with top marks for our flight out..we was able to check in our bags the night before and get our parking paid for whilst doing it, plus we got fast track passes for the next day..so we was able to turn up an hour before our flight instead of 3 as they are asking and all for free...
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: shawty1984 on August 19, 2016, 06:40:36 PM
I understand the need to claim if missing work due to flight delays or such things but claiming for 4 hours delay just seems really unnecessary to me. It's not nice when it happens but the majority of the time it's done for a reason, mainly a safety aspect reason. What figure are you putting on that 4 hours of your life? Doing some quick research you can claim £340 per person. A family of 4 would be claiming £1360. There's one thing that's going to guarantee and that's price rises, which I'm sure a lot of people on here would moan about. Claiming when needed is fine, but ask yourself do you really need  £340 because you arrived home late.
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: rilo57 on August 20, 2016, 12:19:37 AM
Well how would it be if your taxi turned up 4 hours late to take you to the airport? And the driver said he was just doing safety checks, dont think you would be impressed..the airlines opperate a service and should be run on time as we pay enough to fly with them..if a company thinks enough about their passengers this wouldnt happen..
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: shawty1984 on August 20, 2016, 03:38:02 PM
If they didn't say anything I'd be annoyed. On the flip side how would you feel if the taxi firm ignored health and safety, sent a taxi out which crashed on the way due to ignoring health and safety concerns. But that's getting away from the subject, a taxi isn't an aeroplane. The airline has yours and 200+ other passengers safety at it's best interests. It's in their best interests to keep their passengers happy and safe. They don't delay people just for the sake of it. How much you pay has no relevance to the plane being delayed.

I honestly can't believe you think a company who delays planes don't think much of their customers. I once was delayed 12 hours flying back from Ibiza and not once did I think the company didn't think enough of me.

Anyway that's off subject again. How much value do you put on 4 hours of your life? £340 is what is claimable I believe. If you want to claim then claim, that's what it is there for. But one end result of this is going to be higher prices for everyone. Do you really think the airline owes you £340 in compensation for keeping you safe (that's if it was a safety issue).
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Jimbo on August 21, 2016, 01:07:31 AM
There's also an argument that says that these penalties concentrate airlines' attention on highly efficient maintenance. Every minute a plane is in a hanger it's losing money, so companies with big fleets are, in theory, in a better position than small companies. If a Thomson plane has serious failure at Corfu, they'll fly a replacement down in about 4 hours. If a Small Planet plane does so you're there for a long time!
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: rilo57 on August 21, 2016, 02:14:54 AM
Also you have to consider that everybody isent just on the flight for a 1destination trip, if you have a connecting flight to catch then it really messes thing upif your delayed..
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Dupnica on August 21, 2016, 02:05:36 PM
 We travelled on the afternoon flight from Gatwick in June.We came in to land and all seemed well,seat belts on,landing gear down,then we suddenly started to climb again.
 The pilot explained that there was some low cloud and that we would have to circle for a while.We went round and round the island and then made another attempt,the same thing happened.
 By this time everyone was getting a bit nervous but being British no one made a fuss but just sat there waiting to see what would happen next. The Captain made an announcement that as she was only allowed to make two attempts at landing we would have to divert to Thessalonika,which happens to be on the other side of Greece on the Northern tip of the Aegean Sea and near the Macedonian border.

 By the time we disembarked and they offloaded our luggage it was almost midnight,then there was the mammoth task of finding accommodation for a plane load of people,some with young children.
 We were finally bussed to a Hotel and arrived at 4am. After a sleepless few hours we had breakfast and were driven back to the airport
to catch our flight to Corfu which was due to take off at 13:30 but then were told Corfu airport was closed due to bad weather.

 Well by this time people were beginning to lose their patience but what can you do? We finally took off at 15:30 and this time we made it.
 I've never been so glad to see the welcoming face of our driver who couldn't understand why we were diverted when every other plane managed to land! Makes you wonder.
 
 When we got to Agios Stefanos we quickly showered,found something to wear that wasn't too creased and headed down to Manthos 40year Anniversary party. Had a great time but would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't been so tired.
 

Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Jimbo on August 22, 2016, 01:44:01 AM
Pilots are cautious - quite rightly. Corfu can have very low cloud and heavy fog. Corfu airport does not have an Instrument Landing System (ILS). It's visual flight rules only. If they can't see the runway from about 2,500 feet they will have to abort. It's very expensive to divert, and they won't do it until they have to. The two pilots will discuss it. Normal diversions will be to Brindisi, Preveza or one of the islands to the south. But if the weather is bad across the Adriatic a mainland airport with an ILS will be preferred (if they have enough fuel) - they usually carry about 45 minutes flight time of safety fuel. Athens is extremely busy - Thessaloniki not so much. After two go-arounds, that aircraft would have just enough fuel to reach Thessaloniki, with not much to spare. But if could be assured of a landing. What it they'd tried two landings in low cloud at Preveza and failed? Not enough fuel to go anywhere!

I've flown a lot and had some fairly hair-raising experiences. India Airlines pilots used to have an "it'll be alright on the night" attitude to thunderstorms: massive turbulence and the rage of Shiva's lightning outside.

Planes can't just park up and wait until the cloud goes away, can they? It will be patchy - so some will get in and some will not. I have great admiration for the professionalism of commercial aircrews. They do not create arbitrary delays - it's the last thing they want. Aeroplanes are not taxis. It's a tribute to them that delays are so few.

Here's what pilots need to know about Corfu (runway 35 is from the south over the water - 17 is over the hills to the north of Corfu Town):

https://pilotsbriefingroom.com/2011/09/06/corfu-kerkira-greece-cfulgkr/ (https://pilotsbriefingroom.com/2011/09/06/corfu-kerkira-greece-cfulgkr/)

 


Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: will7777 on August 22, 2016, 11:50:15 AM
Hi remember landing in a very bad thunder storm with my 3 kids under 6 I herd the pilots talking to each other saying there was know way that there were going to take off tonight to go bad to gatwick untill the storm goes ..lighting dancing off the wings on the plain on landing .. got to sanstefanos .one big flash and a Bang village out of power ..put kids to bed Sat out side with duty free vody whatch the light show happy days
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Dupnica on August 22, 2016, 07:45:12 PM
 I wasn't criticising the actions of the air crew their first priority was the safety of all on board. There's an awful lot of sea around Corfu Airport and not a lot of runway,but it's a scarey feeling when you're just about to land and suddenly find yourself whooshing skywards again.

The day we flew home was the day of the French national strike and we were delayed by 4 hours. We were each given a voucher for €4.50,just about enough for a bottle of Fanta,and here's a bit of information you might not be aware of. If you are given refreshment vouchers in Departures(where you check in your luggage) you must use them in the upstairs restaurant they cannot be used after you go through passport control.Don't know the reason why, could be a different franchise.
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: Jimbo on August 23, 2016, 02:46:54 AM
Fortunately, we don't fly over France, but wish us luck for a night landing in September!
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: cambridge on August 24, 2016, 10:46:48 AM
I wouldn't overly worry about flight delay compensation bumping up flight costs further, the airlines have had these costs folded into the rates we pay for some time now. If you're delayed for the reasons that qualify for compensation, have a go at claiming.
Title: Re: Flight delays
Post by: rilo57 on August 24, 2016, 10:56:12 AM
Totally agree cambridge..