VICTORY ON FLIGHT DELAY COMPENSATION

AIRLINES have been forced by the aviation regulator to pay Mail readers thousands of pounds in compensation for flight delays. It is a victory for Money Mail after more than two years’ of campaigning. Passengers should be compensated if they arrive more than three hours late. Claims can be backdated six years. Last July we handed 351 of your complaints to chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority, Andrew Haines. The regulator has won compensation for victims in 81 cases and is working on a further 160. It was unable to solve 110 complaints. Readers have been paid £58,000 — an average of £716 per household. We can also reveal Ryanair is finally paying out for flights delayed by ‘technical faults’ up to six years ago. Mr Haines says: ‘We have Money Mail to thank for the crucial role it has played in holding airlines to account.’ Under EU law you are entitled to up to £453 compensation if your flight arrives more than three hours late — if the reason is within the airline’s control. Jim and Hilary Moffat (right), from Chester, tried to claim £304 each for a three-hour delay at Manchester on their way to Bodrum, Turkey. The airline claimed a fault with the aircraft was an ‘extraordinary circumstance’. Jet2 also said claims had to be filed within two years. The Moffats had not done that. But in June 2014 the Court of Appeal ruled that delays caused by ordinary mechanical problems did not count as extraordinary circumstances and passengers had up to six years to claim. Jet2 has paid out and Jim, 69, says: ‘Thank you to Money Mail for helping us get to this stage.’