What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?

What rights do I have if my flight is cancelled or delayed?

Thousands of air passengers have had their travel plans thrown into chaos after an air traffic control issue grounded nearly 2,000 flights across the UK.

When a flight is cancelled or delayed, affected passengers have several rights, including a refund or being placed on another flight. But these rights can differ depending on the airline and the departure point.

Extra compensation is only payable when the airline is responsible, not for problems such as air traffic control issues. Here is what that means for you.

When flights are delayed or cancelled, UK and EU airlines, and other carriers when you are leaving a UK or EU airport, have a duty of care towards you.

The cause of the delay or cancellation does not matter. So anyone affected by the air transport disruption will be eligible.

That includes providing meals and accommodation if needed, and getting you to your destination. The airline should arrange an alternative flight for you at no extra cost.

Extra losses, such as unused accommodation, may need to be claimed from a credit card provider, if that was the payment method used.

After that, a claim may have to be made to your travel insurance provider. But there is no standard definition of what is covered.

It may be necessary to examine the policy details closely to see what is covered, and under what circumstances.

Passengers are also being urged to follow travel advice from the UK government.

If your flight is covered by UK law, your airline must let you choose between a refund or being rebooked on an alternative flight.

That applies no matter how far in advance the cancellation was announced.

You can get a refund for any part of the ticket you have not used.

So if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.

If you still want to travel, your airline must find you an alternative flight.

If another airline is flying to your destination significantly sooner, or there are other suitable forms of transport, then you have the right to be booked onto that alternative transport instead.

If your flight was arriving in the UK on a non-UK or EU airline, you should check the terms and conditions of your booking.

If you are stranded abroad or at the airport because of a flight cancellation, airlines covered by UK law must also provide other assistance.

This includes: a reasonable amount of food and drink, often in the form of vouchers; a way for you to communicate, often by refunding call costs; free accommodation if you have to stay overnight to fly the next day; transport to and from the accommodation.

If your airline cannot arrange assistance, you have the right to organise it yourself and claim the cost back later.

The Civil Aviation Authority advises people to keep receipts and not spend more than necessary.

You are entitled to the same assistance as for a cancellation if your flight is delayed by more than two hours on a short-haul flight, three hours on a medium-haul flight, or four hours on a long-haul flight.

If you are delayed by more than five hours and no longer want to travel, you can get a full refund.

If you booked a package holiday with a company that is an ABTA member and your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a suitable alternative flight or a full refund.

Disruption caused by things like air traffic control problems, but also bad weather, strikes by airport staff, conflict, or other "extraordinary circumstances", does not entitle you to extra compensation.

However, in other situations, when it is deemed to be the airline's fault, you have a number of rights under UK law.

These apply as long as you are flying from a UK airport on any airline, arriving at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.

What you are entitled to depends on what caused the cancellation and how much notice you were given.

If your flight is cancelled with less than two weeks' notice, you may be able to claim compensation depending on the timings of the alternative flight you are offered.

The amount you can claim also depends on the distance you were travelling: for flights under 1,500km, such as Glasgow to Amsterdam, you can claim up to £220 per person; for flights of 1,500km to 3,500km, such as East Midlands to Marrakesh, you can claim up to £350 per person; for flights over 3,500km, such as London to New York, you can claim up to £520 per person.

Airlines will not refund you for loss of earnings. Travel insurance policies will not usually cover loss of earnings either.

If you think you are going to be late back at work because of flight delays, legal experts say you have a responsibility to let your employer know.

You should agree with your employer how to handle the absence, for example by using annual leave or taking unpaid leave.

Experts say employers have no legal duty to pay employees who are absent in this situation, unless their contract says otherwise.