Emirates And Etihad Face Legal Action For Not Compensating Passengers

The Civil Aviation Authority in the UK identified an issue with five major airlines: Emirates, Etihad, American Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines; where they have not given compensation to passengers over delayed flights. They all now face enforcement action. The CAA say the investigation has been ongoing for the past few months and that 200,000 passengers could be affected. If found guilty, the airlines could face unlimited fines. 

Etihad are furious and said this…

“We find the CAA’s approach wholly ‘unprofessional and unacceptable’ to publicly blame Etihad Airways for infringements to passengers’ rights which we unreservedly deny.”

Etihad statement

Emirates went further saying the CAA were unprofessional

“The way in which the CAA has communicated this issue is both misleading and unprofessional. As the CAA is well aware, the recent EU guidelines on EC 261 are not intended to amend the law. The issue of EC 261’s application to our flights from the UK involving a stopover in Dubai is currently pending before the Court of Appeal. We will rigorously defend our position, and challenge the blanket application of EC 261 to every situation, without consideration of context or the safety of our passengers. Emirates, like any responsible airline, puts the safety of our passengers first and to be penalised for this is absurd.”

Emirates statement

The main issue is revolving around connecting flights

“Any disruption to a flight is frustrating for passengers, but delays that cause people to miss connecting flights have a particularly damaging effect on people’s travel plans. That’s why there are clear laws in place to make sure passengers that experience this type of disruption are looked after by their airline and compensated when the disruption was in the airline’s control”.

Richard Moriarty, Director of Consumers and Markets at the CAA,