By Henrietta Billings - 24th August 2005
New EU rules on compensation for stranded air travellers will not cover the 100,000 BA passengers hit by strikes earlier this month, according to a company spokesman.
The airline said on Wednesday that the two day walk out which grounded British Airways at Heathrow Airport arose from unforeseen circumstances and so exempted the airline from hefty compensation payments.
Under the rules which came into force in February, BA would have to fork out up to €600 per passenger whose flight was cancelled, depending on the distance of their flight, not the price of their ticket.
But the EU stipulates that if the circumstances are proved exceptional, and unforeseeable by the airline, the automatic compensation rules do not apply.
"This falls outside the EU rules on set amounts of compensation because the strike stemmed from extraordinary circumstances which no one could have foreseen," said a BA spokesman.
""British Airways is a full-service airline and therefore we are taking a range of steps," he said, referring to payment for hotels, taxis and refreshments for those affected.
Earlier this month 1000 ground crew staged a two day walk out in support of workers fired from BA food supplier Gate Gourmet, at Heathrow Airport.
Up to 100,000 passengers were left stranded after hundreds of flights were cancelled by the airline.
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