Passengers affected by British Airways IT problems eligible for compensation

Passengers traveling with British Airways faced lengthy delays over the long weekend due to global IT problems. Those affected by the incident are likely eligible for up to €600 in compensation. 

The airline was forced to ground all flights in Heathrow and Gatwick airports on Saturday after it experienced an IT system outage around the world. The disruption has continued to cause flight irregularities over the past few days.

Eve Buechner, founder and CEO of refund.me, strongly urges affected travelers to claim compensation from the airline. According to EU Regulation 261/2004, airlines are obliged to pay compensation to passengers who are delayed by more than three hours on arrival at their final destination, unless they can prove the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances.

“An IT failure is most likely the responsibility of the airline, and it is therefore legally required to compensate its passengers,” says Eve Buechner. “A situation like this cannot be regarded as an extraordinary circumstance beyond BA’s control.” 

Delta experienced a similar incident in August last year, when a computer failure delayed tens of thousands of passengers. Unlike British Airways, Delta is not a European carrier and therefore not bound by EU law. However, refund.me was able to successfully secure compensation for passengers whose journeys departed from EU member states.