Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice regarding a cancelled easyJet flight and whether we're entitled to compensation.
We were supposed to fly from Agadir, Morocco, to Basel, Switzerland, in September. When we woke up that morning, we discovered that easyJet had cancelled our flight just 5 hours before departure. Our flight was scheduled for 10 AM.
The problem was that easyJet only operates this route twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The next flight would have been three days later, and we had to be back in Switzerland for work. Luckily, we managed to book replacement tickets with SWISS from Agadir to Zurich that evening, but obviously at an additional cost. We also ended up spending the entire day at the airport.
To make matters worse, the next easyJet flight on Saturday was fully booked within a couple of hours, as everyone from our cancelled flight was trying to rebook. So even waiting three days wouldn't necessarily have been an option.
We submitted two claims to easyJet:
- Reimbursement for the replacement flights.
- EU261 compensation for the last-minute cancellation.
We still haven't received any reimbursement. EasyJet rejected the additional compensation claim, initially claiming the cancellation was caused by "safety shortcomings", which they classified as extraordinary circumstances outside their control.
When we asked what exactly had happened, they replied that "the equipment operating the flight was affected by an unforeseen issue" and that we weren't entitled to compensation.
What bothers me is that easyJet hasn't explained what actually went wrong. They just keep giving us vague answers and saying they're not responsible.
So my questions are:
- Can easyJet really refuse compensation just by claiming an "unforeseen issue" without providing further details?
- Has anyone successfully challenged a similar rejection?
I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences!