‘Airlines Of Shame’: UK Carriers With Most Compensation Enquiries Revealed

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Budget carrier easyJet has topped a flight compensation company’s ‘Carriers of Shame’ league table for the first half of this year.

According EUclaim, it received 5,641 compensation enquiries about easyJet between January and June and the number of cases it has seen regarding the budget airline have increased each year for the least three years.

EUclaim’s ‘Carriers of Shame’ table reveals how many claims the company has processed against each British airline in the first half of 2016.

Ryanair was the second highest on the table and according to EUclaim, the 4,781 compensation enquiries it received in January to June this year were more than double received about the airline in the same period last year.

The list isn’t all budget providers - with the 3,423 enquiries about compensation from British Airways putting it in fourth place.

Thomas Cook was in third place with 3,807 enquiries and Thomson fifth with 2,422.

EUclaim said leisure airlines had been doing better each year since 2013, despite low-cost airlines deteriorating, and Monarch’s services had improved so much that it had fallen out of the 2016 top ‘Carriers of Shame’ list completely.

EUclaim estimated that in 2016 airlines could owe a total of €699,667,500 in compensation due to delays of more than three hours and cancellations.

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Compensation - EUclaim estimates that in 2016 airlines could owe a total of €699,667,500 due to delays and cancellations (Pictures: Rex)

UK manager Adeline Noorderhaven, said: “The number of complaints in 2016 has been sky-high.

“It is likely that a prolonged period of bad weather toward the end of March, as well as a wash-out June played a part, but by far and away the biggest contributing factor has been the consistent strike action in France and Italy, which has led to flight misery for passengers as cancellations and delays shot through the roof.

She added: “While strike action and bad weather can be considered extraordinary circumstances, airlines need to take more responsibility to ensure that customers are looked after and properly compensated for their loss.”

An easyJet spokesman said “unprecedented levels of disruption” due to factors like French air traffic control strikes and air traffic control congestion in London and Europe had led to a larger than expected volume of claims.

He said: “easyJet carries more UK passengers than any other airline listed by EU Claims. We also recommend that customers should apply to easyJet to receive all of their compensation without paying any fees to third parties.

A Ryanair spokesman said: “We do not believe any statements made by ambulance chasers like EUclaim, who charge excessive fees for the non-existent service they claim to provide, and whose ‘internal data’ is totally unsubstantiated.“

A spokesperson for Thomas Cook Airlines said: “We’ve reduced long delays from 4% to 0.5% in just three years, and continually work hard to make sure our customers fly on their hard-earned holidays on time and in comfort.”

Thomson said: “While we haven’t been able to verify this data, what we can say is that Thomson Airways operates a fair and thorough process to manage EU Delay Claims. We’re also committed to maintaining an excellent on-time performance across our flying programme.”