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My flight is delayed by severe lightning storms in southern Europe and it looks like I will miss my connecting flight in London, and possibly my last possible connection of the night home.

If BA claim extraordinary circumstances, which I think they may have a license to do in this situation, are they still responsible for putting me up in a hotel overnight if they are unable to get me on a connecting flight home this evening?

What I am asking in a nutshell is, although I may not be entitled to compensation, am I entitled to overnight accommodation and meal expenses?

Thanks.

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    In this day and age of social media airlines try to avoid negative coverage. You are almost definite to be given accommodation and a voucher for meals etc.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 14:11
  • Thanks Musonius Rufus. I have just found an article that states that the airline are bound to feed and water you, and arrange accommodation, whatver the circumstances.
    – Mr Cholmondley Warner
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 14:14
  • So, in the end, we’re you delayed enough to miss your flight? Did you have to stay overnight? Did they take care of you?
    – jcaron
    Commented Aug 19, 2018 at 9:41
  • We did miss our connection, but there were a couple of free seats on the last flight home, so we got home same day, albeit a few hours late. The bags arrived 48 hours later!
    – Mr Cholmondley Warner
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:54

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Yes, you are entitled to meals (after a certain delay) and accomodation (if you can't reach your destination on the same day) even if the delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances.

Also note that bad weather alone is not necessarily a good enough excuse for the airline to evade monetary compensation. Unless your flight is directly affected by the weather, you may still be entitled to a compensation.

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  • Thanks for the reply and the information. The flight is grounded on the tarmac because of a lightning storm preventing take-off, so I think this would be classed as directly affected :)
    – Mr Cholmondley Warner
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 14:15
  • It certainly appears so so I think this would be classed as directly affected
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 14:16
  • @MrCholmondleyWarner Sure, that sounds reasonable. Many airlines do however also try to evade compensation for knock-on delays, which is not necessarily tenable.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 14:18
  • @Tor-EinarJambjo We were all boarded and ready to go (and are now stuck on the plane!) when the delay was announced, so knock-ons do not apply. Hopefully, they will accommodate us somewhere comfortable if we get stuck at LHR tonight :)
    – Mr Cholmondley Warner
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 14:22
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From my experience (although it wasn't a BA flight but still was a EU company in EU soil) i was given both a hotel accomodation and some meal voucher to use inside the airport (Schiphol) when my flight to Lisbon was cancelled due to storm Ana in last december.

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