Compensation for a flight going somewhere else

Question

I bought recently a flight let say from A to C via B ( A -> B -> C).

The places A & C are inside Europe but the company offering the flights is not European (as well the B intermediate destination). I bought the flights around 1 month before departure and after two weeks they said they cannot flight to C and then they change the flight to D (another country but around 150 km from C). Finally we agreed for another flight to E (but same country like C) but I had to pay the flight from E to C.

My question is: is it normal a company to sell tickets for destination they cannot reach and shouldn't their responsibility to pay the difference in order to keep the initial contract (I mean, I think they should pay me the extra flight from E to C or paying for a taxi or bus from D to C).

Update:

Cancellation, Changes Of Schedule, Etc...

If due to circumstances beyond its control Carrier cancels or delays a flight, is unable to provide previously confirmed space, fails to stop at a passenger's stopover or destination point, or causes the passenger to miss a connecting flight on which the passenger holds a reservation, Carrier shall either:

1. carry the passenger on another of its scheduled passenger services on which space is available; or
2. reroute the passenger to the destination indicated on the ticket or aplicable portion thereof by its own scheduled services of another carrier, or by means of surface transportation. If the sum of the fare, excess baggage charge and any applicable service charge for the revised routing is higher than the refund value of the ticket or applicable portion thereof, Carrier shall require no additional fare or charge from the passenger, and shall refund the difference if the fares and charges for the revised routing are lower; or
3. make a refund accordance with the provisions of Article xx;

It is not clear to me if the second point can be an option if we decided the alternatives by ourselves (the carrier was not able to offer any other means (e.g trains, bus or another flight from another company)

Answer 1

It's far from unusual for airlines to do this. I've had flights simply cancelled, and been offered ones on a different day.

Unfortunately the terms and conditions of booking are almost always written such that if the airline changes its plans, the most they have to do is refund your payment. In the regulations you quote, that is an option. You don't say if you were offered a refund, but if you weren't you would probably have been given one if you asked. The airlines will try to persuade you to take another flight with them if possible, so as to reduce their losses, but a refund should have been a possibility.

Of course a refund does not always help, since alternate flights might well have been booked up in the time between you making the booking and being notified of the change.