Money expert Martin Lewis has explained your rights to get compensation if your flight is affected by the Heathrow chaos today.The UK’s largest airport is currently closed, after a huge fire which has grounded all flights and plunged the entire airport into darkness with no power.
Counter terror police are investigating, while emergency services are still on the scene. With the airport currently completely closed, money expert Martin Lewis has explained your legal rights to compensation if you were due to fly from Heathrow today.
Martin posted on X: “Just a quick summary of your basic rights if you’re flight is being canceled due to fire at #Heathrow. Feel free to share. 1. You are entitled to choose between a) full refund including any unused part of trip (eg return) b) being put on next available flight, which includes with other airlines.
“2. You are almost certainly not entitled to the standard fixed compensation as this is outside of the airlines control.
“3. Knock on costs (eg unused hotel/trips) are much trickier, for those best start point is see if you’ve free cancellation. If not travel insurance but whether this is covered will depend on your policy.”
In his second point, Martin was referring to an EU/UK flights compensation scheme. This says that anyone flying from a UK or EU airport this summer could get as much as £520 in compensation per person per flight if their holiday is delayed and the airline is to blame.
So for example, today’s Heathrow Airport chaos would not be likely to be liable for the compensation under this scheme because airlines are not to blame for a major fire at the airport which has suspended flights.
The money-saving expert previously said on his podcast that holidaymakers can get paid up to £520 per person per flight for a holiday delay – as long as their flight takes off from EU or UK airports.
Martin explained that the exact amount you get depends on the distance the flight travelled and the amount of time it was delayed, as long as it left a UK or EU airport, as long as the airline was to blame for the delay.
Speaking on his BBC Sounds Martin Lewis Podcast, he said: “This applies to any EU flight, which is any flight leaving a UK or EU airport or any flight arriving at a UK or EU airport, but then it has to be a UK or EU airline.
“So American Airlines going to the states from London counts, American airlines returning to London from the States does not count because it’s not an EU airline. You can go back six years to apply for this compensation, five years in Scotland, remember it has to be the airline’s fault.
“The amount that you get is fixed. Up to 1,500km and you arrive three hours late, is £220, 1,500 to 3,500km and you arrive three hours late is £350, fixed per person, 3,500km or more, if you arrive three to four hours late it’s £260, if you arrive more than four hours late it’s £520.”
Martin said anyone going on holiday this summer should be mindful of the scheme, and to keen an eye on flight times to see if you can make a claim.
He added: “So if you have had a flight delay or you have a flight delay in future and it’s the airline’s fault, you are entitled to this fixed compensation, it’s as simple as that.
“If there was a strike with the airport staff or there was a weather issue that meant you couldn’t take off, clearly that wouldn’t be the airline’s fault and you would not be entitled to the compensation.”
