Indemnisation vol annulé British Airways

British Airways cancellations: what is specific

BA cancels short-haul Heathrow flights for ATC restrictions, weather and crew availability, and sometimes announces schedule thinning weeks in advance. Announced 14 days or more ahead, a cancellation carries no compensation but BA must refund or rebook you — including on another airline where it cannot rebook you promptly, which matters on routes BA flies once a day.

Inside 14 days, compensation is due unless the replacement flight BA offered met the legal windows or the cause was extraordinary. BA’s own staff strikes, IT outages and aircraft problems are not extraordinary; ATC and severe weather can be. BA belongs to CEDR, whose decisions it has agreed to follow, so a refused claim with a vague reason is worth escalating.

The three questions that decide a British Airways cancellation claim

1. When did British Airways tell you? Informed 14 days or more before departure: no compensation, but a refund or re-routing and care. Less than 14 days: compensation is due unless a replacement flight met the windows below or the cause was extraordinary. British Airways must prove when and how it informed you — keep its cancellation e-mail or app notification with the timestamp.
2. What replacement did British Airways offer? Between 7 and 14 days’ notice, no compensation if the re-routing departed no more than 2 hours early and arrived less than 4 hours late; under 7 days’ notice the margins shrink to 1 hour early and 2 hours late.
3. Why was it cancelled? Weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, security and external strikes are extraordinary; British Airways’s technical problems, crew shortages, rotation planning and its own staff’s strikes are not.

Some short-haul flights are operated by BA CityFlyer (CJ) or BA Euroflyer (both UK AOCs). Check the operating carrier on your boarding pass: the rules follow the airline that flew the aircraft, not the one that sold the ticket.

What you always get, whatever the reason

Compensation may depend on the cause, but three rights never do. British Airways must offer you the choice between a full refund of the unused ticket (within 7 days, in cash or bank transfer — a voucher only with your agreement) and re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity or on a later date of your choice. While you wait for the re-routing British Airways must provide meals, refreshments, two calls or e-mails and, when an overnight stay becomes necessary, a hotel and transport to it. If it leaves you to arrange this yourself, keep receipts and claim the reasonable amounts.

How much British Airways owes when compensation is due

£220, £350 or £520 per passenger under UK261, set by the distance of the flight (or of the whole journey on one booking). British Airways may halve the long-haul amount to £260 when the replacement flight it offered arrived within the reduction windows (2 hours late for short flights, 3 hours for medium, 4 hours for long).

How to claim a cancellation from British Airways

1. Keep the cancellation notice, the original booking and the details of any replacement flight offered (departure and arrival times).
2. Ask British Airways in writing for the reason for the cancellation.
3. Submit the claim through British Airways’s official channel (https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/delayed-or-cancelled-flights/compensation), or by post to British Airways Customer Relations, EU Compensation Claims, PO Box 1126, Uxbridge, UB8 9XS, United Kingdom, stating the notice date, the replacement offered (or not) and the amount per passenger.
4. If British Airways refuses or stalls for 8 weeks, escalate to CEDR, then to the courts within the limitation period of the departure country.