Q: We would like to know what rights we have regarding a cancellation of a booked flight.

We booked a flight to Athens for May. We later booked a flight with another airline to Santorini.

Since the first flight was scheduled to arrive in Athens at 1am and the flight to Santorini was at 7am, we planned to spend these few hours at the airport.

However, a few days ago, the first airline, with whom we booked the flight to Athens, informed us that our flight has been cancelled and offered us an alternative flight. The problem is that with this alternative flight, we would arrive in Athens the evening before the flight to Santorini, meaning we will have to incur the costs of accommodation for one night in Athens.

We complained about this to the airline, which is refusing to cover these extra accommodation costs and instead offered us an alternative route or a refund.

We would like to know if we are entitled to a refund of these extra costs we have to incur.

A: Regulations (EC) No. 261/2004, regulating air passenger rights when they are denied boarding stipulates that when an airline informs its passengers about a cancellation of a flight at least 14 days before the scheduled date of departure, the airline is not legally obliged to provide compensation.

Hence, in this case, the airline is adhering to its obligations by offering you an alternative route or the possibility to cancel the flight and be refunded for the paid ticket.