Summary
- Vueling flight from Bilbao to London Gatwick was canceled and replaced with a 23-hour bus ride.
- Passengers were not offered alternative flights, with the airline instead chartering a bus.
- The cancellation was likely due to strikes by Iberia baggage handlers, which could be considered “extraordinary circumstances” and exempt the airline from paying compensation.
Vueling passengers booked on a flight from Spain to the UK took almost a full day to reach their destination after the carrier arranged for a replacement bus service. The bus ride from Bilbao to London Gatwick took around 23 hours, considerably longer than the 80-minute flight would have been.
Vueling replacement bus takes almost entire day
According to user Bungaroosh on a MoneySavingExpert forum post, passengers booked on a Vueling flight from Bilbao Airport (BIO) to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) were notified that their flight had been canceled around one hour and 20 minutes before its scheduled departure. The airline did not offer affected passengers space on an alternative flight; instead, it decided to charter a bus for those willing to make the journey by road (and ferry).
User Bungaroosh writes,
“My Vueling flight from Bilbao to Gatwick was cancelled about 1hr 20mins before the flight was due to depart. I had been in the bag drop/check-in queue for 2½ hours and I was about fourth from the front of the queue when the flight came up on the board as “cancelled”. The airline did not offer any alternative flight but instead chartered a bus to take willing passengers from Bilbao to Gatwick.”
Passengers were reportedly told the trip would take 15 hours, but it would actually be more like 23 hours. The post also claims passengers’ baggage was left all over the check-in area as Iberia baggage handlers were striking that day.
Photo: BearFotos | Shutterstock
This would put the flight between January 5 and January 8, when Iberia staff began their four-day strike. Vueling operates up to three daily flights between BIO and LGW – looking at data from Flightradar24, the airline canceled two flights on this route on January 5 (VY6307 scheduled for 13:55 and VY7292 at 18:15), so the flight in question was one of those.
Are travelers entitled to compensation?
Under EC 261/2004 regulations, airlines must ensure that passengers booked on canceled flights are offered a full refund, or rebooking/rerouting “under comparable transport conditions,” either at the earliest date possible or an agreed later date with the passenger, and compensate travelers if a re-route is offered that “departs no more than one hour earlier and arrives no more than two hours later.“
EU261 – How Does Europe’s Flight Compensation Scheme Work?
The Air Passengers Rights Regulation 2004 safeguards consumer rights after delays and cancelations.
While the “flight” arrived well past the two-hour threshold, airlines don’t have to pay out compensation if the flight was canceled due to “extraordinary circumstances.” At this stage, it isn’t confirmed why the flight was canceled, but it was likely to do with the strikes. As these strikes were not within the airline itself, it could be argued that circumstances were out of its control.
Also, while the intent to strike was revealed weeks before the actual walkout, Iberia’s staff didn’t confirm their strike date until Wednesday (Jan 3), two days before it started. Vueling could also claim that the short notice of the strike’s confirmed dates left it unprepared, but it had still checked passengers in and intended to fulfill the flight on the day.
Passengers out of options
There were no more scheduled Vueling flights to Gatwick that day, which is the only UK airport it serves from Bilbao. The only other airline flying to London is easyJet, which operates a twice-weekly service on Mondays and Fridays; however, these are both noon departures, so Friday’s flight had already gone by this point, leaving passengers waiting the whole weekend if they wanted to go with easyJet.
Photo: Pavel1964 | Shutterstock
This means passengers would have had to wait until a 07:00 Vueling flight to Gatwick the next morning (assuming there was availability), getting them in at 07:50 London time. The airline also has two later services on Saturdays, at 13:55 and 18:15, but there may have been limited availability on these flights too.
In Vueling’s defense, this was all happening amid a major ground handling strike at the airport. Even if it had the capability to reposition an aircraft or get help from an IAG partner, it may not have been possible under the circumstances. Simple Flying has reached out to Vueling for comment and will update this story accordingly.
What do you make of this story? Let us know in the comments.
