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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Around 200 passengers on the British Airways “Stanley Johnson” flight from Malaga to London Gatwick that was diverted to Heathrow will not get compensation for the delay and inconvenience.

On 28 June 2024, a British Airways plane blocked the runway at Gatwick, which was closed to landings for 50 minutes. BA flight 2641 from the Spanish city was among 16 diversions – one to as far away as Brussels. The Airbus A321, with the former prime minister’s father on board, landed at Heathrow. The plan was to refuel and fly on to Gatwick as soon as possible after the runway at the Sussex airport reopened.

One passenger, Richard Davenport, told The Independent: “The plan was to refuel, and the aircraft was given a slot to fly to Gatwick. However, as Stanley Johnson decided he wanted to get off – along with another passenger – we subsequently missed the slot.

“It took a few hours to sort, and ultimately BA cancelled the flight. All passengers then had to deplane, proceed through immigration, and then take a bus to Gatwick.”

Read more: Air passenger compensation: What are your rights when a flight goes wrong?

With passengers arriving at their intended airport well over three hours late, some assumed that British Airways would be liable to pay delay compensation for the incident.

But BA appears to be relying on a clause in the European Union guidance on compensation that treats all airports serving a single city as equivalent. It could save the airline up to £70,000.

Another passenger, Annemarie from south London, made a claim for compensation but was told by British Airways: “We’re sorry your flight from Malaga on 28 June with us was delayed. We know this isn’t what you expect when you travel with us, and we understand why you needed to complain about it.

“Your claim has been refused because the diverted flight reached your destination within three hours after your scheduled arrival time.”

Annemarie challenged the decision, saying: “We did indeed land within the three hours, but it was the wrong airport! We never made it to Gatwick on the plane because the flight was cancelled, mid-journey, at Heathrow.

“When we purchased our flights we expected to take off and return to Gatwick. That was the contract. British Airways failed to fulfil it. If we had wanted to fly to/from Heathrow we would have booked that route in the first place.”

BA customer service said her claim had been reviewed but once again declined. The reasoning was opaque: “The diverted flight reached your destination within three hours after your scheduled arrival time irrespective of the destination.”

Annemarie told The Independent: “It appears they seem to think that getting us to London was sufficient, despite the inconvenience caused by our daughter going to Gatwick to collect us only for us to be offloaded at Heathrow.”

The exact EU wording is: “A diverted flight by which a passenger finally arrives at an airport which does not correspond to the airport indicated as the final destination in accordance with the passenger’s original travel plan is to be treated in the same way as a cancellation unless ... the airport of arrival and the airport of the original final destination serve the same town, city or region.”

Mr Davenport told The Independent: “With a car parked at Gatwick, we didn’t have to option to just leave at Heathrow. It left 99.5 per cent of passengers with a bitter taste.”

Ironically, each passenger on the next two flights the Airbus was intended to operate has a claim for £350 in compensation. The trip from Gatwick to Heraklion and back was cancelled because of the delay.

Annemarie said she may continue to claim for compensation on the basis that the Heathrow-Gatwick flight was cancelled. British Airways is understood to be reviewing her case.

The last communication she received from BA was: “We do understand how strongly you feel about this. When a customer has any kind of concern, we share the feedback with the relevant manager and focus on what we can do to avoid the issue happening in the future.”

Stanley Johnson, meanwhile, insists that the captain invited anyone who wanted to disembark at Heathrow to do so. He told The Independent at the time: “Three of us seized the opportunity and proceeded to the front exit, and waited on the steps outside the cabin for transport to the terminal.

“For some reason the authorities couldn’t organise this! V sorry for inconvenience caused but it wouldn’t have happened if the authorities hadn’t screwed up by announcing the ‘disembark here’ option without being able to deliver it.”

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast

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