Airline thanks customers for ‘patience’ on compensation claim waits

A WOMAN who arrived into Sumburgh Airport nine hours late following delays with her flight says it took a month for Loganair to respond to her request for compensation.

Helen Erwood’s flight on 25 August was due to leave Glasgow at 10.25am, and after some delays – and twice boarding the plane – passengers were told they had to be bussed to Edinburgh for a different flight to Sumburgh.

After more delays, the passengers eventually arrived into Sumburgh at around 9.20pm.

Erwood, from Vidlin, submitted a compensation claim two days later – but said earlier this week that she still had no acknowledgement from Loganair of the request.

She said contact centre staff at Loganair told her there was a backlog of claims.

After Shetland News contacted Loganair for more information on Monday (25 September), the airline shortly emailed Erwood to confirm that she was eligible for compensation.

A spokesperson for Loganair said: “We aim to process claims for compensation within 28 days but during busy travel periods, wait times can increase.

“Our customer care team aim to respond as soon as possible, and we thank our customers for their patience.”

In the UK people on a short haul flight are eligible for £220 compensation if it is more than three hours late and it is the airline’s fault.

Erwood also said there was a lack of communication for passengers during the day in question.

Meanwhile Loganair has explained why there have been no Sunday newspapers on the shelves in Shetland over the last two weekends.

A spokesperson said they were not delivered on Sunday 17 September as the courier was four hours late, and on Sunday 24 September the morning flight was cancelled for technical reasons.