A court Spanish has ordered Vueling airline to pay more than €13,500 in compensation to 12 passengers following the cancellation of their flight to Gran Canaria without any notice.
The ruling, issued by Court of First Instance No. 12 in Bilbao, covers not only standard EU-mandated compensation, but also a refund of out-of-pocket expenses and, in an exceptional move, additional damages for moral harm.
According to a statement from legal firm Erreklamatu, which represented the affected passengers, all professionals from the Basque Country travelling to a conference in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, who had booked a flight from Bilbao to Gran Canaria with a stopover in Barcelona, were scheduled for 24th October 2023.
However, the first leg of the journey, flight VY1431 from Bilbao to Barcelona, was cancelled without prior notice. The passengers were left stranded at the airport “without information, assistance, or any viable solution to reach their final destination that same day,” the firm stated.
When the passengers requested same-day alternative flights, Vueling reportedly only offered them ones for the following day, too late for them to attend the event they were booked for. A request for a refund of the unused tickets was also rejected, prompting legal action.
Full Compensation Awarded
The court ruled entirely in favour of the claimants, ordering Vueling to pay a total of €13,867.44, broken down as follows:
In addition, the court has ordered the airline to pay legal interest from the date of the first out-of-court claim and to cover all court costs.
This ruling highlights the obligations airlines have under EU Regulation 261/2004, particularly in situations where passengers are not informed in advance and no reasonable alternative is offered.
Passengers are advised to be aware of their rights and to get legal support if they experience similar travel disruptions.
