Limited refunds for airline's passengers

Passengers:While Aer Lingus is allowing passengers affected by next week's strike to change their flight or seek a refund, the airline will not cover any expenses incurred by passengers as a result of the dispute.

So if passengers have to stay an extra night overseas before flying home, for example, they will have to foot the bill for the hotel themselves. Similarly, if passengers miss a connecting flight with another airline because of Aer Lingus's inability to bring them to the intermediate airport, their financial loss is of no interest to the Irish carrier.

Although Aer Lingus is not imposing the usual fee for changing a flight, it admits there may be a difference between the original fare booked and the fare now available. In fact, in most cases, there will be a considerable difference, given the circumstances of the strike and the fact that this is peak-time for air travel.

However, the airline says it will refund any additional money paid. Passengers who have over-paid are advised to send their booking details to the Aer Lingus Customer Contact Centre, Ground Floor, Head Office Building, Dublin airport, and mark the envelope "Strike Disruption".

EU regulation 261 covers passengers' rights in the event of flight cancellations, long delays and lost baggage. It provides for compensation to passengers as well as the payment of expenses, but there is a huge and much-used out-clause for the airlines: the regulation does not apply in extraordinary circumstances such as bad weather or strikes.

"They're not obliged to do anything under these regulations," said Rosaleen Quinlan of the European Consumer Centre in Dublin. "It's really unsatisfactory from the consumer point of view but there's not a huge amount anyone can do about it."

Aer Lingus commercial manager Enda Corneille said yesterday that the airline would talk to British Airways and KLM to see if passengers with connections could be accommodated on other airlines, but nothing concrete has been agreed yet.

Up to 50,000 passengers will be affected by the pilots' strike next Tuesday and Wednesday. Mr Corneille also warned of knock-on effects for other customers.

Those affected include 16 people who were due to fly out to Naples on Wednesday to attend a wedding on the Amalfi coast. The bride-to-be, Annette, told RTÉ's Liveline yesterday she was "completely devastated" to find that half her wedding party, including many family members, would be unable to travel to the festivities.

"We're gutted. You never think the one week of the year you choose to go on holidays will be the one they go on strike on."

Aer Lingus says passengers who want to change a booking should use its website or call the helpline on 0818-365044. It says it has additional staff working on the line, but there was a long wait to access the service yesterday.