So, ash is back in the news. But for a change, it’s not Ashley Cole and a story about his private life to fuel our appetite for celebrity gossip; it’s the dreaded ash cloud. We look at what it means for holiday makers and the options if it affects your holiday and if you can claim compensation.

It’s difficult to forget the significant impact that last years ash cloud had on large parts of northern Europe. Just over a year ago the airspace over at least 20 countries was closed because of the risk that the ash in the air would have a detrimental impact on aircraft engines and could cause them to fail. This resulted in the biggest disruption to air traffic since the 2nd world war. It’s estimated that nearly 10 million passengers worldwide were affected. It meant that my wife got stuck in Egypt for a week more than she planned - she kept telling me she was trying to get home!

The impact from volcano Eyjafjallajökull lasted weeks and the claims made against airlines or insurers ran to millions of pounds. British Airways estimated the cost at £250 million and TUI, one of the largest Tour Operators in Europe assessed that the disruption cost about £6million per day.
Last years events took the insurance industry by surprise and there was a very mixed approach taken to meeting the claims made under the policy for compensation. Many insurers took the view that the eruption was not a “weather event” which would have been covered by their policies. However, guidance from the Insurance Ombudsman earlier this year suggests that the ash cloud was moved by the weather (wind) and it should therefore be something that is covered by those policies. As a result, many insurers have now met the holiday claims made.

The latest eruption is from the snappily named Grímsvötn volcano in Iceland. So far the ash cloud has threatened airspace in Scotland, causing many cancellations and delays. It’s not clear if it will spread to the rest of the UK. The good news is that (apparently) we’re better prepared this time and can hopefully avoid blanket closures of airspace. The engine manufacturers and the CAA are giving guidance on what levels of ash are safe to fly in and the levels that could cause problems. The other good news is that the ash is much heavier, so it shouldn’t hang around as long as it did last time.

Ash Cloud: Am I entitled to compensation?

The most important piece of legislation is EU Regulation 261/2004, known to most at the Denied Boarding Regulations. It is the best place to look to see if you’re entitled to compensation if the ash cloud ruins your holiday. Here are the basics:

If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to:

• a refund; or
• re-routing on the next available flight, plus appropriate refreshments and overnight accommodation if appropriate.
  You are not entitled to a refund of the cost of getting to your destination under your own means. For example, last year some people decided to spend exorbitant sums of money on getting to their destination, by taking a taxi from Southern Italy to Northern France!

If your flight is delayed for more than 5 hours, you are entitled to:

• a refund; or
• re-routing on the next available flight, plus appropriate refreshments and overnight accommodation if appropriate.

You are not entitled to compensation for the delays or cancellations because they are caused by an event that is outside of the control of the airline.
Tomorrow is supposed to be ash Wednesday (not the religious one), but the up to date reports tell us that the situation is “fluid”. The weather conditions mean that we don’t really know what the overall impact will be, but the latest advise is that it should be far less disruptive than last years eruption. Let’s hope so, I’ve got a flight home tonight and a flight to Amsterdam at the weekend…..

http://www.abta.com/consumer-services/travel_information/travel_disruption