EU261 and flights going *early* due to Weather
Earlier today I was due to catch a flight from a remote airport in Iceland (covered by EU261). Due to sustained 35+ knot wind (gusting 45 knots) and low cloud at the scheduled time of departure, along with very difficult surrounding mountainous terrain, probable wind shear, short runway (both ends drop off into the sea) and a likely absence of any sort of fancy ILS, the flight on a 9-seater was cancelled
However... a few hours earlier than scheduled the weather was not as bad and a landing and departure would have been much more possible
When EU261 was drafted, pax flying on 150+ seat jets in the geographical core of Europe at well equipped airports was the focus... quasi bush flying wasn't what legislators had in mind
If an airline has aircraft and crew available, phones all the pax, and were to reschedule a flight to be several hours early to avoid forecast bad weather, what happens to an airline's EU261 compensation liability ? Is rescheduling to several hours earlier due to weather allowed ? Is this allowed on PSO routes ? Is there a piece of law which makes this difficult for airlines ? Does pre-emptively making commercial pax flights a few hours earlier to avoid bad weather ever happen ?
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 25th Jun 2021 at 23:46.