Aer Lingus says it will not compensate passengers who made flight arrangements on other airlines to avoid the pilots' strike which is now not taking place.
A number of passengers who spoke to The Irish Timesyesterday said they had spent considerable amounts of money on flights with other airlines after cancelling their Aer Lingus tickets.
One man holidaying in Tenerife paid €1,394 for tickets with Ryanair to fly four adults and a child back to Ireland. He also paid €160 for hotel accommodation and €80 for car hire as Ryanair uses a different airport from Aer Lingus. His original Aer Lingus tickets cost €800, of which half should be refundable.
Another customer spent €435 on tickets with Futura Air for two adults and a child so the family could be sure of returning from holiday in Barcelona on time.
With the strike now called off, the money spent by these passengers has been wasted.
However, Aer Lingus says it has no obligation to compensate passengers in this situation because the strike amounted to an "extraordinary circumstance", exempting the airline from the normal provisions of EU regulations on consumer protection.
A spokeswoman said the airline had offered affected customers a refund if they cancelled tickets and also allowed passengers to make new bookings at no extra charge. "That's as much as we can do," she said.
Flights for today and tomorrow to Heathrow and other destinations were selling yesterday for as low as €1 before taxes on the airline's website.
Aer Lingus says it will offer a full schedule of short-haul flights today and tomorrow, the scheduled days for the strike.
A small number of long-haul flights have been cancelled. These are: the 10.30am EI105 from Dublin to New York today; the 5.40pm EI104 from New York to Dublin today; the 11.50am EI123 from Dublin to Chicago tomorrow; and the 4.20pm EI122 from Chicago to Dublin tomorrow.
Anyone who was due to travel today or tomorrow and who cancelled bookings because of the strike may rebook their flights without charge. Alternatively, Aer Lingus says they can simply present themselves at check-in, where they will be accommodated.
The airline says people can rebook on its website or by contacting a helpline at 0818-365044.
Passengers are advised to check in at least two hours before departure for short-haul flights and three hours early for flights to the US and Dubai.
