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Thomas Cook ordered to compensate passengers after plane was impounded
A judge at Manchester County Court has ordered Thomas Cook to pay almost £20,000 compensation to passengers who were stranded in Cancun for two days when their plane was impounded by the Mexican government.
The judgment was handed down today after an appeal hearing in March.
Judge Main awarded Aly Lewis and 41 other passengers £487.80 each for a 43-hour delay.
In today’s ruling Judge Main said: "The origin of the event here, a dispute over landing & navigation fees, was an event inherent in the normal exercise of the activities of an air carrier."
Flight TCX325 from Cancun to Manchester Airport was scheduled to depart at 17:30 on Saturday December 1 in 2012, but hundreds of passengers were delayed for 43 hours when Mexican Authority SENEAM impounded the aircraft.
SENEAM accused the airline of failing to pay a compulsory $200 (MXN) ‘air navigation charge’, preventing the aircraft from departing until the alleged outstanding fee was paid. The airline dismissed the claim that there was any debt outstanding.
Thomas Cook representatives said they attempted to pay the fee to SENEAM when they were told the plane would not be allowed to fly, but that the Authority would not accept cash or a cheque.
The airline was told it must use a payment process that was not in operation over the weekend, meaning the airline could not pay until Monday morning.
Passengers were sent to a hotel for two nights, eventually arriving in Manchester at 2:20am on December 3, 43 hours late.
A Thomas Cook spokesperson said: "We’re extremely sorry our customers experienced such a delay on this flight, which was the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances that we believed to be extraordinary. We accept the judgment of the court and continue to operate thousands of successful flights each year to Mexico."
Kevin Clarke of law firm Bott & Co which represented the passengers said: "The airline may say that this delay was not its fault, but that is missing the intention of the Regulation; while a delay may not be an airline’s fault, the law says it is their responsibility."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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