Couple win compensation after EasyJet fails to get them on plane in time

EasyJet has been ordered to pay a couple more than £1,000 after they missed a flight because the bag drop counter was understaffed.

Niall and Aileen Caldwell, from Edinburgh, turned up two hours before departure for their journey home to Gatwick from Sicily last September, just as the check-in desk opened.

But there were long queues at check-in and at the bag drop counter, where only three people were working, and the couple missed their flight - despite asking staff several times if they could be fast-tracked.

The next flight wasn't for two days, and the couple were told they had to pay for it themselves. It cost nearly £900 - more than twice the cost of the EasyJet flight they'd missed.

When they finally got home, Mr Caldwell launched a legal action against EasyJet, saying that the airline was to blame, rather than him and his wife - and Sheriff Tom Welsh has now agreed, awarding them £1,042.90 in compensation.

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"I am satisfied as a matter of fact that the passengers did nothing which had the character of fault about it," he wrote in his judgement.

"They did not dillydally on the way to the departure gate. They did not divert to a restaurant or bar to have refreshments. They were not legitimately detained at security for additional searches."

And, he concluded, it was EasyJet's 'operational inadequacies' that meant the Caldwells missed their flight.

"Provided the passenger presents for check-in on time for a confirmed reserved seat and is not at fault, he is entitled to compensation if denied boarding and the responsibility for taking reasonable steps to facilitate passage through the carrier's own bag-drop queues and airport security queues, rests with the carrier," he wrote.

"To hold otherwise would mean that bona fide and blameless travellers like the Caldwells, who were thrice denied help and assistance by the carrier, would necessarily be deprived of the high level of protection provided to them."

If you miss a flight because it's the airline's fault, then your entitled to compensation - but in the past, long check-in queues haven't been deemed a good enough reason. Most travel insurance policies will cover a missed departure, although the circumstances in which they'll pay out vary. Most, for example, will cover problems with public transport, but not a traffic jam.