I purchased tickets for the followi...
I purchased tickets for the following flights: - Outbound: Monday, 7 April 19:45 – Thessaloniki to Yerevan, arriving 03:20 - Inbound: Sunday, 13 April 04:20 – Yerevan to Thessaloniki, arriving 08:55 On 18 March, I was notified that my outbound flight scheduled for 7 April had been cancelled. As a result, I rebooked for the following day, 8 April, on the same route and departure time. On 6 April, media outlets reported an upcoming strike expected to affect air traffic. However, I did not receive any direct communication or updates from the airline. Furthermore, no cancellation was listed on the official airport departure schedule. On 8 April at 13:05 – less than seven hours before departure – I received an email notifying me that the flight had been cancelled. The message provided no alternatives for rebooking or managing the situation. The airline’s customer service hotline was completely inaccessible throughout the day. Consequently, I was left with no choice but to request a refund, as suggested in the cancellation notice. Following this, I contacted customer support to inquire about compensation under EC 261/2004. The response I received stated that the strike scheduled for 9 April constituted "extraordinary circumstances" as defined under Article 14 of the Regulation and, therefore, exempted the airline from liability. However, I must respectfully disagree with this conclusion for the following reasons: - Timing of the Strike: The strike was officially scheduled for 9 April, while my flight was on 8 April. Other evening flights on 8 April were still operating as per the airport’s official schedule, suggesting that operations were not yet affected by the strike. -The airline failed to proactively inform passengers or offer alternative arrangements, despite public knowledge of the potential disruption. The late notice and absence of assistance indicate a lack of reasonable effort to mitigate the situation. As a result of the sudden cancellation, I incurred financial losses, including non-refundable hotel bookings, missed business appointments, and lost income. Based on the above, I believe the cancellation of my flight was not directly caused by extraordinary circumstances, nor were all reasonable measures taken by the airline to avoid it. That's why I therefore request not only ticket refund which I finally got from airline, but also claim for compensation.