Passengers caught in UK flight chaos could still claim money back as cause finally revealed

The cause of a major disruption to UK flights earlier this month has been revealed as a software issue in the flight data system, which resulted in many flights being grounded.

Many of the UK's biggest airports were affected and a preliminary report from NATS explained the issue was being mitigated while a permanent fix was worked on.

They explained that it was 'a software issue in a specific part of our flight data system, that we have traced to a small subsection of coding', which affected flights in the London area.

However, since the whole system needed to be restarted it had an impact on flights across the UK, and thousands of passengers faced disrupted journeys.

Over 1,000 flights were grounded which is an awful lot of passengers who had their journeys ruined or delayed, though any hopes they had for compensation were dampened by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Compensation is unlikely, but it's worth asking your airline (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Can passengers claim compensation?

Given the nature of the disruption it's likely that this will be chalked up to 'extraordinary circumstances', which means in most cases airlines aren't obliged to pay out compensation.

For those who've tried contacting their airline to get compensation it's likely going to end without getting such, but that doesn't mean passengers cannot claim any money back at all.

While airlines don't need to pay compensation under extraordinary circumstances they still have a requirement to look after their passengers who get stuck, which means providing hotels and meals at a rate proportional to the amount of delay suffered.

Basically, if you got stuck as a result of the flight cancellations and had to put yourself up for a while unexpectedly then keep the receipts and your airline is supposed to reimburse you for those expenses.

Either the airline is supposed to sort out food and accommodation for passengers, or if the passengers sort it then according to the CAA 'we expect airlines to promptly reimburse passengers for the reasonable costs they incur making their own arrangements'.

Even if you're not getting compensation airlines have to look after you if you get stuck, so check if you can be reimbursed the cost of food and hotels waiting for your next flight (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Keep your receipts and get your money back if you got stuck.

Meanwhile, passengers might not be likely to claim compensation but the Financial Times reports that the airlines are demanding it to the tune of millions.

Airlines UK has called for an 'immediate compensation for the costs incurred and a credible plan to improve resilience' so a disruption like this doesn't happen again.

Over 2,000 flight were cancelled across the disruption and it's expected to cost airlines operating in Britain tens of millions of pounds.

Whenever something like this happens there's always the chance of getting money back.

Know your rights, ask your airline and make sure they've looked after you properly.