A British Airways flight scheduled to land in Dusseldorf landed in Edinburgh by mistake.
British Airways says the BA Cityflyer service from London City airport was wet leased to WDL Aviation, a German company. WDL operated the service with its own crew and captain and they filed the flight plan for Edinburgh incorrectly.
BA says in terms of safety there was no risk to the passengers. The pilot wasn’t lost at any point, but because the paperwork said Edinburgh, the flight took that route.
After the flight refuelled in Edinburgh, passengers were flown onto Dusseldorf after two and a half hours on the ground.
A statement from British Airways said: “We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed. We have apologised to customers for this interruption to their journey and will be contacting them all individually.”
WDL said: “We are working closely with the authorities to investigate how the obviously unfortunate mix-up of flight schedules could occur. At no time has the safety of passengers been compromised. We flew the passengers on the flight with number BA3271 to Dusseldorf after the involuntary stopover in Edinburgh.”
Coby Benson, flight delay compensation solicitor at law firm Bott and Co said: “This instance is far from extraordinary and well within British Airway’s control.
“With that in mind, the airline is solely responsible for providing monetary compensation to its passengers.
“As the flight arrived in Dusseldorf three hours and fifteen minutes late, passengers are entitled to compensation of €250.”
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