Who is this page for ?
This page provides access to the information provided to customers in the early stages of the Middle East Conflict. For current guidance please click here.
What happens if my flight is affected by airspace closure?
If your flight is disrupted due the middle east conflict ( airspace closure and Fuel shortage), what you’re covered for depends on the length of the delay and your policy.
Delays under 12 hours
If your flight is re-routed or delayed by less than 12 hours, no cover applies under your policy. In this situation, it remains the responsibility of the airline or carrier to rearrange your journey or provide a refund where applicable.
Delays over 12 hours
If, on the day you are due to travel, your flight is delayed or cancelled and no suitable alternative is provided within 12 hours of your scheduled departure time, the following cover may apply (subject to your policy terms and conditions):
For Single Trip and Annual Multi-Trip policies:
You may be covered for the cost of cancelling your trip.
If you have optional Trip Disruption Cover:
Reasonable additional accommodation and public transport costs to continue your trip.
The cost of cancelling your trip if, within 7 days of your original departure date, your flight is rearranged and you miss 50% or more of your trip.
For Backpacking policies:
Cover may differ depending on your specific policy and circumstances. Please contact our Sales and Support team for further information.
Travel through affected regions:
If you are transiting through the Middle East or any area where the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is advising against all travel or all but essential travel, no cover will apply under your policy.
However, if you are only flying over an affected area and not landing or transiting through a destination where FCDO advice is in place, your cover will remain valid.
Important information
All cover is subject to the terms, conditions, and limits of your policy. Any additional expenses must be reasonable and comparable to your original booking. Please refer to your policy wording for full details.
Airline responsibility
Airlines are responsible for re-routing or refunding your flight. Depending on the circumstances and timing of the disruption, you may also be entitled to compensation directly from the airline.
If you are currently stuck abroad in Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates you should register your presence to receive direct updates from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
· tell the UK government you’re in Bahrain
· tell the UK government you’re in Israel
· tell the UK government you’re in Kuwait
· tell the UK government you’re in Palestine
· tell the UK government you’re in Qatar
· tell the UK government you’re in the United Arab Emirates
You should also read their guidance on being affected by a crisis abroad.
You should follow all advice from local authorities.
The cover under your policy will automatically extend at no cost to you, so long as you take the first available flight offered to you, either by your airline or by the UK government, to get you home.
As airspace in the above countries is currently closed, your airline will be unable to offer you alternative flights at this time. Once airspace is open, your airline will start offering you options for return flights.
If you were already checked in to fly home or in transit through an airport in the affected countries, your airline should provide you with food, drink, access to communications and accommodation.
If you are mid-stay, you’ll need extend your stay at your current hotel. In several countries, such as the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi), the government has already confirmed that they will be covering the costs of these extensions if a guest cannot afford to cover the extended stay.
Package trips You should speak to your tour operator. You are protected under ‘The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018,’ and ‘The European Package Travel Directive’, and your package provider will arrange alterative accommodation, new flights, etc.
Non-package trips You may also be able to claim under the section ‘Cutting short your trip’ once you return to the UK.
Package trips You should speak to your tour operator. You are protected under ‘The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018’ and ‘The European Package Travel Directive'; you are entitled to a full refund.
Non-package trips As long as the FCDO Travel advice continues to advise against all, or all essential travel in the 21 days prior to your trip, you’ll be covered for unrecoverable cancellation costs, subject to the terms and conditions of your policy. You should contact your travel providers for a refund prior to making a claim.
For example, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Oman please be aware that cover under your policy relies on the FCDO Travel Advice for your destination country.
Your policy covers you to travel to any part of any country in your chosen area of cover, except where the FCDO advises against all or all but essential travel.
If there is no advice against travelling to your destination, you’ll have full cover, without notifying us, subject to the terms and conditions of your policy.
So long as the FCDO Travel advice was not already advising against travel to your destination when you purchased your policy, or booked your trip then the following applies:
If the FCDO Travel advice changes and in the 21 days prior to your trip, is advising against all, or all but essential travel to your destination. You’ll be covered for unrecoverable cancellation costs, subject to the terms and conditions of your policy.
If the FCDO Travel advice does not change and travel is allowed, you’ll have no cover under our policies if you choose to cancel your trip, or pay to change to a different destination. Our policies do not cover disinclination to travel.
Please note that if you are worried that you may need to cancel your trip and are due to pay an instalment payment, you should make the payment as normal. If you fail to make payment of an instalment when the advice hadn’t yet changed, this would count as disinclination to travel, which is not covered.
If you’ve changed your trip, then so long as you havn’t had any changes in health and are not intending to make a claim under your policy, you can update your dates online using our customer zone as follows:
If you are delaying your trip by up to 60 days, to the same area of cover and for the same duration,
You can make the change free of charge.
If you are delaying your trip by more than 60 days, are changing the area of cover, or are increasing the duration
Additional costs may apply to make the change.
If you are no longer travelling
You can cancel your policy at any time, your refund amount will depend on the amount of time you’ve spent on cover. Click here to see more.
Please note, if you need to claim under your policy for cancellation costs related to changing your trip, you won’t be able to reuse your policy for your new trip, as you’re making a claim. To make a claim click here.
