PHUKET, THAILAND – A French family with two children was stranded in Thailand after their return flight was cancelled due to tensions in the Middle East and new tickets suddenly soared in price.
Return flight cancelled and five-figure fares
The d’Ouveillane family had planned to fly back to France on 5 March, but their connection was cancelled. According to their account, a replacement flight for the four travellers was priced at €11,000.
Mother Patricia d’Ouveillane described the situation as opaque and difficult to understand. She said she only knew that fares had risen sharply within a very short period of time.
Prices reportedly reaching up to €60,000
According to the family, search results at times even showed offers of up to €60,000, depending on the route and short-term availability. These amounts appeared during the booking search while they looked for alternative ways back to Europe.
Such extreme prices often arose when only a few seats on diversion routes were still available. Airlines then priced this scarce capacity significantly higher at short notice.
Airline offers refund or rebooking
The family reported that the airline gave them a choice between a refund of the tickets already paid for or a rebooking under changed conditions. This left them facing the decision of accepting the money back or paying the much higher fares.
Father Sébastien d’Ouveillane stated that they would initially remain in Thailand and go to the airport on the originally planned departure day. There they intended to check which concrete options would actually be available.
How Middle East airspace disruptions hit Asia routes
Many flights between Europe and Asia passed through airspace in the Middle East. When routes were closed or classified as unsafe, aircraft had to make wide detours around these regions.
Such diversions lengthened flight times and increased jet fuel consumption. This raised airlines’ operating costs and often pushed ticket prices upwards for long-haul passengers.
Who pays the bill – and why rules often fall short
The aviation portal Simple Flying pointed out that longer flight times and higher operating expenses due to rerouting had a significant economic impact. The industry frequently passed these additional costs on to customers.
Travellers stranded outside Europe could also not rely on uniform EU compensation rules. In countries such as Thailand, claims usually depended on an airline’s conditions of carriage, and agreements like the Montreal Convention did not set fixed compensation amounts for war-related cancellations.
“Should airlines be obliged, in cases of war- or security-related cancellations, to offer affordable replacement transport instead of only a refund or expensive rebooking?”
said the article in an open question to readers.
“What experiences have already been made in Southeast Asia when a return flight was cancelled at short notice and suddenly only extremely expensive tickets were still available?”
said the article, inviting further reports from affected travellers.