Am I entitled to compensation for a cancelled flight within the EU if the arrival airport is partly/fully closed during bad weather?

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Accepted answer

TL;DR You won't get compensation in this particular case. But the airline still has to get you home and care for you.

You are not entitled to compensation if the cancellation is cause by "extraordinary circumstances", and bad weather is one of that circumstances. And it is generally enough that the weather (which is outside the airline's control) caused the cancellation; and it is not necessary that the whole airport was closed.

You are still entitled to the "right of care" under the EU regulation. This means the airline has to book you onto another flight to your destination if you want that. Until you can take that flight, the airline needs to "care for you" by providing meals, refreshments and a hotel if necessary.

The authorities do not usually tell airlines to cancel individual flights; they can close, or restrict, airports and regions of airspace. The airline will have to decide if they can operate the flight under the given circumstances.

Of course you cannot be 100% sure what the reason for the cancellation was. There are no independent websites that tell you the reason either; but you can ask the airline for proof if they don't want to pay compensation. But in this case the reason is pretty obvious: All other flights were cancelled as well, and it was clearly weather-related.

You could give the case to a "flight rights enforcement web site", but they will probably just refuse to take it. The chances are just too slim.

If you really want something, you can still write to Lufthansa and hope that they give you a voucher for the next booking, or award you some extra loyalty miles, as a good-will gesture.

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