Air France fail to honour EU Regulation 261/2004

Air France - should be ashamed of its dismal and pathetic systems. EU Regulation 261/2004 clearly obliges airlines to cover reasonable expenses when cancellations occur under their control.

I have been trying since December to get Air France to honour this obligation.

My wife and I were booked on AF871 with a connecting flight AF1608 to Stuttgart, Germany. Following the cancellation, we were rerouted on Lufthansa and arrived in Stuttgart only on Sunday, 30 November 2025.

We had reserved a hotel room at Mövenpick Stuttgart Airport (Booking number PNXHDCTJ) for the night of 29 November. Due to the cancellation, I emailed to cancel the booking, but the hotel charged me R5,447 (approx. €270) for late cancellation.

I submitted this expense claim via the Air France Claims App, including my banking details. Despite replying multiple times to requests for information, despite submitting information multiple times on the Air France Claims Track my Claims site, I continue to receive emails stating that my “case will be put on hold with automatic reminders until you have the opportunity to send us the missing information/documents.” In addition, the website continually reverts to stating “Information Missing” - AFTER previously showing all in order.

My Claim reference number is C-***9.

Today, Air France sent me an email asking for my email address - REALLY.

CAN SOMEONE AT AIR FRANCE PLEASE SORT THIS OUT BEFORE ONE OF US DIES?