BH Air are denying us any refund. They aren't arguing we spent too much. They think because it was air traffic control related they don't owe us compensation. They are correct in that respect. But we don't want compensation. We want refunding for food and drinks bought only because we were delayed for 6 hours over a meal time.
The problem here is that whilst the airline has to theorectically give you food and drink if your flight is delayed long enough, they probably won't retrospectively reimburse you for food you've bought 'without prior authorisation' as such.
In other words, you effectively need to claim at the airport at the time, and get issued with vouchers (to a set limit) or are provided with food of their choosing. OR you have to keep it to a bare minimum and claim with receipts.
If you look at the wording of what they are required to give you, I think you'll find you'll become a cropper because of this.
Have a look at what the CAA says on this. Notably it says what you are entitled to and explicitly how it works in practice:
https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/delays/
If your flight is delayed, many airlines will provide vouchers for you to buy food and drink. If you require accommodation, they may book a hotel and arrange transportation for you.
Sometimes airlines are unable to arrange care and assistance for all passengers. This can happen when staff are stretched during major disruptions.
If this happens, in our view you have the right to organise reasonable care and assistance yourself, then claim the cost back later. If you end up paying for things yourself, keep every receipt and do not spend more than is reasonable.
Airlines are unlikely to refund you for things like luxury hotels or alcohol. Some will provide guidance on reasonable costs.
We would expect the airline concerned to respond to a claim for reimbursement in a reasonable time and a the very least provide you with an indication of how long you should expect to wait for a response. If you are unhappy with the length of time it is taking or disagree with the airline’s decision regarding your claim, please see our section on how to make a complaint.
BH airlines say the following:
https://www.bhairlines.com/page.php?id=51
Depending on the circumstances when your flight is expected to have a long delay, passengers are entitled to receive care while waiting. This includes: meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time, if necessary hotel accommodation and the possibility of making two telephone calls. Care for passengers while waiting may be limited or declined if the provision of the care would itself cause further delay.
The key bit there, is meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time. You were delayed by four hours - so the case for a hot meal is much less - the amount of time you have otherwise been travelling is irrelevant to them as its not their responsibility.
And the airline DOES have a right to reject your claim, if they feel it is unreasonable. Having a sit down meal, just makes it much easier for them to reject your claim as its likely to be high per head (that would mean having things like multiple drinks will likely push this up and be problematic). The fact that BH Airlines make the point about refreshments being relational to waiting time, suggests that they might have a policy that they would only pay up for minimal snacks/drinks for a 4 hr delay.
Basically, you've made it more difficult for yourself to a) not request food at point of problem b) go for a full sit down meal for a four hour delay rather than a more reasonable (cheapest) option.
I don't think a full sit down meal is probably going to be classed reasonable for four hours, whether you like it or not.