European Court of Justice enables passengers to seek cash compensation from airlines for delayed flights

In a development that would give relief to passengers put to hardships by delayed fights, the European Court of Justice has ruled that passengers on flights that are delayed for more than 3 hours have the same right to demand cash compensation from the airline concerned as passengers on cancelled flights.

The European Union’s regulations, which came into effect in 2004, decree that air passengers on cancelled flights be compensated sums of between $370 and $890 €250 ($373). Related story: WHO study revealing health risks adds impetus to US tarmac-delay legislation

The ruling by the European Court of Justice, based in Luxemburg, arises from cases Austria and Germany, in which passengers on flights which arrived at their destination airports 22 hours and 25 hours late, respectively, sued Germany-based Condor Airlines and France-based Air France for compensation.

Courts in Germany and Austria had asked the European Court of Justice to clarify whether or not delays should be considered as cancellations since the European Union’s regulations only mention flight cancellations.

The European Court of Justice observed that passengers who are affected by a flight delay suffer damage similar to passengers affected by a flight cancellation – resulting in a loss of time and therefore are “in a comparable situation.”

Under the European Union’s regulations, the European Court of Justice noted, passengers booked on cancelled flights are entitled to get cash compensation from the airline concerned even if they are immediately re-booked on another flight, in case the new flight arrives more than 3 hours later than the arrival time of the original flight.

However, the European Court of Justice also ruled that an airline is not bound to pay cash compensation if it can prove that the delay had been caused by “extraordinary circumstances beyond its actual control” or due to circumstances which “could not have been avoided even if all reasonable steps had been taken.”

The court, in its ruling, clarified that “a technical problem” in an aircraft cannot be treated as an “extraordinary circumstance” unless that problem is caused by “events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the airline concerned and are beyond its actual control.”

It went on to make it clear that that, for the purpose of classification, a flight cannot be considered as cancelled only on the ground of duration of a delay, even if the duration of a delay is long.

Thus, the ruling of the European Court of Justice, in effect, makes a distinction between a cancelled flight and a delayed flight even while granting the passengers affected by flight delays of over 3 hours the same right to claim cash compensation as the passengers on cancelled flights.