Airlines Must Pay Out Compensation

• News
• Published: 23 Dec 2008 in Travel and General

The European Court of Justice has ruled that airlines must pay compensation to passengers whose flights are cancelled due to technical issues with the plane.

European judges said if the problems were caused by "extraordinary" circumstances, such as terrorism, sabotage or a hidden manufacturing fault, airlines were not obliged to pay out compensation.

The judges said current EU rules give passengers the right to compensation "unless they are informed of the cancellation of the flight in due time". However, airlines are not obliged to pay if they can prove that cancellation was caused by "extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken".

The court was ruling in a legal conflict between an Austrian family and Alitalia over a flight from Vienna to Brindisi via Rome, which was cancelled five minutes before scheduled departure time. A switch to an Austrian Airlines flight meant the family missed the Rome connection to Brindisi, and arrived nearly four hours late.

When Alitalia refused to pay compensation of 250 euro and 10 euro telephone costs, the family took legal action and subsequently won their case.

The judges said it is up to the airline to prove that the circumstances are "extraordinary" - and complying with the rules on aircraft maintenance does not allow a refusal to compensate passengers if mechanical failure causes the cancellation of a flight.