‘Passengers should get compensation if flights are delayed or cancelled’

AIRLINE passengers should receive compensation for delayed or cancelled flights or for being bumped from the passenger list because of overbooking, according to an initial opinion from the European Court of Justice.

Ryanair and other European airlines challenged the compensation package agreed by the EU last year in the British High Court.

The compensation package entitles passengers, who have been denied boarding because of overbooking or whose flights have been cancelled, to a refund of their ticket price, an alternative flight, compensation and care including meals, hotel accommodation and the cost of phone calls or emails.

The compensation varies according to the length of the flight from €250 to €600 and is paid only if the flight is cancelled within two weeks of the departure date, the passenger cannot be satisfactorily rerouted and the airline cannot prove that the cancellation is unavoidable.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) representing 270 airlines, and the European Low Fares Airline Association that represents ten low fares airlines including Ryanair, brought the issue before the British courts earlier this year.

Ryanair has argued that the compensation will be worth more than the price most passengers pay for their tickets.

The Court referred the issue to the Court of Justice in Luxembourg but the opinion from the Advocate General says the EU regulation should be considered valid.

Normally the AG’s advice is followed by the full Court considering the issue and then it makes its decision within a few months.