Air travel nightmares - Court may clip wings of tardy airlines

AT this time of the year many people not ordinarily exposed to the bestial discomforts of modern air travel will be in a state of shock — sharing, albeit briefly, the indignities suffered by regular travellers.

However, they may take some crumb of comfort from a case before the European Court of Justice on airlines’ use of EU legislation.

Airlines are not obliged to compensate customers when schedules are affected by “extraordinary circumstances”, including bad weather, industrial action or safety and security issues.