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.

The suggestion is that these opt-out clauses are regularly and improperly invoked when cancellations and delays are in fact due to operational reasons.

The European Commission has expressed concern that airlines are abusing the legislation and, in particular, it criticised Ryanair, for its “explicit non-compliance”.

Air travel is frequently a challenge and anything that restores some sanity and comfort is to be welcomed.