Cologne (dpa/tmn) –
The airline writes more than in time that a flight is canceled. However, to an e-mail inbox in which the information is sent. The passengers are suing for compensation payments. Do you get it right?
If passengers are not informed about flight cancellations in good time, they are entitled to compensation payments in addition to the ticket costs. That is, if the information about the cancellation was not given at least two weeks before the planned departure time. The information obligations of the airlines are very far-reaching in these cases, which is good for the passengers affected.
This is shown by a decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) (Az.: C 307-21, ECLI:EU:C2022:729). In this case, bookings were made via an online flight search engine. The core of the problem: The online portal had not passed on the traveler’s contact details to the airline, but a different e-mail address.
Info sent to email inbox
When the flight was cancelled, the airline wrote this in good time – several months in advance – to the e-mail address that the flight search engine had given it. From there, however, the information was not passed on to the affected passengers.
They only found out about the flight cancellation the day before departure – when they wanted to check in online. They sued for compensation, initially without success. A district court ruled that the airline had complied with its obligation to provide information and was therefore not obliged to pay compensation.
The passengers appealed and the district court as the next instance asked the ECJ whether this was a case for compensation payments after the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation is.
ECJ decision in the interests of those affected
the decision of the ECJ was in favor of the passengers. The EU’s highest court made it clear: In this case, the airline is obliged to make compensation payments.
The ECJ had also previously decided in this way: In one Verdict 2017 was about a similar case.
What travelers can deduce from this: Compensation claims are not excluded if the airline only informs the travel agent about the cancellation at least two weeks in advance – and the travel agent does not pass the information on to them within the deadline.
The magazine “ReiseRecht aktuell” (06/22) reported on the new ECJ decision.
