Airlines in the european UNION is obliged to pay compensation to passengers for long delays. But there are exceptions – so-called ‘exceptional circumstances’.
A passenger who attack and bite other passengers so the pilot must stop over, so the aircraft’s next departure to be delayed, is one such.
It appears from a decision of the EUROPEAN Court of justice on Thursday.
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the Applicant had booked a aftenfly from Fortaleza in Brazil to the Norwegian capital Oslo 21. august in 2017 with the arrival the day after. One he came back two days later.
the Aircraft, which were supposed to ship him to a stopover in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, was over four hours late. Thus, he reached his next connection. He ended up arriving over 24 hours late.
the Delay was due to the drama on a former route with the same machine. Over the Atlantic ocean had a passenger on the way from Lisbon to Fortaleza bitten and assaulted other passengers and flight attendants.
the Pilot had to make a stopover in Las Palmas. Here was the troubled passenger set, and the plane could continue on to Brazil.
however, There are certain conditions that a carrier can rely on an ‘exceptional circumstance’. The court lists several in the case.
One of these is that the airline can not say that it was an ‘exceptional circumstance’, if it even contributed to the problem or not prevented it.
It can be, if the company allows a person who has already demonstrated troubled behavior go on board the plane.
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There must also be a direct causal link, so the delay can be proven to be directly caused by that same machine was the victim of an incident in the past.
Delays of over three hours triggers as a starting point the duty to compensate the passenger. The amount depends on the distance of the flight. It can be from 250 euros to 600 euros.
the EUROPEAN Commission has for years worked with a revision of EU regulation 261/2004, which provides the right to compensation.
Strong lobbykræfter pulling in different directions. Regulation is expensive for the airlines, which will have more lenient rules. Consumer organisations call for better protection of the passengers.
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