Even if an airline informs a passenger more than 14 days before take-off that it does not want to carry him or her, it must pay him or her compensation. For this to happen, the passenger does not have to have first tried (in vain) to check in, the European Court of Justice has ruled.The European Air Passenger Rights Regulation (No. 261/2004) allows airlines to postpone or completely cancel a flight at least two weeks in advance without having to pay compensation to passengers.
In this case, the bookers get back the money they paid for their tickets, but otherwise go empty-handed, i.e. they do not receive the compensation payments of €250, €400 or €600 ´ provided for in the regulation – depending on the length of the route.
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On the other hand, the airline must pay these amounts if the flight is cancelled less than two weeks before departure or if it is delayed at short notice by at least three hours on arrival. But what happens if the entire flight is not cancelled, but if the airline merely informs a passenger that it does not intend to carry him or her? Is the two-week period then sufficient?
Compensation must be paid immediately
No, the judges at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have now ruled. In order to sufficiently guarantee the protection of passengers – which is the aim of European Regulation No. 261 – it must be „narrowly interpreted“. This means that an airline’s obligation to pay compensation immediately in the event of denied boarding overrides the restriction that this is not necessary if more than two weeks elapse between cancellation and take-off.
Thus, the denied boarding of individual passengers is something fundamentally different from the cancellation of an entire flight. In other words, even if an airline gives its passengers more than two weeks‘ notice that it does not intend to take them on the flight, it must still pay them the prescribed compensation.
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The ECJ thus answers a question posed to it by the Frankfurt Regional Court. The German court is dealing with the case of a woman who wanted to check in for a flight from Frankfurt to Madrid. This flight was to take place the following day.
Return flight was simply cancelled
However, the check-in failed and the woman contacted the airline responsible, Latam Airlines. The airline informed her that she had been rebooked on a flight that had taken place the day before without giving her any notice.
In addition, her booking for the return flight, which was to take place more than two weeks later, had been blocked on the grounds that she had not taken the outward flight. The passenger then demanded compensation from Latam Airlines for the denied boarding on the return flight.
However, Latam refused to pay the sum of €400, arguing that the woman had not flown to Madrid in the first place and had therefore not only found out there at check-in that her flight had been cancelled. Rather, she had known about it more than two weeks beforehand.
Appearance at the airport not necessary
The ECJ also ruled: passengers do not have to appear in person at the check-in counter at the airport in order to benefit from the compensation payment. This question had also been put to the European judges by the Frankfurt Regional Court. It is sufficient for the passenger to be informed in advance that he or she will not be taken along against his or her will.
„Under these circumstances, the appearance of the passenger for check-in is not only pointless, but also associated with a considerable travel effort for the affected passengers,“ Claudia Brosche, air passenger rights expert at Flightright, assesses the ruling: „The ECJ has recognised this and considered the requirement as mere fiddling unnecessary.“
Quelle: FVW
Reiserecht Prof. Dr. Führich 