Litigation: Ensuring Passenger Rights in Accordance with Regulation (EU) 261/2004, March 2020

In a world where air travel is becoming more frequent and affordable, Regulation (EC) no. 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of deniedboarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) no. 295/91 (“Regulation 261/2004“) ensures that the rights of passengers are respected in case of flight schedule incidents.

Regulation 261/2004 provides a basic set of rules to be easily employed in case of long flight delays, cancellation or denied boarding. Such rules are meant to raise the standards of protection for passengers as well as create predictability for the airlines and ensure that air carriers operate under harmonised conditions in a liberalised market.

In member states, Regulation 261/2004 represents the ground for claims filed before the national courts against airline carriers, should compensations not be granted after a formal request. However, since Regulation 261/2004 provides a broad set of rules, tailoring them to practical situations presented a challenge.

Hence, the Court of Justice of the European Union(the “ECJ”) has aided the field significantly through itspractice, offering extended interpretation of the terms of the legislation,as well as the proper means to apply it.