Airline passenger rights clarified by European Commission

Since the introduction of passenger rights rules in 2005 there has been a succession of precedents set through legal cases brought before the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU). As a consequence, the resultant inconsistencies the change in scope and content for the legislation has merited a revision to the rules. According to the European Commission “A clarification was therefore needed for travelers, airlines and the national authorities, which are in charge of making sure the rules are properly applied at national level.”
The major section requiring clearer legislation and explanation relates to Regulation 261 and the most controversial section of it, where passengers are entitled to compensation after a three-hour delay at the final destination, their rights in the event of a missed connection, and what constitutes an ‘extraordinary circumstance.’ This latter part was perhaps highlighted by the Icelandic ash cloud in 2010. The Commission has made it clear that airlines “cannot be exempted” from providing compensation as a result of delays caused by technical problems.
This revision is a minor one compared to the currently outstanding attempt back in 2013 to revise the rules for passenger compensation. This has reached a point of stagnation owing to the ongoing dispute between Great Britain and Spain over Gibraltar. These amendments have been described by IATA as an “important stop-gap measure”, despite the core issues with the regulation remaining unresolved.
IATA DG and CEO Tony Tyler made it clear that “Today’s guidelines will help with the consistent application. That’s an important step, but follow-up is needed. Many of the March 2013 proposals are welcome, but on top of that, more dialogue is needed to address remaining fundamental problems with the regulation.”
In the meantime, IATA is calling for additional clarification on time limits on care and assistance for events which are beyond airline control, along with the introduction of “trigger times” for delay compensation that vary according to the length of the flight.