Canarian Weekly
01-02-2013, 11:30
ANGRY airline passengers, hit by long flight delays, will now be able to claim compensation. But only if the circumstances comply with a landmark European Court of Justice ruling.
It was brought in last October, and it persuaded a Stoke-on-Trent man to appeal after his initial claim against Thomas Cook was turned down.
TheEuropean Court, the highest court for interpreting and enforcing EU laws, ruled that airlines would have to pay compensation for delays of three hours or more, unless there were factors beyond their control.
And on Monday, retired teacher Jeff Halsall became one of the first UK passengers to be awarded damages from a tour operator.
He successfully sued the company for the £680 air fare at Hanley County Court following a 22-hour delay for his and his wife’s return flight home from Tenerife to East Midlands airport in October 2009.
Mr Halsall was also awarded £270 court costs and £9.50 for petrol and parking expenses.
District Judge Peter Rank told the court: “This must have been very upsetting for Mr and Mrs Halsall. It was a most unpleasant experience and it must have been very frustrating.”
The decision could pave the way for thousands upon thousands of claims from tourists, provided they have faced flight delays of more than three hours.
Mr Halsall’s initial claim was rejected by a judge because Thomas Cook said the delay was down to “exceptional circumstance” beyond its control.
But Mr Halsall, from Kidsgrove, appealed against the decision after learning of the new European legislation, which allows people to claim between £200 and £480 compensation for delays of over three hours in EU countries.
Under those new rules, passengers can make a successful compensation claim if the airline is at fault for the delay. But only if the flights are within the EU, or the airline is based in the EU.
It means that airline companies can still deny pay-outs when delays are outside their control – during bad weather, strikes or power cuts, for example.
And compensation currently depends on the length of the flight and not the ticket cost. The EU are currently reviewing this.
The ruling also means that travellers will probably be able to claim compensation for EU flight delays dating back to 17th February 2005. Claims should be made directly through the airline concerned.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the legal victory appeared to be the first in the UK since the European ruling.
Thomas Cook said it had offered Halsall more money than the figure eventually awarded by the court.
A company spokesman told the Daily Mail: “We appreciate how frustrating flight delays can be, and we’ve reiterated our apology to Mr Halsall for the lengthy wait he and his wife experienced.
“We always look at claims such as this fairly, and make every effort to resolve complaints without the need for a court hearing.”
A delighted Mr Halsall said: “Our claim has been going on for years and we are just glad it is finally sorted.
“There were hundreds of passengers on our flight, and most of those people won’t know that they have the right to make this claim.”
He added: “It doesn’t matter how much people pay for their flight, everyone is entitled to this. Airlines won’t tell people of their rights because they don’t want to pay out.
“People probably think they have to go to court to do this, but they don’t! All they need to do is write to their airline.”
ABTA told the Canarian Weekly that the EU regulation EU 261, introduced in 2006, gave airlines guidelines concerning delayed or cancelled flights.
Before those guidelines, it was made clear that a delayed flight would not entitle passengers to monetary compensation but only food, drinks, hotel, etc.
Only in some circumstances would a person have been entitled to compensation if the flight were cancelled.
But there was an about-turn during a 2012 court case in Germany, when a judge interpreted the EU ruling to apply to delays as well.
That opened the door for Mr Halsall to proceed again with his claim against Thomas Cook.
In another twist this week, the European Court of Justice ruled that Irish budget airline Ryanair flouted EU law by refusing to pay out cash to a customer left stranded by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud three years ago.
Denise McDonagh, from Ireland, should have flown back to Dublin from Faro on 17th April, 2010.
But she was trapped in Portugal for a week because her flight was cancelled after the eruption closed down much of European airspace for nine days.
She ran up hotel, meal and refreshment bills of 1,130 euro (£940), and submitted them to the airline on her return to Ireland.
But the company refused to reimburse her, claiming the consequences of the eruption were so unexpected that they could not count as “extraordinary circumstances”.
Ms McDonagh pursued her claim through the Irish courts, which then sent the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg,
Last March, Advocate General Yves Bot ruled in her favour, and that has now been upheld by the court, whose judges have ordered Ryanair to cover the costs she incurred.
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/claims-time-flight-chaos/)
It was brought in last October, and it persuaded a Stoke-on-Trent man to appeal after his initial claim against Thomas Cook was turned down.
TheEuropean Court, the highest court for interpreting and enforcing EU laws, ruled that airlines would have to pay compensation for delays of three hours or more, unless there were factors beyond their control.
And on Monday, retired teacher Jeff Halsall became one of the first UK passengers to be awarded damages from a tour operator.
He successfully sued the company for the £680 air fare at Hanley County Court following a 22-hour delay for his and his wife’s return flight home from Tenerife to East Midlands airport in October 2009.
Mr Halsall was also awarded £270 court costs and £9.50 for petrol and parking expenses.
District Judge Peter Rank told the court: “This must have been very upsetting for Mr and Mrs Halsall. It was a most unpleasant experience and it must have been very frustrating.”
The decision could pave the way for thousands upon thousands of claims from tourists, provided they have faced flight delays of more than three hours.
Mr Halsall’s initial claim was rejected by a judge because Thomas Cook said the delay was down to “exceptional circumstance” beyond its control.
But Mr Halsall, from Kidsgrove, appealed against the decision after learning of the new European legislation, which allows people to claim between £200 and £480 compensation for delays of over three hours in EU countries.
Under those new rules, passengers can make a successful compensation claim if the airline is at fault for the delay. But only if the flights are within the EU, or the airline is based in the EU.
It means that airline companies can still deny pay-outs when delays are outside their control – during bad weather, strikes or power cuts, for example.
And compensation currently depends on the length of the flight and not the ticket cost. The EU are currently reviewing this.
The ruling also means that travellers will probably be able to claim compensation for EU flight delays dating back to 17th February 2005. Claims should be made directly through the airline concerned.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the legal victory appeared to be the first in the UK since the European ruling.
Thomas Cook said it had offered Halsall more money than the figure eventually awarded by the court.
A company spokesman told the Daily Mail: “We appreciate how frustrating flight delays can be, and we’ve reiterated our apology to Mr Halsall for the lengthy wait he and his wife experienced.
“We always look at claims such as this fairly, and make every effort to resolve complaints without the need for a court hearing.”
A delighted Mr Halsall said: “Our claim has been going on for years and we are just glad it is finally sorted.
“There were hundreds of passengers on our flight, and most of those people won’t know that they have the right to make this claim.”
He added: “It doesn’t matter how much people pay for their flight, everyone is entitled to this. Airlines won’t tell people of their rights because they don’t want to pay out.
“People probably think they have to go to court to do this, but they don’t! All they need to do is write to their airline.”
ABTA told the Canarian Weekly that the EU regulation EU 261, introduced in 2006, gave airlines guidelines concerning delayed or cancelled flights.
Before those guidelines, it was made clear that a delayed flight would not entitle passengers to monetary compensation but only food, drinks, hotel, etc.
Only in some circumstances would a person have been entitled to compensation if the flight were cancelled.
But there was an about-turn during a 2012 court case in Germany, when a judge interpreted the EU ruling to apply to delays as well.
That opened the door for Mr Halsall to proceed again with his claim against Thomas Cook.
In another twist this week, the European Court of Justice ruled that Irish budget airline Ryanair flouted EU law by refusing to pay out cash to a customer left stranded by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud three years ago.
Denise McDonagh, from Ireland, should have flown back to Dublin from Faro on 17th April, 2010.
But she was trapped in Portugal for a week because her flight was cancelled after the eruption closed down much of European airspace for nine days.
She ran up hotel, meal and refreshment bills of 1,130 euro (£940), and submitted them to the airline on her return to Ireland.
But the company refused to reimburse her, claiming the consequences of the eruption were so unexpected that they could not count as “extraordinary circumstances”.
Ms McDonagh pursued her claim through the Irish courts, which then sent the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg,
Last March, Advocate General Yves Bot ruled in her favour, and that has now been upheld by the court, whose judges have ordered Ryanair to cover the costs she incurred.
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/claims-time-flight-chaos/)