Thursday’s European Court of Justice ruling clarified which time corresponds to the actual arrival time of an aircraft. According to the ruling the actual arrival time of a flight is the time at which at least one of the doors of the aircraft is opened. This gives a clear answer how to calculate the length of delays with regard to compensation, said chair of Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee, Michael Cramer (Greens/EFA, DE).
“I welcome the judgment of the European Court of Justice as a further step towards more legal certainty for airlines and passengers. The concept of actual arrival time as interpreted by the Court must be applied uniformly throughout the European Union. With this judgement, the delay of three hours which gives rise to compensation to passengers has been confirmed. The judgment is another important judgment of the Court in view of the negotiations between Parliament and Council in the on-going revision of the EU rules on passenger rights. We appreciate that the ECJ takes EU consumer rights very seriously.
The European Parliament voted its position on the proposal for a revised regulation regarding the compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or long delay of flights in February 2014 to further clarify the air passenger rights rules. I would like to urge the Council to make progress, so we can start negotiations as soon as possible.”
Links
ECJ press release (04.09.2014)
EP press release on air passenger rights revision (05.02.2014)