– Gabriella Crosariol.
Passengers who book a flight through a travel agency can request compensation directly from the airline, in case of long delay of the flight. The C-215/18 judgment of the EU Court of Justice clarified that, despite the absence of a direct contract between the passenger and the airline (when the holiday is booked in a travel agency, as an “all-inclusive” holiday package), the passenger also has a contractual relationship with the operating air carrier, on the basis of which he can directly claim compensation from the airline, in case of prolonged delay in the departure of the flight.
In this case the flight Prague (Czech Republic) – Keflavik (Iceland) of 24.04.2013, operated by the company Primera Air Scandinavia, was delayed for over four hours.
Although the holiday was booked by Ms. Libuse Kralova (Czech Republic) through a Czech travel agency (as an all-inclusive holiday package, which also included accommodation in Iceland) she could claim for compensation of over € 400 directly from the airline, liable for the aforementioned delay.
The passenger filed the lawsuit in the ordinary Court of Prague, the place of her residence; however, the Court raised the issue of its lack of international jurisdiction.
The European Court solved the question of possible direct claim for compensation and territorial jurisdiction, by stating that the notion of operating air carrier – subject to the obligations deriving from the European Regulation on the rights of flight passengers (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 denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91) – includes not only the obligation of the airline, booked directly by the passenger, but also of the airline that operates, or intends to operate, a flight on behalf of a third party, for example the travel agency, which sold a “holiday pack” to the passenger.
The European Court declared that the operating air carrier is directly liable towards the passenger for the obligations deriving from the aforementioned European Regulation on the rights of flight passengers, since it acts as executor of the obligations, freely assumed towards the travel agency, which sold the package as “all-inclusive holiday” to the passenger.
Therefore the passenger has the right to file a lawsuit against the operating air carrier in the Court of departure of the flight (by virtue of a contractual relationship), a solution that may be more convenient, when this corresponds to the passenger’s place of residence.
This decision explains the extension of the application of the passengers’ contractual rights, which empower passengers to claim reimbursement also directly against the air carrier, in case of the air carrier’s default, even in absence of a direct contract between the parties.