Airline passengers stranded by delays or overbooking are entitled to a hotel room, food and cash, a top adviser to the EU's highest court said yesterday, dismissing a challenge by airlines to the new EU rules.

Airlines, many of them barely profitable, criticised the rules as harmful to their business and went to court to fight the European Union regulation, which took effect in February.

The rules force airlines to compensate passengers for overbooking, long delays or cancellations with food, lodging, and, in some cases, hundreds of euros.

"There is no doubt, in the view of the Advocate General, that the obligations imposed on the air carriers are a suitable and proportionate means of reducing the trouble and inconvenience to passengers resulting from delays or cancellations," the European Court of Justice said in a statement, referring to one of its legal advisers.

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