Passengers stranded at airports because of flight cancellations will welcome the European Court of Justice's ruling that reimbursements have to be given even in cases of a technical fault.
In a landmark decision, the ECJ ruled that airline carriers would be obliged compensate all passengers if a flight was cancelled for technical reasons and this provision had to be applied across the board.
This means European airlines will no longer be able to circumvent EU regulations and avoid reimbursing passengers following flight cancellations due to a technical fault, a reason they usually cite.
The only exception to the rule applies when the airline is able to provide evidence proving that the problem was due to "extraordinary circumstances".
Only in the event of such circumstances, which were absolutely beyond the airline's control, even if all reasonable means to prevent its occurrence were employed, would the airline be exempt from compensation payments.
However, the court ruled that technical problems which came to light during aircraft maintenance or further to a shortcoming during maintenance did not class as extraordinary circumstances. Only technical problems not caused by the normal activities of the airline, such as a production fault, could be considered as exceptional circumstances.
When this was the case, however, it would be up to the defendant party (the airline, in this case) to prove it could not possibly have been in a position to prevent the problem or, as a consequence, stop the flight from being cancelled.
The EU regulation, which was adopted in February 2004 in all the EU member states, including Malta, provides that in the event of a flight cancellation, affected passengers will be entitled to reimbursement, unless they are notified sufficiently in advance, which is usually not the case.
Welcoming the ECJ's ruling, EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said the effective respect of passengers' rights was one of the EU's priorities.
"The court's ruling confirms the Commission's interpretation, which is that exceptional circumstances exonerating the airlines from their responsibility should really be truly exceptional," he said.
Later this year the Commission is expected to adopt a communication on passengers' rights, which will clarify the differences of interpretation of the EU regulation.
Although rules have been in place for the past years, many passengers still find it difficult to access their rights due to various complications and "justifications" raised up by airline carriers.
In Malta, complaints about airlines should be made to the Civil Aviation Department, which acts as the regulatory authority of the aviation industry.