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30/06/2020 - Air flights: exceptional circumstances to avoid compensation.

argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: Air flights - exceptional circumstances - Compensation

On 11 June 2020, the E.U. Court of Justice, in the case C-74/19, ruled that the harassing behavior of a passenger on an air flight may constitute an "exceptional circumstance" such as to exempt the airline from the obligation to compensate for the cancellation or prolonged delay of that flight or of a subsequent flight operated by the same airline with the same aircraft, however, pursuant to Regulation no. 261/2004 (hereinafter the Regulation on air passenger rights) as one of the reasonable measures to be taken by the airline to evade the clearing obligation, it must ensure that passengers are boarded as soon as possible on alternative direct or indirect flights, possibly operated by other airlines. The Court also considered that the restarting of a passenger by the air carrier with the next flight operated by the air carrier and which causes that passenger to arrive on the day after the initially scheduled day constitutes a "reasonable measure" which exempts that carrier from his obligation to compensate only under certain conditions.