Europe

UK: Civil Aviation Authority and Office of Fair Trading warn travel industry not to mislead consumers

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 15 May, 2013 - 15:53

A new guidance launched by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), is aimed at airlines, price comparison websites, travel agents and tour operators, and is designed to make sure the travel industry is fully aware of its responsibilities under existing consumer legislation. The document makes clear that the travel industry must provide consumers with the information they need, when they need it and in a transparent way they can clearly understand.

German Supreme Court: air passengers entitled to compensation for missed connecting flight

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 15 May, 2013 - 14:46

The passengers were booked on an Iberia flight from Berlin via Madrid to San José (Costa Rica). The flight from BER to MAD was about 90 minutes delayed and the passengers therefore missed their connecting flight to SJO. They were rebooked to a flight one day later. Upon return they claimed for compensation pursuant to Reg. 261/2004.

CJEU: "Sturgeon" judgement did not infringe the principle of separation of powers

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 15 May, 2013 - 13:34

In its so called "Sturgeon" judgement (joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07) the CJEU had extended the air carriers' obligation to pay compensation to passengers who reached their final destination only 3 hrs or more after the scheduled arrival time even if their flight wasn't cancelled but only delayed. Upon reference for preliminary ruling filed by a German Regional Court (LG Köln), the Court has now decided that there is no contradiction between the "Sturgeon" judgement and the principle of separation of powers.

Germany: Supreme court decides on malperformance of Greenland cruise

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 15 May, 2013 - 10:51

A 14 days cruise "Summer in Greenland" was performed differently from what it had been sold: the route was different, several shore leaves were cancelled, the duration of other shore leaves was significantly reduced. Because of petrol of poor quality, the engine power was reduced and the visits to the Faeroe Islands and the Orkney Islands had to be cancelled. The respective days were spent on open sea instead. Some passengers therefore decided to terminate the trip in Reykjavik and returned back home on their own.

New German reference for ECJ preliminary ruling regarding Air Passenger Rights Regulation

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 30 April, 2013 - 16:08

In another motion for preliminary ruling regarding Regulation 261/2004 (EC) on Air Passenger Rights, a German court seeks further clarification of the right of a passenger to receive compensation in case of a long delay.

The plaintiff was booked on a flight from Palma de Mallorca to Munich on Oct. 10, 2011. The flight was delayed more than 25 hrs. The plaintiff, however, did not take the delayed flight but was rebooked to an earlier alternative flight which resulted into a delyed arrival of 5 hrs less.

Swiss Ferderal Court: yacht charter including crew does not constitute a travel package

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 26 April, 2013 - 16:47

In a recent judgment, the Swiss Federal Court (Bundesgericht) had to decide whether the charter of a yacht including the crew would qualify as a travel package. The Court pointed out that providing a crew only was a supplementary element such as providing a pilot in air transportation. Further the yacht charter contract did not include any specific travel as it was completely up to the consumers how to use the yacht and where to got to.

Judgement 4 A 450/2012 of Jan. 10, 2013 available in French here>>.

German court: lessor of holiday apartment must include costs of final cleaning into the advertised price

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 3 April, 2013 - 15:45

The defendant advertised holiday homes at Germany's Baltic coast in the internet where he indicated prices per week. However, only at the very end of the advertisment additional costs of a "final cleaning" were mentioned. The court (Schleswig-Holsteinsches OLG) held that the advertisment was contrary to German pricing law which requires the indication of the final price including all costs, fees and taxes.

EU: MEPs welcome Commission proposal on air passenger rights

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 22 March, 2013 - 13:55

In their first discussion of the proposal on Tuesday, transport committee MEPs welcomed the proposal to update air passengers' rights tabled by the Commission on 13 March but insisted that it include rules on hand luggage and solutions for passengers stranded if an airline goes bankrupt. Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas paid tribute to Parliament's preparatory work in 2012. The transport committee will appoint rapporteurs for the two regulations in the coming weeks.

UK to implement new Air Passenger Duty

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 21 March, 2013 - 08:13

Effective April 1, 2013, the United Kingdom will implement a new Air Passenger Duty (APD) chargeable on passengers being transported from a U.K. airport on a qualifying aircraft. The calculation of the APD is determined by the number of chargeable passengers, their destination and their travel class.

CJEU Advocate General: a railway undertaking may not exclude refund of the ticket price in cases of force majeure

Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 14 March, 2013 - 16:32

The EU Regulation 1371/2007 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations provides that a passenger who is facing a delay of one hour or more may request a partial refund of the ticket price from the railway company. This compensation is a minimum of 25% of the ticket price for delays of one hour to 119 minutes and a minimum of 50% for delays of two hours or more.

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