EU verdict notifies of repayment decision against airlines

GARDERMOEN.Oslo Airport.Photo: Kyrre Lien / SCANPIX

A new EU verdict allows for repayment in “thousands” of compensation cases, ‘Airhelp’ believes. The Consumer Council does not think they will win.

 

The EU court ruled this week that an illegal strike among cabin crew of the airline ‘TUIfly’ in 2016 does not exempt the company from liability to travellers who had their flights delayed or cancelled, wrote Dagens Næringsliv newspaper.

‘’The European Court of Justice has ruled that a strike does not constitute exceptional circumstances. With this decision,European passenger rights are significantly strengthened, and of course we are very pleased with that,” said Andreas Hermansson of ‘Airhelp Norway’, a company that helps travellers to get compensation.

The company announced that they will reopen “several thousand” closed cases on behalf of airline passengers, including in Norway.

The Consumer Council said they do not interpret the verdict in the same way as Airhelp does because a notified strike and an illegal strike do not come under the same ruling.

In the case that started in 2016, the airline surprised the employees with unannounced restructuring. The staff responded with sickness,and in a short period of time, 89% of the pilots and 62% of the cabin crew were reported ill. The strike was illegal because it was not announced, and initiated by the union.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today