Court warns agents may be sued over flight cancellations
Travel agents and tour operators are being warned that they could be sued by airlines if they’re told a customer’s flight has been cancelled more than two weeks before departure but delay passing the information on to the passenger
The warning comes after the European Court of Justice ruled that an airline that is unable to prove that a passenger was informed of the cancellation of their flight more than two weeks before departure must compensate them under EU 261 flight compensation rules.
It said this applied not only when the passenger had booked direct with the airline but also when they had booked via a travel agent or tour operator.
The court was ruling on a case between a passenger who had booked a flight in 2014 from Amsterdam to Surinam on airline SLM via an online travel agency. SLM informed the agency that the flight on November 14 was cancelled on October 9, but the agency didn’t inform the passenger until November 4.
The passenger claimed compensation from SLM because he wasn’t told of the cancellation at least two weeks prior to departure. SLM refused to pay as it had told the agency and the agency refused to pay, arguing that the airline had received the passenger’s email address in the booking information and therefore it should have contacted him direct.
In its judgment, the ECJ said that under Regulation EU 261, the airline must compensate the passenger, regardless of how they booked the flight. However, the Court said the Regulation did not prevent airlines from in turn seeking compensation from a travel agent or a tour operator for preventing it from carrying out its duty to the passenger.
Flight compensation firm AirHelp said consumer rights had been strengthened by the court ruling.
Chief legal officer Christian Nielsen said: "These cases are not very frequent, but they do exist and continue to cause confusion for travellers, as both airlines and travel agencies avoid responsibility.
"With this decision, the European Court of Justice has clarified that the obligation rests with the airlines to inform passengers of travel disruptions.
"If the travel agency is at fault, the airline may seek resolution from the travel agency."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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