When flights are cancelled, the European Court of Justice expands passengers’ rights to compensation

This ruling strengthens the rights of passengers who book their flights through electronic platforms, as this decision was issued against the backdrop of a case in which passengers had purchased airline tickets from Vienna to Lima on a flight of the Dutch airline (KLM) through a travel agency platform.

Passenger rights

When the flight was cancelled, KLM LM) refunded the tickets, but kept about 95 euros ($110) that the platform had charged as an agency commission.

The case reached the Supreme Court of Austria, which referred it to the European Court of Justice to rule on the legality of this measure.

Airlines

In a ruling issued in 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that airlines are obligated to refund agency commissions collected by third parties in addition to the ticket price, but only If the company is aware of the commission.

But the court stated in its decision, today, Thursday, that it does not matter whether the airline company is aware of the exact amount of the commission.

The court confirmed that airlines are obligated to refund the commission if they admit that the agent issues flight tickets on their behalf.

The court’s decision stated that the commission is part of "It is irreplaceable" Included in the ticket price, and therefore must be considered approved by the airline.