Passengers have the right to apply for compensation from airlines, even if their tour was bought by a tourist agency – the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Thursday. As emphasized, the deck card is then a sufficient document confirming the journey.
Thursday sentence CJUE On the rights of passengers of the airlines, it concerns the clients of the Polish travel agency who bought a trip covering a charter flight from Tenerife to Warsaw.
The whole trip was bought through a tourist office, which concluded a contract with an air carrier offering charter flights. According to this agreement, the carrier served flights at set dates, and the office sold tickets for them.
Two office clients, citing the EU passenger regulations, demanded directly from the compensation line for a flight from Tenerife to Warsaw, who arrived with a 22-hour delay. The carrier, however, refused them to pay compensation, arguing that passengers did not have confirmed flight booking, only copies of on -board cards, which – according to the line – were not sufficient proof.
The carrier also decided that since the trip was bought by the broker at preferential prices, it can be considered that the passengers traveled free of charge or with a huge discount, which makes them not entitled to a refund.
Passengers will allow a company to court in Poland. He referred the case to the CJEU for an interpretation regarding passengers' rights to compensation.
The CJEU ruled in favor of tourists from Poland
On Thursday, the CJEU ruled that The deck card may be considered an evidence indicating that the reservation has been accepted and registered by an air carrier or trip organizer for a given flight. And in this situation, it should be considered that the passengers who appeared at the airport, went through and took a flight, using this card, had a confirmed booking.
The CJEU also rejected the carrier's argument that passengers allegedly traveled “free of charge or based on a discount tariff”, which was entitled to this particular tourist agency buying flights, explaining that the carrier himself did not agree that the passengers travel for free or showed it anywhere.
In addition, the Court ruled that the fact that the trip was bought by an intermediary, and not directly by passengers, did not prevent passengers from exercising the right to compensation.
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