ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Regulation No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation No 295/91, as well as a few other EU regulations and the 1999 Montreal Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air. It provides a comprehensive overview of the existing legal European and international rules on various air passenger rights and air carriers’ liability, and the long-awaited reform. Furthermore, the most important decisions of the Court of Justice of the EU are presented, especially with respect to delay, the legal concept of extraordinary circumstances which may exempt air carriers from the payment of special compensation in the event of cancellation of a flight or delay at arrival, and some other relevant issues, for example the relationship between the Montreal Convention and EU law. It is argued, inter alia, that the liability exclusion based on extraordinary circumstances favouring large airliners should be replaced by the longstanding stricter doctrine of vis maior which would be more fair and beneficial to passengers in light of the rule in dubio pro consumatore.
