Editor, Solicitors Journal

Cheshire-based firm cashes in on flight delay claims

24 Sept 2015News

European Court of Justice and Civil Aviation Authority crack down on airline industry generates business potential

Personal injury compensation specialist Jefferies Solicitors is to expand its services into the lucrative area of flight delay claims as the European Court of Justice (CJEU) continues to hammer the airline industry.

Research by consumer group Which? revealed that 9,000 flights each year are delayed for three hours or more by technical issues. Consumers whose flights have been cancelled, denied boarding, or delayed may be eligible to claim up to €600 compensation against the airline.

Michael Jefferies, the managing director at the Cheshire-based firm, commented: 'We're pleased to be extending our legal offering to cover flight claims, which is a growing sector due to changes in the law.'

The likelihood of recovering flight compensation has improved following the recent decision in Van der Lans v KLM. The CJEU ruled in favour of a passenger who had been delayed by 29 hours in 2009.

Dutch airline KLM rejected the claim for compensation, arguing it should not be liable for a spontaneous technical issue emerging just before takeoff, which would fall into the exemption category of being an 'extraordinary circumstance'.

However, the CJEU ruled against KLM in favour of the passenger and confirmed that a technical problem was not an extraordinary circumstance.

In related news, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched enforcement action against Irish low-cost airline, Ryanair.

The action follows a review by the aviation regulator that found Ryanair is not complying with European law designed to support passengers following flight disruption.

The CAA is not satisfied the airline is dealing with compensation claims for disruption caused by routine technical faults, despite the UK Court of Appeal clarifying how such claims are to be treated in Jet2.com v Huzar.

In addition, Ryanair is attempting to impose a contractual two-year time limit from the date of the flight for passengers to issue compensation claims at court - despite previously publicly committing to a six-year time limit and in spite of the UK Court of Appeal ruling in Dawson v Thomson Airways that passengers have up to six years to issue claims.

Ryanair is now required to make policy changes or face the prospect of further enforcement steps leading to court action, if the airline remains non-compliant.