• Extract from Aviation Act (tj. Dz.U. 2006 nr 100 poz. 696 z późn. zm.)
   download 127.37 Kb
• Regulation (EC) 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 (EEC) No 295/91  download 128.36 Kb
• Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2005 on the establishment of a Community list of air carriers subject to an operating ban within the Community and on informing air transport passengers of the identity of the operating air carrier, and repealing Article 9 of Directive 2004/36/EC
   download 79.36 Kb
• Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air
   download 96.51 Kb
• Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws  download 97.49 Kb
• Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, Signed in Montreal, 28 May 1999
   download 211.57 Kb
• Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
   download 92.97 Kb

Attention:

On 19th November 2009 the Court of Justice of the European Communities issued a judgment in joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07, references for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the Bundesgerichttsho (Germany) the Handelsgericht Wien (Austria)in the proceedings:  Christopher Sturgeon, Gabriel Sturgeon and Alan Sturgeon v. Condor Flugdienst GmbH (C-402/07) and Stefan Böck, Cornelia Lepuschitz v. Air France SA (C-432/07), concerning the interpretation of Articles 2(l), 5, 6 and 7 of Regulation (EC) 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 (EEC) No 295/91 (OJ 2004 L 46, p. 1).

In the judgment the Court states that:

• Article 2(l) and Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that a flight which is delayed, irrespective of the duration of the delay, even if it is long, cannot be regarded as cancelled where there is a departure in accordance with the original planning.
  
• Articles 5, 6 and 7 of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that passengers whose flights are delayed may be treated, for the purposes of the application of the right to compensation, as passengers whose flights are cancelled and they may thus rely on the right to compensation laid down in Article 7 of the regulation where they suffer, on account of a flight delay, a loss of time equal to or in excess of three hours, that is, where they reach their final destination three hours or more after the arrival time originally scheduled by the air carrier. Such a delay does not, however, entitle passengers to compensation if the air carrier can prove that the long delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken, namely circumstances beyond the actual control of the air carrier.
  
• Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that a technical problem in an aircraft which leads to the cancellation of a flight is not covered by the concept of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of that provision, unless that problem stems from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier concerned and are beyond its actual control.

The full text of the judgment could be found on the EUR-Lex site: 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62007J0402:PL:HTML.

On 22nd December 2008 the Court of Justice of the European Communities issued a judgment in case C-549/07, reference for a preliminary ruling from the Handelsgericht Wien (Austria) in the proceeding Friederike Wallentin-Hermann v. Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane SpA, concerning the interpretation of Article 5(3) Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.

In the judgment the Court states that:

• Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that a technical problem in an aircraft which leads to the cancellation of a flight is not covered by the concept of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of that provision, unless that problem stems from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier concerned and are beyond its actual control. The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (Montreal Convention) is not decisive for the interpretation of the grounds of exemption under Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004.
  
• The frequency of the technical problems experienced by an air carrier is not in itself a factor from which it is possible to conclude the presence or absence of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004.
  
• The fact that an air carrier has complied with the minimum rules on maintenance of an aircraft cannot in itself suffice to establish that that carrier has taken ‘all reasonable measures’ within the meaning of Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and, therefore, to relieve that carrier of its obligation to pay compensation provided for by Articles 5(1)(c) and 7(1) of that regulation.

The full text of the judgment is published on the EUR-Lex site:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62007J0549:PL:HTML.