Image: UNKNOWN (AUSTRIAN AIRLINES)
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a couple’s legal dispute with Austrian Airlines (Case C-49/22).
The couple flew from Vienna to Mauritius with AUA on March 7, 2020 as part of a package tour. Austrian canceled the return flight scheduled for March 20, 2020 due to the measures taken by the Austrian government against the Covid-19 pandemic. For a fee of 500 euros per person, however, the couple was able to return to Vienna on the same day on a repatriation flight organized by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This flight was operated by AUA at the same time as the originally scheduled return flight.
The couple demanded that Austrian return the 1,000 euros they paid for the repatriation flight. The Korneuburg regional court dealing with the legal dispute wanted from ECJ know whether there is a right to this under the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg denied this in the judgment published on Thursday, but at the same time emphasized that in the case before an Austrian court, the non-execution of the return flight as a result of the “obligation to provide support, including his obligation, including his obligation to inform”, a claim for reimbursement of costs can be raised.
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