Passenger Rights: New Ruling on Flight Cancellations

Feb 21, 2025 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

In a recent ruling, the Vienna Commercial Court (Handelsgericht Wien) strengthened passenger rights in case of flight cancellations. In the case at hand, at short notice, a couple’s flight was cancelled with the airline citing exceptional circumstances for the cancellation.

The plaintiffs had purchased tickets for a flight from Germany to Austria. However, less than two weeks before their departure, the airline cancelled the flight and refused compensation. The airline cited exceptional circumstances: The wind conditions at the time were such that a safe landing was impossible.

The district court agreed with this argument and dismissed the claim, finding that there was no reasonable possibility of re-routing the flight within three hours of the scheduled time of arrival at the airport. Therefore, under the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation, the defendant was exempt from its obligation to pay compensation.

The next level of appeal, the Commercial Court, disagreed. It quashed the decision and referred the case back to the court of first instance for retrial.

The court clarified that, although this case involved exceptional circumstances, airlines must take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of cancellations on passengers. The mere fact that a replacement aircraft is not available does not relieve an airline of its responsibility.

The court stressed that the airline’s obligation is not only to achieve delays of less than three hours, but also to minimise significant passenger inconvenience. In requiring airlines to be more flexible in providing alternative transport, the Commercial Court is following the stricter case law of the European Court of Justice.

As the district court’s findings were insufficient, the Commercial Court overturned the decision. The question of whether the airline had in fact taken all reasonable measures will be examined in a new hearing.

Handelsgericht Wien, 50 R 115/24 d (20 January 2025)