WRITTEN QUESTION E-0080/02

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(25 January 2002)

Subject: Cancellation of flights owing to bad weather at Eleftherios Venizelos airport

One of the effects of the recent bad weather in Greece at the beginning of January was to cause severe disruption at the new airport, Eleftherios Venizelos. Most scheduled services were cancelled, some passengers spent hours in aircraft on the runway and hundreds of travellers suffered an ordeal lasting several days. Inquiries by journalists have revealed that the airport administration had not procured the necessary equipment to de-ice the aircraft or the runways.

Given that passengers are entitled to claim compensation from the airline in the event of cancellation or delay of flights, will the Commission investigate whether the allegations that the airport was not prepared to deal with such weather conditions are true and, in the event that they are, decide whether the airline or the airport administration is liable to pay compensation?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2002)

The question posed is whether airlines or the managing body of Athens airport are liable for damages caused by delays or cancellations of flights as a result of the storms at the beginning of January 2002.

At present Community law does not regulate liability for damages resulting from the delay or cancellation of flights. At the moment, international flights are covered by the Warsaw Convention, which makes carriers liable for damage from delays, including those caused by cancellations. The convention also states that carriers are not liable if they prove that they took all necessary measures to avoid the damages or that it was impossible to take them. An action for damages must be brought before a court and the convention specifies which court can judge such cases. It would be for the court to decide whether a carrier was liable. The Commission, therefore, cannot comment further on the case mentioned in the question.

A new agreement, the Montreal Convention, was signed in 1999 and will progressively replace the existing Warsaw Convention as it is ratified by signatory states, so that in time the Warsaw Convention will only cover the carriers of third countries that have not ratified the Montreal Convention (and also carriers of countries that have ratified, when operating flights to or from a country that has not yet done so).

The Community is expected soon to adopt a regulation amending Regulation (EC) 2027/97 on the liability of air carriers, primarily to align it on the Montreal Convention. The new regulation will, among other things, render Community carriers liable for damage caused by delays, including those resulting from the cancellation of flights. Carriers, however, will not be liable if they prove that they took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for them to do so. Also, the regulation will set a financial limit to liability of around 5 800.

An essential feature of the new regulation is that, like Regulation (EC) 2027/97, it will apply to Community carriers, without distinction as to the origin or destination of the flight. This means that it will treat in the same way flights within a Member State, between two Member States and between a Member State and a third country. In this it will complement the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions that only cover international flights.

The new regulation will apply once the Montreal Convention comes into force for the Community. The Council has recommended in conclusions that the Community and the Member States deposit their instruments of ratification simultaneously and by the end of this year at the latest. The regulation should therefore apply from the beginning of 2003 onwards.