WRITTEN QUESTION E-0080/02 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Cancellation of flights owing to bad weather at Eleftherios Venizelos airport.
Date: 2002-01-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, air traffic, air transport, bad weather, indemnification

C 172 E/140

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

(2002/C 172 E/144)

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.

feature of

the new regulation is that,

An essential
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.

like Regulation (EC) 2027/97,

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.