Passengers in it for the long haul over flight delay claims

Tens of thousands of passengers are still waiting for millions of pounds in flight delay compensation, despite the Court of Appeal ruling in their favour one year ago, claim lawyers.

June marks the first anniversary of Huzar v Jet2.com, a ruling that stopped airlines from claiming 'technical problems' are part of the extraordinary circumstances outlined in Regulation EC 261/2004.

Under the regulation, passengers delayed by three hours or more in the last six years can claim up to ‚¬600, as long as their delay was not caused by 'extraordinary circumstances'.

However, Bott & Co Solicitors - who represented Ronald Huzar in the Supreme Court - claim that 19,500 delayed passengers are still waiting for compensation a year after the ruling.

The total amount of unpaid compensation, based on an average claim of ‚¬430 per person, equals ‚¬8.35m.

Bott & Co litigation executive Kevin Clarke remarked: 'The airlines pursued these matters all the way through the legal system because they said that they wanted clarity. That clarity was provided by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

'It is regrettable that having gotten the clarity they sought, they then spent the next 12 months continuing to fight cases and raise different arguments. The history of the regulation has been ten years of complicated legal argument after complicated legal argument and, despite all of the pro-passenger judgments handed down, we still have to take these claims to court to secure compensation.

'This judgment means that if you issue court proceedings and you were delayed by a technical defect you should receive compensation. It's a shame that airlines still push people into issuing court proceedings by ignoring genuine claims or running arguments which the courts have said are not valid.'

Stalling tactics

Bott & Co allege that airlines have been employing a variety of stalling tactics to avoid payment, including changing the 'technical problem' defence to the 'hidden manufacturing defect' defence, which are covered under the regulations as an extraordinary circumstance provision.

Airlines have also argued that, according to their terms and conditions, passengers cannot claim beyond two years after the delay, and have threatened to counter-sue passengers who attempt to launch legal action against them.

In 2013 the European Commission (EC) published a list of 'extraordinary circumstances'. Drafted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the list differs from Regulation EC 261/2004 and contradicts existing case law.

In response to a complaint from Bott & Co, the EC amended the document to state that the list was 'non-binding' and 'non-exhaustive'. However, airlines have continued to use the list in court.