/pl/

/en-int/flight-cancellation-compensation/

/en-int/

/en/airhelp-plus/

Press Home

new-way-of-claiming

ahplus-landing-page-compare-plans

returning-users-notification

returning-users-phase-2

new-way-of-claiming-desktop

fee-on-homepage

test

returning-user-phase-2.1

how-it-works-abc-test

After ECJ ruling: Lufthansa denies rights of 200,000 passengers

Nach EuGH-Urteil: Lufthansa verwehrt 200.000 Fluggästen ihre Rechte

<ul>
<li>Following a complaint by AirHelp, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that passengers affected by airline strikes have the right to financial compensation</li>
<li>In November 2019, nearly 200,000 Lufthansa passengers were affected by an announced staff strike</li>
<li>Lufthansa refuses to pay compensation to 4,500 affected passengers represented by AirHelp in court, despite court ruling</li>
</ul>
Berlin, 27 May 2021 – Following an announced week-long pilot strike by Scandinavian airline SAS in 2019, almost 370,000 passengers were unable to make their journeys. Europe’s largest legal tech company AirHelp (www.airhelp.com), which specialises in air passenger rights, then filed a complaint with the Swedish court in Attunda. The case went all the way to the European Court of Justice, which ruled on 23 March 2021 that announced airline strikes, as well as spontaneous ones, do not constitute exceptional circumstances. This decision is binding for all courts in the EU and therefore also applies to other airlines. Affected passengers are therefore entitled to compensation according to the Air Passenger Rights Regulation EC 261. Lufthansa, however, apparently sees things differently and still denies passengers from Germany their rightful payments after a strike.
Lufthansa ignores applicable law for 200,000 passengers 
The specific case involves an announced staff strike at Lufthansa in November 2019. Due to the events at the time, almost 200,000 passengers were unable to reach their destinations as planned. Now, the affected persons are not to be compensated despite the ECJ ruling. In the 4,500 passenger’s legal proceedings currently being conducted by AirHelp in this matter, Lufthansa refuses to follow the jurisdiction of the EU’s highest court. The reason given by the company is that it is waiting for an outstanding judgement by the Regional Court of Cologne, which has jurisdiction in this matter. 
However, the fact that Lufthansa not only waits but deliberately drags out the proceedings is shown by the fact that the company appeals in every court case in this matter. This was also the case most recently on 21 April 2021, one month after the ECJ’s ruling. Since the decision, however, the legal situation for this case has been clear and Lufthansa is thus obliged to pay out passengers entitled to compensation. The affected passengers are therefore entitled to compensation of up to 600 euros per person.
“Lufthansa’s stalling tactics are not only a highly unusual practice in court, but also underline the company’s unwillingness to compensate passengers for its own failings. However, due to the ECJ ruling we won, the factual situation is clear. The company must pay compensation to the people affected,” comments Christian Nielsen, Chief Legal Officer at AirHelp. 
Lufthansa does not see itself affected by the court ruling 
The company argues that its 2019 crew strike cannot be compared to the staff strike of SAS or other airlines. Lufthansa invokes that it did everything in its power to prevent this strike – the fact that the pilots went on strike anyway is therefore not owed to the company. However, the European Court of Justice made it clear in its decision that all staff strikes, without exception, cannot be considered as an “extraordinary circumstance”. Strikes must be scheduled by companies as a regular activity and are therefore to be considered manageable.
Already in 2018, passengers won another strike case before the European Court of Justice 
Three years ago, a similar strike case was already successful before the European Court of Justice. The subject of the complaint was a so-called “wildcat strike” – an unannounced, spontaneous staff strike. The ruling of the EU’s highest court at the time coincides with the most recent decision in March 2021: airlines must plan for strikes and compensate the passengers affected by them. The current ruling now clarifies that strikes organised and announced by a trade union, as in the case of Lufthansa, also entitle passengers to compensation.
“Through the two rulings of the European Court of Justice, it is clearly established that strikes cannot be considered extraordinary circumstances and therefore the airlines are responsible for them. For affected passengers, this means that you must receive compensation from the respective airlines in accordance with the Air Passenger Rights Regulation. This also applies to Lufthansa, which is not above the law. However, since the corporation still refuses to recognise this, we at AirHelp are consistently taking Lufthansa to court in this matter and suing for the rights of affected passengers,” adds Christian Nielsen. 
Passengers have these rights 
Flight cancellations and delays can entitle passengers to compensation payments of up to 600 euros per passenger. The amount of the compensation payment is calculated on the basis of the length of the flight route. The rightful compensation claim depends on the actual length of delay at the point of arrival as well as the reason for the cancelled or delayed flight. Affected passengers can enforce their compensation claim retroactively, up to three years after their flight date.
Exceptional circumstances such as severe weather or medical emergencies can have the effect of exempting the operating airline from the compensation obligation. Both announced and unannounced strikes are not included.

DUBLIN (July 5, 2018). The budget airline Ryanair will face several strikes in the upcoming summer holiday season. To start, it has come to light that an agreement with flight attendant unions has not been reached, leading to strikes across Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium in July.&nbsp; German labour union Vereinigung Cockpit, who represent pilots, have also not reached an agreement yet, which may lead to a further strike in August in Germany if an agreement is not reached by end of July.
Paloma Salmeron, passenger rights specialist at <a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/">AirHelp</a>, the world’s leading flight compensation company, explains:
“Ryanair flights will be disrupted in July due to flight attendant strikes following failed negotiations with trade unions Sitcpla, SNPVAC, CNE/LBC and UILTASPORTI. Should pilots follow suit, further strikes are to be expected in August across Germany. Flight attendant strikes are the consequence of staff requests to stop employment under Irish law exclusively. &nbsp;
Affected passengers whose flights arrive at the destination with at least three hours delay due to a possible strike may be entitled to compensation of up to € 600 per person. This also applies to travelers whose Ryanair flight is canceled if they are informed of the cancellation of their flight less than 14 days before the actual departure date.”&nbsp;
In April this year, the European Court of Justice ruled that airline staff strikes cannot be considered as an extraordinary circumstance, which would have relieved airlines of their duty to pay compensation.
“For Ryanair passengers, it is now important to monitor the situation and regularly check the status of their flight. Any rebooking on bus, train or other flights should under no circumstances be carried out without notifying the airline. For a delay of more than five hours the airline is obliged to refund passengers the full ticket price. In the event of delays of more than two hours and an affected distance of more than 1,500 kilometers, the operating airline must also provide passengers at the airport with meals and drinks and with the option of making two phone calls or sending two faxes or e-mails. If necessary, the airlines must also provide accommodation and facilitate transport there. We advise everybody to claim this service from the airline. AirHelp supports the passengers in getting their rightful compensation and, if necessary, also takes the airlines to court. “&nbsp;
Flight problems: these are the passengers’ rights
Flight cancellations and delays may entitle passengers on flights to Europe on a European carrier, or from Europe with any airline to compensation of up to 900 CAD per person. The amount of the compensation payment is calculated according to the distance of the flight. The legitimate right to compensation depends on the actual delay at the point of arrival and the reason for the cancelled or delayed flight. Affected passengers can enforce their compensation claim retroactively, generally up to three years after their flight date.
Extraordinary circumstances, such as bad weather conditions or medical emergencies, may result in exempting the operating airline from their duty to compensation.
Check your eligibility still at the gate
With the AirHelp app, affected passengers can check at the airport whether their delayed or cancelled flight entitles them to compensation. It is sufficient to scan the boarding pass with the App-internal Boarding Pass Scanner. Afterwards, passengers have the option to let AirHelp claim their compensation from the airline. The AirHelp <a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/mobile/">App</a> is available for free from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

End
<a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/">AirHelp</a> is the world’s leading flight delays compensation company, helping passengers apply for compensation following a delayed, cancelled or denied boarding. Since launching in 2013, AirHelp has helped more than five million people process airline compensation claims worth almost 300 million euros in total reimbursement. AirHelp has offices across the world, is available in 30 countries, offers support in 16 languages, and employs more than 500 employees globally.

Know your rights ahead of Ryanair's staff strikes this summer

<h2>Irish airport ranked 21/141 in AirHelp’s annual AirHelp Score report</h2>
<ul>
<li>World’s Leading Flight Compensation Company Rates Airlines &amp; Airports Worldwide on Quality of Service, Claim Processing, On-Time Performance and Consumer Sentiment</li>
<li>Dublin the highest ranked airport in UK &amp; Ireland (UK&amp;I) (#21/141) – Stansted is the lowest (#140/141)</li>
<li>Aer Lingus ranked #18/72 for carriers, with CityJet at #27</li>
<li>Ryanair is Ireland’s poorest performing airline #67/72</li>
<li>Qatar Airways Ranked #1 Airline in the World for On-Time Performance, Quality of service and Claims Processing</li>
</ul>

DUBLIN (June 6, 2018) – Today <a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/airhelp-score/airline-ranking/?utm_source=pressRelease&amp;utm_medium=pr&amp;utm_campaign=AhScore2018AirlinePage_outreach_project_en_ie&amp;utm_term=na&amp;utm_content=na">AirHelp</a>, the world’s leading flight compensation company, announced its annual AirHelp Score ratings of the world’s best airlines and airports. The 2018 AirHelp Score found Dublin to be the highest performing airport in the UK&amp;I. The AirHelp Score is the most comprehensive and accurate data-based evaluation of airlines and airports globally, rating them on quality of service, on-time performance, claim processing and online consumer sentiment analysis.
AirHelp Score’s airport ratings show improvement is still needed
With a high mark in both on-time performance (8.35/10) and quality of service 8/10), Dublin was the highest ranked airport in the British Isles. Ranked #21 out of 141 airports in total, the airport was marked down due to a poor sentiment on Twitter (5.02/10).
Customers enjoyed the best experience at Hamad International Airport, Athens International Airport and Tokyo Haneda International Airport who were ranked top three, whereas London Stansted Airport and Kuwait International Airport fell short, taking the bottom two spots.
“Clearly Dublin airport is doing something right”, said AirHelp CEO and co-founder Henrik Zillmer. “But the sentiment on Twitter clearly indicates that there is more work to be done when it comes to consumer satisfaction.
AirHelp Score proves airlines who focus on passengers come out on top
Making improvements to on-time performance and claims processing allowed Qatar Airways to take the number #1 spot and dethrone Singapore Airlines, which dropped to #4 among 72 airlines for 2018. Worldwide, Lufthansa, Etihad Airways and South African Airways rounded out the top five.&nbsp; The top-ranking Irish airlines according to volume of passengers were Aer Lingus at #18 and City Jet at #27. Low cost carrier Ryanair was one of the poorest performing operators at #67. The five airlines falling behind worldwide with the lowest ratings include Air Mauritius, Easyjet, Pakistan International Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines and WOW Air.
“The 2018 AirHelp Score shows that as competition stiffens between airlines those that put passengers first will come out the winners in the long run. For too long airlines have focused on cutting corners and costs without regard to the people they serve. We’re thrilled to see a positive shift in many airlines who are now putting passengers first, and when things do go wrong these airlines are holding themselves accountable by executing the rightfully owed claims quickly and without hassle,” continued Zillmer. “We congratulate Qatar Airways who consistently puts customers first and has maintained its place in the top three since 2015 and is back at #1 this year. We hope more airlines take note of what these impressive competitors are doing and ensure an improvement next year.”
The 2018 AirHelp Score marks the company’s sixth report since it began evaluations in 2015. AirHelp developed this annual report to combine expert knowledge and industry expertise to give air passengers all the information they need to informatively book a flight and feel confident in their choices. To view AirHelp Score in full please visit <a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/airhelp-score/airline-ranking/?utm_source=pressRelease&amp;utm_medium=pr&amp;utm_campaign=AhScore2018AirlinePage_outreach_project_en_ie&amp;utm_term=na&amp;utm_content=na">here</a> for the airlines’ ranking and <a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/airhelp-score/airport-ranking/?utm_source=pressRelease&amp;utm_medium=pr&amp;utm_campaign=AhScore2018AirportPage_outreach_project_en_ie&amp;utm_term=na&amp;utm_content=na">here</a> for the airports’ ranking.
Air passengers who have experienced a delayed or cancelled flight can check their eligibility for compensation on the go, and make a claim in a matter of minutes through the free <a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/mobile/">AirHelp mobile app</a>, available for iOS and Android. Also, using AirHelp’s<a href="https://www.airhelp.com/en-ie/travel/"> new tool</a>, travelers can check flights’ compensation eligibility automatically for past and future flights.

About AirHelp
Since launching in 2013, AirHelp has helped more than five million people process airline compensation claims worth almost 300 million euros in total reimbursement. AirHelp has offices across the world, is available in 30 countries, offers support in 16 languages, and employs more than 500 employees globally.

***

Dublin airport recognised as one of the world's best airports

AirHelp is the world leader in helping air passengers to assert their rights. Read our story, check out recent press mentions and see our latest media releases.

AirHelp News and Press

google

airhelp

AirHelp News

Press Assets

Press Coverage

Contact