Protection of Consumers in the Sphere of an Air Carrier’s Responsibility in the Event of a Flight Cancellation Due To a Strike of the Air Carrier’s Employees. Case Comment to the Judgment of the EU Court of Justice of 23 March 2021 Airhelp (C-28/20)

Abstract

The case annotation discusses consumer protection in the sphere of an air carrier’s liability for damages arising from a strike of its pilots, which was treated by the carrier as an extraordinary circumstance exempting the carrier from the obligation to pay compensation in the event of a flight cancellation. The Court of Justice interpreted the definition of ‘extraordinary circumstances’, both ‘internal’ and ‘external’ to the activity of the operating carrier, as the premise obliging or releasing the carrier from its liability.

Keywords

• air passengers’ rights
• air carriers’ liability
• collective disputes
• regulation 261/2004