Even a trip to Egypt that hasn’t started has angered vacationers – it’s a joke

And although airline staff later apologized to passengers for the inconvenience, the five-hour tourists who waited for the flight to Egypt for an additional five hours did not reassure them at all: eight passengers joined in and filed a claim for compensation. As the airline refused to compensate the damages suffered, the vacationers did not give up and turned to the company to help them recover the compensation, which went to court.

The Vilnius Regional Court, which heard a case of violation of passenger rights, declared that the flight to Egypt was delayed for more than 3 hours, for which the airline must pay compensation of 400 euros to each passenger. In total – 3,2 thousand. EUR.

These compensations must be paid to the passengers by Smartwings Poland sp. z oo ”(“ Smartwings ”): promised to transfer vacationers from Vilnius to Marsa Alarm Airport on time. This trip was organized by the Itaka Lietuva travel agency.

Unbelievable, but it took vacationers over a year and a half to get the compensation they deserved.

According to the data of the case, it was established that the vacationers who had bought vacation trips to the Red Sea in the travel agency Itaka Lietuva had to leave for Egypt in 2018. November 20 6:15 pm, but the plane took off only at night next, 1 pm

Passengers are entitled to compensation in the event that a flight is delayed in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. From Vilnius to the Marsa Alarm airport there are more than 3.3 thousand. kilometers, passengers were entitled to compensation of 400 euros.

But the Polish airline refused to pay for it. True, in response to a passenger complaint, company employees apologized “for all the inconvenience” and stated that the flight “was delayed due to circumstances beyond the airline’s control.” The airline offered to pay compensation of 200 euros to this passenger.

Defending their rights, the passengers turned to the Lithuanian Transport Security Administration, asking for help in claiming the compensation to which they were entitled. However, it turned out that Smartwings did not even respond to the letter from the public authority. No response was received from Poland and, upon request, to provide evidence that the flight was delayed due to exceptional circumstances or – to compensate passengers.

The united passengers decided not to give up and turned to a company that mediates passengers to recover compensation from the airlines. As the passengers transferred their right to compensation to the company, the company sued Smartwings for 3.2 thousand. Compensation in euros.

The case was taken to the Vilnius City District Court, but the airline did not even attempt to respond to the claims expressed by eight passengers; in a brief response to the court, he indicated that he did not agree with the claim.

“The detailed reasons and arguments of disagreement with the claim are not specified in the defense, it is only observed that the claimant has exceeded the limitation period of the claim,” the court cited the position of the airline.

The district court found that the airline had not provided evidence that the flight from Vilnius to Marsa Alarm Airport was delayed due to special circumstances beyond the control of Smartwings that would remove the obligation to compensate passengers on the delayed flight according to the Regulation.

In addition, the court noted that the passengers had transferred their compensation to the company that represented them, for which the damage had to be paid. In addition, when awarding damages, the court also ordered the payment of 6 percent. Annual procedural interest on the amount awarded from the beginning of the judicial process until the execution of the sentence and the legal costs incurred by the plaintiff.

The losing Polish airline did not agree with such court decision and appealed to the Vilnius Regional Court. Smartwings’ complaint alleged that the decision should be annulled for breach of the rules of jurisdiction, as the case to award compensation should not have been seen by a court in Poland but in Poland.

“The Court of First Instance wrongly assigned the dispute to its jurisdiction,” the airline said.

They also pointed out that in the instant case the statute of limitations provided for in the company’s conditions for the air transport of passengers and luggage should have been applied. What this term did not specify.

The position of the airline was not accepted by the court of appeals: the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has clarified that a passenger who has brought an action against an airline has the right to decide for himself the court of the point departure or arrival point.

“Taking into account the established circumstances, the legal regulation, the interpretations of the ECJ, in the opinion of the appeals court, the appellant’s arguments on the inapplicability of the jurisdiction of the Lithuanian courts are considered legally unfounded.”

According to the court, passengers can claim the right to claim compensation no later than 3 years after the time of the flight delay or cancellation, in addition, in this case they reasonably demanded compensation for the damage suffered due to the flight being delayed more than 3 hours.