More Air Rights In EU

From Deutsche Welle:
"European court ruling expands passenger rights"

The European Union's highest court has ruled that airline passengers are now entitled to compensation for nonmaterial damages, including taxi rides and housing for pets, in cases of flight cancellations or long delays. The ruling referred to a case in a Spanish court in which seven Spaniards sued Air France after their flight from Paris to the northeastern Spanish city of Vigo in September 2008 had to turn back because of a technical malfunction.The passengers were delayed by a day as a result of the enforced return to Charles de Gaulle airport. The seven plaintiffs have since demanded compensation for taxi fares and meal costs, as well as non-material damages, including an extra night that a pet dog had to spend in a kennel.

The ECJ's new ruling means, firstly, that a flight counts as cancelled if it takes off but fails to reach its destination and, secondly, passengers can theoretically claim compensation for extra losses incurred by the cancellation. The European Court of Justice upheld the Spanish complaints The decision takes the possibility of compensation substantially further than current EU law, whereby passengers are entitled to receive between 125 and 600 euros ($172 - $825 dollars) when their flight is cancelled.

^This is good news for passengers. I hope that the US and other countries see what is happening in the EU and do the same for their air passengers. ^

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15460922,00.html