Passengers' Right To Compensation When Pre-Emptively Denied Boarding

Introduction

In 'FW v LATAM Airlines Group SA', decided on 26 October 2023, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") delivered a preliminary ruling in relation to the rights of passengers pre-emptively denied boarding a flight they had booked. The request for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of the provisions of Regulation (EC) 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights (the "Regulation").

Background

The referring case involved an individual ("FW") who had booked a round-trip flight with Latam Airlines between Frankfurt and Madrid. The outward flight was scheduled for 22 December 2017 and the return flight for 7 January 2018. On 21 December, FW tried but could not check-in for the outward flight and reached out to Latam Airlines only to be told that the reservation was amended and transferred to a flight the day before, 20 December.