The outbreak of COVID-19 in our country is having catastrophic
effects on the aviation sector. As the Airlines Association (ALA)
reported on March 11th, 4,400 flights will be cancelled in Spain
during the second half of March alone, leaving more than 700,000
passengers on the ground. Given that the peak of the virus
infection will take place on the first weeks of April, it is
expected that millions of passengers will be affected by this
crisis in Spain.
The purpose of this article is to analyze the effect that these
cancellations will have, and in particular, the potential claims
passengers may make against airlines under the Regulation (EC) No.
261/2004 1, which as we know, governs flights from EU
airlines departing from or arriving in the EU, as well as those of
non-EU airlines departing from European soil.
