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What constitutes flight arrival time?: "The actual arrival time of a flight corresponds to the time at which at least one of the doors of the aircraft is opened " So says a judgement passed last week by the European Courts of Justice (ECJ) in answer to the question raised by Germany’s budget airline Germanwings. “The decision will have an immense effect on airlines," says Adeline Noorderhaven, Manager of EUclaim UK. "On average the time from landing (touchdown) to taxing to the gate where the chocks are applied, through to when the aircraft door is opened, can be anything from 20mins upwards. Every airport is different and these times therefore can vary dramatically.” “With arrival time now set at when the doors open these additional minutes will make a dramatic difference to journey time and could see airlines having to pay out hefty compensation to passengers for delayed flights,” she adds. The arrival time options discussed by the ECJ were:
If an airline is responsible for a delay and arrives 3 hours after its scheduled arrival time, passengers are entitled to compensation of up to 600 euros in accordance with EC regulation 261/2004. Read the judgment from the ECJ here |
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BlueSky Business Aviation News | 11th September 2014 | Issue #287 | ||
BlueSky - your weekly business and executive aviation news - every Thursday | ||