CJEU Case C-356/19 | Delfly v Smartwings Poland sp. z o.o., formerly Travel Service Polska sp. z o.o.

Author (Corporate)
Publication Date 2019-2020
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Summary:

Judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning terms of compensation in the event of cancellation or long delay of flights.

Further information:

An air passenger whose flight suffered a long delay assigned her claim for compensation - under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 on air passenger rights - to Delfly, a company based in Poland. This compensation amounted to €400. The company brought an action before the District Court of Warsaw requesting that Smartwings Poland - formerly Travel Service Polska - be ordered to pay it the sum of 1,698.94 polish zlotys (PLN), applying the exchange rate on the date on which the claim for compensation was brought.

Smartwings Poland contended that the claim should be rejected on the ground, inter alia, that the claim had been expressed in an incorrect currency, contrary to the provisions of national law. The Polish court decided  in May 2019 to make a reference to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling. The CJEU decided on 3 September 2020 that passengers whose flights have been cancelled or subject to a long delay may demand payment of the compensation provided for under EU law in the national currency of their place of residence. The refusal to allow such payment would be incompatible with the requirement to interpret broadly the rights of air passengers and with the principle of equal treatment of aggrieved passengers.

Related Links
Official
CJEU CURIA: Case C-356/19 | Delfly v Smartwings Poland sp. z o.o., formerly Travel Service Polska sp. z o.o. http://curia.europa.eu/juris/documents.jsf?num=C-356/19
CJEU: Press Release (No 100/20), 03/09/2020: Judgment in Case C-356/19 Delfly v Smartwings Poland sp. z o.o., formerly Travel Service Polska sp. z o.o. https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2020-09/cp200100en.pdf

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