This article recently posted on the Dailymail Link
It highlights a recent case at Winchester Crown Court
A father-of-three has won more than £3,200 compensation after representing himself in court against airline giant Monarch after his family endured a 24-hour flight delay in Egypt.
After an 18-month saga and three separate court hearings, 40-year-old Martin Longden left the package holiday provider with a bloody nose after putting together a strong legal argument.
The airline didn’t even show up for the final hearing, thinking their excuse that a cracked windscreen on the outbound flight was enough to justify a 24 hour delay to its flight from the popular resort of Sharm El Sheikh to Gatwick on April 8, 2012.
But the judge at Winchester County Court disagreed, ruling that the airline could not claim the delay was caused by ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and awarded the Longden family compensation of £2,475, interest of £368 and costs of £435 last Tuesday, February 18.
The above is a direct quote from the article and emphasizes Airclaim’s professional view that EU261/2004 claims are not as simple as they should be.
The above gentlemen had to make 3 separate court appearances two of which he had to oppose well paid and versed legal representatives for Monarch, who no doubt will have been some of the best, and will have made many representations in court before, not just pertaining to the EU261/2004 legislation and the interpretations of extraordinary circumstances.
Whilst this helps to clarify that not all mechanical failures are extraordinary circumstances, it also adds more confusion in that the key points of the case center on the fact that the failure happened in the carriers operating center (Gatwick) and as such they should have had the facility to repair this much more quickly.
If you don’t have the stomach for a protracted legal case then why not let Airclaim do the legwork for you and perform your EU261/2004 claim on a no win no fee basis.
