Air carrier liability: Greek CA rules against compensability of pure mental injury under Montreal Convention

The Court of Appeals (CA) of Athens, Greece, in its decision No 4326/2015, ruled that a passenger who suffered mental distress, but no bodily injury, does not have a right to compensation under Art. 17 of the 1999 Montreal Convention on air carrier liability (MC).

EASA issues regulatory proposals in response to the Germanwings accident

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a set of regulatory proposals, to prevent accidents like the Germanwings flight 4U9525, in which the co-pilot, who had a history of mental issues, took advantage of the temporary absence of the pilot-in-command and committed suicide by crashing the aircraft. The proposals concern medical requirements for pilots and the "2-persons-in-the-cockpit" recommendation. Further recommendations are about to follow by the end of the year.

The Hague Manifesto on Space Policy

The Hague Manifesto on Space Policy presents the main findings on space policy of the 2016 Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the EU. These findings codify the results of the Competitiveness Council on Space Meeting of 26 May 2016, the EU-ESA Informal Space Ministerial Meeting of 30 May 2016 and the main messages of the opening and policy days of the European Space Solutions Conference that took place on the 30th and 31st of May 2016. The main purpose of this Manifesto is to assist in the drafting of the forthcoming Space Strategy for Europe.

ESA extends its family with Cyprus and Slovenia

On the 6th of July 2016, Cyprus became the 11th country to sign the European Cooperating State (ECS) Agreement, strengthening its relations with ESA. One day before, on the 5^th of July, Slovenia signed an Association Agreement with ESA. 

Privacy and UAS: Different approaches in the US and the EU lead to similar results

The US National Telecommunications and Information Administration published recently Voluntary Best Practices for UAS Privacy, Transparency, and Accountability. Under EU law, extensive studies on privacy aspects of UAS have been conducted. Although the legal framework is different in the US and the EU regarding both centralized regulation and material content of the applicable legislation, the general compliance requirements for operators share some common points.

Killing two birds with one stone: EU’s efforts to tighten aviation relations with Iran

The EU is seeking to tighten relations with Iran, to achieve multiple benefits: increase safety, boost European aircraft exports and reduce the leverage of Gulf rivals.

CJEU clarifies procedural issues on enforcement of Regulation 261/2004 on passenger rights

Two recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have clarified some important procedural aspects on the enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 on passenger rights in cases of long delays, cancellation of flights and denied boarding. The first judgment concerned the role of national enforcement bodies under the Regulation 261/2004. The second one related to questions of international jurisdiction and applicable procedural rules in case of a European payment issued for claims arising out of the Regulation.

1999 Montreal Convention: CJEU rules that also employers may be entitled to compensation

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled that employers may also be entitled to receive compensation under the 1999 Montreal Convention (MC) on liability of international air carriers. Furthermore, the Court found that compensation under the MC is provided per passenger; therefore, an employer who has booked tickets for more than one employees can claim higher amounts of compensation than each employee could claim individually.

To ban or not to ban? Regulators attempt to mitigate risks from air carriage of lithium batteries

ICAO and regulators worldwide are examining methods to mitigate the risk posed by air carriage of lithium batteries. The crashes of two freighters in 2010 and 2011, and the grounding of Boeing 787s in 2013, all connected with lithium batteries on board, in combination with recent FAA studies, have sparked an intense debate on the conditions under which lithium batteries should be (not) allowed on board aircraft.

Etihad provisionally allowed to further conduct international code-share flights with Air Berlin in Germany

The Supreme Administrative Court of the state of Lower Saxony in Germany issued a provisional order that allows Etihad Airways to further conduct international code share flights with Air Berlin in Germany regarding its winter schedule 2015/2016. The court’s order was based on the bilateral agreement between Germany and the UAE. However, the court found that Etihad had no such right as to domestic German flights.

CJEU rules on VAT for unused passenger tickets: A judgment with hidden consumer-law implications?

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) judged recently that airlines have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) for unused, non-refundable airline tickets. This might have implications on the right of passengers to claim also VAT refund in case of unused (partly) refundable tickets.