Indication of air fares under EU law: CJEU rules on the appropriate currency

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has ruled that air carriers have to indicate air fares for intra-EU flights in the currency of either the place of departure or the place of destination of the particular flight.

EU261 and prohibition of claim assignment: German Regional Court finds clause unfair

The Regional Court (Landesgericht) of Nuremberg-Fuerth in Germany found unfair a clause in the general terms and conditions of an airline that prohibits the assignment of claims under Regulation 261/2004 (EU261) to claims handling companies.

EU261: CJEU on ticket price to be reimbursed

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has ruled that in case that passengers are entitled to reimbursement of the price of their ticket under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, then such price comprises also the commission of the intermediary, if the air carrier knew about the commission.

Galileo - one step closer to full operational capability

Four more Galileo satellites were launched on an Ariane 5 launcher from Guyana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guyana, on 12 December 2017 at 18:36 UTC. This launch brings the Galileo system to 22 satellites, with one more launch remaining before the constellation reaches completion.

ESA transfers ownership of satellite ground tracking stations

The European Space Agency (ESA) transferred the ownership of three satellite ground tracking stations to national organisations in Spain and Portugal.

MC99: German Supreme Court annuls CA judgment that rejected passenger claim who slipped on passenger bridge

The German Supreme Court (BGH) annulled and remanded a judgment of the Court of Appeal (CA) of Düsseldorf that rejected a claim of a passenger who slipped on the passenger bridge during the disembarkation process.

German district court rejects discrimination claim brought by Israeli passenger against Kuwait Airways for denied boarding

The District Court of Frankfurt ruled that Kuwait Airways was entitled to refuse boarding to an Israeli passenger because of his nationality, based on a Kuwaiti law that bans contracts with Israeli nationals. The judgment is subject to appeal.

EU 261: German Supreme Court rules on liability for delay of re-routing flight

The German Supreme Court (BGH) ruled that an operating carrier could be liable, under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, for cancelling its initial flight, if the re-routing flight offered is delayed, with the result that the passengers reach delayed their final destination, even if the re-routing flight is operated by another carrier.

German court finds airline price-adjustment clause unfair

In a recent judgment, the Court of first instance of Berlin (LG Berlin) fined Air Berlin for using an unfair price-adjustment clause in its contracts, in legal proceedings initiated by the Federal German Consumer Protection Association (VZBV). The judgment is appealable.

UAS: Greek law enters into force

On 1.1.2017 entered into force the Greek law on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), which is the Decision of the Director of the Greek Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) No Δ/ΥΠΑ/21860/1422. The Decision applies to all UAS that fly within Greek airspace or within international airspace, but inside the Flight Information Region (FIR) / Upper Information Region (UIR) of Greece. 

Implementing legislative measures of the Decision are pending, which means that details on the application of its provisions are not yet known.  Furthermore, many provisions of the Decision are based on the Prototype Commission Regulation on Unmanned AircraftOperations published by EASA on 22 August 2016 for consultation purposes. This is an additional hurdle to the implementation of the Decision, since this EASA Prototype Regulation has not entered into force and contains rules on areas that belong to the competence of the EU, such as product safety rules.

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.