At the beginning of 2004, the European council and parliament
reached an understanding on the so-called Regulation on
Denied Boarding. The regulation defines the kinds of care,
assistance and compensation passengers are entitled to if
their flights are not carried out as expected – if
a flight is delayed or cancelled, for example, or if an
airline has accepted more bookings than there is room on
the aeroplane.
The regulation will come into force in February 2005. Two
airline organisations have questioned the legality of this
regulation, referring to a general agreement on international
air transport to which the EU states are party. The legal
process set in train by these organisations is likely to
take a long time, so at this stage it does not affect the
introduction of the regulation.
