FLIGHT RESERVATIONS

The Court has had the opportunity on several occasions to clarify the rules that persons selling air travel must comply with  when  they  make  offers  available  on  their websites.

In 2012, the Court ruled that persons selling air travel do not have the right to include 'flight cancellation' insurance in the price of the ticket by default. Insurance of that kind is an optional price supplement which, under a 2008 regulation on the operation of air services, must be clearly communicated at the start of a booking process and its acceptance by the customer must be on an 'opt-in' basis (judgment of 19 July 2012, ebookers.com Deutschland, C-112/11).

That 2008 regulation also provides that the final price to be paid must at all times be indicated. The Court therefore drew the conclusion that the final price to be paid must be indicated for each air service offered, including the first time that the price is indicated. The purpose of this requirement is, inter alia, to enable customers effectively to compare the price of air services offered by different air carriers (judgment of 15 January 2015, Air Berlin, C-573/13).