Verona-Bari flight cancelled, refund via pec without mediation obligation
One family had their flight cancelled within minutes of take-off
3' min read
3' min read
Stop to the obligatory attempt at conciliation with airline companies for passengers complaining about flight delays or cancellations. This is what the Piedmont Regional Administrative Court ruled in the context of an appeal filed by a family that had seen cancelled a Verona-Bari flight "within minutes of take-off". The judges rejected a portion of a resolution of 8 February 2023 of the Transportation Authority. 'This is,' explained the lawyers from the Leone-Fell & C. firm who assisted the plaintiffs, 'a great victory for consumers. Now there will be no need for a double step to obtain reimbursement".
Referenced regulations on compulsory conciliation
Common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellation or long delays were established at European level with EC Regulation 261/2004. As a result, airlines, faced with their own non-compliance, have received increasing economic demands and faced several court cases.
In Italy, with regard to the immediate recourse to ordinary justice, Article 10 of Law 118/2022 (Annual Law on the Market and Competition 2021) introduced the compulsory attempt at conciliation for the non-judicial settlement of disputes between economic operators managing transport networks, infrastructures and services and their users or consumers.
The transport regulation authority (Art), in its resolution 21/2023, adopted regulations on the modalities for the non-judicial settlement of disputes between economic operators operating transport networks, infrastructure and services and users or consumers.
The law specifies that the proceedings must be concluded within 30 days of the submission of the relevant petition and that only once this has been completed can recourse be made to ordinary justice.
