Today, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that additional charges must be separately stated in the final price of airline tickets. This ruling refers to a dispute between the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) and Air Berlin, in which the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had submitted two questions to the ECJ.
The ruling comprises the following two points:
- Taxes, airport charges and other surcharges must be stated separately for consumers when the ticket price is being published. Following the ECJ, this is in line with the current Air Services Regulation.
- In case of cancellation, airlines must reimburse consumers such surcharges. These refunds are free of charge in case of cancellations according to German regulation – which is also in line with European law as stated by the ECJ.
On this basis, the BGH can now decide in the legal dispute between vzbv and Air Berlin.
Klaus Müller, director of vzbv, said: "The ECJ ruling strengthens the rights of passengers across Europe. In future, it will be easier to get a part of their paid flight refunded during a cancellation."
Source: vzbv
More information and Beuc press release