ECJ: Airlines must also refund commissions from online intermediaries
If flights are cancelled, passengers are entitled to a full refund of their costs. The ECJ rules that this includes fees from external booking portals.
(Image: Harry Wedzinga/Shutterstock)
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has significantly strengthened the rights of air passengers against airlines in the event of cancellations. The Luxembourg judges ruled on Thursday that the entitlement to a refund of the flight ticket price also generally includes commissions charged by intermediaries such as online travel agencies when purchasing tickets. The court thus rejects the practice of many airlines to only refund the net price of the ticket for reimbursements. In such cases, customers previously often had to contact the intermediaries themselves to get booking fees refunded.
95 Euros withheld
The proceedings were triggered by a legal dispute in Austria. Several travelers had booked flights from Vienna to Lima via the portal Opodo with the airline KLM. After the connection was cancelled, KLM refunded the ticket price but withheld around 95 Euros. This amount had been charged to the customers by the travel agency as a brokerage commission. The affected passengers assigned their claims to a consumer protection association, which sued for the full amount in the national courts.
KLM argued in the proceedings that it was not obliged to refund the commission. The airline stated that it was neither aware of the existence nor the exact amount of this additional fee. The Austrian Supreme Court finally referred the case to the ECJ to clarify the interpretation of the Air Passenger Rights Regulation of 2004.
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Airline does not need to know the exact commission
In its judgment in case C−45/24, the Court of Justice now acknowledges that commissions were only considered refundable in previous judgments if they were set with the airline's knowledge. However, the judges interpret this requirement narrowly: If an airline accepts that an authorized intermediary issues tickets in its name, it inevitably also knows its business practices of charging fees. Since the imposition of such a commission is an unavoidable component of the total price, it is legally considered approved by the airline.
Particularly relevant for practice is the clarification that the airline does not need to know the exact amount of the commission. The ECJ emphasizes that the high level of protection for air passengers sought by EU law would otherwise be massively weakened. Furthermore, if travelers had to chase their refunds from various parties, the attractiveness of booking portals would decrease. The ruling is binding not only on the Austrian judiciary but also serves as a precedent for similar constellations throughout the EU.
(mho)
