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Article 50 and flight delay compensation claims | FairPlane UK / 15.03.2017
When the Prime Minister triggers Article 50 this week or next, it will begin the 2 year process of the UK leaving the EU.
Flight delay compensation claims are permitted due to EU law, namely EC Regulation 261. The regulation applies to all members of the EU.
After Article 50 is triggered, the UK will remain in the EU for 2 years. At the end of the two years it will no longer be a part of the EU, however, that is not the end of the story.
The UK has thousands of laws and regulations which originated from within the EU and often these are not even on the statute books but referred to as 'adopted from the EU'. There is not enough time in the two years following the triggering of Article 50 for all of these rules to be changed into UK law, and so, the plan is to simply put the whole lot unchanged onto the UK statute book.
This will include EC Regulation 261 which is part of the ‘Open Skies’ policy introduced by the EU and the reason why we have cheap flights throughout Europe and beyond.
Flight claims and Brexit
After the 2 year period, the Government will start the process of changing the EU rules it has adopted, either throwing out some it doesn’t like or changing them. The problem is, many will still be needed if we want to trade with the EU.
A key statute will of course be the rules governing airlines operating into and out of the EU. Once we are outside the EU, we will be required to adopt the EU regulations in order to have the advantages of the Open Skies policy. Both Norway and Switzerland have had to do this. They are not in the EU but are required to abide by EC Regulation 261 including the parts about flight compensation.
So, the conclusion is, flight delay claims are here to stay as long as people in the UK want cheap flights to Europe.
