The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision on how far back travellers can go when claiming compensation for disrupted flights.
The judgement in the Thomson v Dawson case means that passengers have a maximum of six years to take their compensation case to court.
The CAA said the ruling “reaffirms” its view that passengers can pursue compensation claims through the courts for flights from up to six years ago.
It has advised passengers that do wish to claim compensation for a disrupted flight to lodge their claim as soon after the flight as possible.
Thomson had argued that a two year limitation on claims should apply, based on the limits included in the Montreal Convention (international aviation law).
However, the Court of Appeal ruled that EC261/2004 – the European regulation covering passenger rights during disruption – is separate from the Montreal Convention. This means that passengers can refer compensation claims to the courts for flights going back six years, which is the maximum length of time that courts in England and Wales will allow before cases are barred from being brought.
Thomson said it was “surprised by the judgement” and intends to take its appeal to the Supreme Court.
"If unchallenged, this judgment could have a significant impact on the entire airline industry and specifically upon the price that all air travellers would need to pay for their flights,” the package holiday firm said in a statement. “We therefore confirm that it is our intention to seek an appeal to the Supreme Court."
The announcement follows a decision last week in a case involving Jet2.com, in which the Court of Appeal ruled a technical fault which causes a delay could not be classed as an “extraordinary circumstance”, and carriers would still have to pay compensation.
This means that from now on, airlines can only cite technical faults as a reason for not paying compensation, if the fault was originally caused by an event that was “out of the ordinary”.