Passenger Rights in the European Union: regulatory gaps and balances between passenger rights protection and carriers’ liability

Abstract

analyse the notion of "extraordinary circumstance" in air passenger rights in the case of the volcano eruption in Iceland and Covid-19 pandemic; identify whether there is an imbalance between the current level of passenger protection and carriers’ liability. This research evaluates the legal framework for the passenger’s transportation: Regulation 261/2004 for air passengers, Regulation 2021/782 for rail passengers, Regulation 1177/2010 for waterborne passengers, Regulation 181/2011 for bus and coach passengers as well as the reports of European Commission following with analysis of academic literature and case law. The main findings of the research are that enforcement mechanism works poorly and that leads to lack of awareness of the rights among the passengers, however in regard to air passenger rights was found that there is an imbalance between air passenger protection and carriers’ liability in regard to compensation. This research results in possible amendments of the Article 7 of the Regulation 261/2004 and suggests actions that could be taken for future development of passenger rights in the European Union.