As a lawyer, I deal with various aspects of civil and commercial law, which you can learn about in my social media profile.

But as a private citizen and consumer, I am like many a traveller and tourist. Holiday time is approaching, and so it is good to remind you of some rights to which we are all entitled, as reaffirmed by case law in recent decisions.

 If your luggage is delivered to you late after a flight, you are entitled to reimbursement of the expenses you incurred to purchase essential goods. Proof of the indispensability of the purchased goods can be provided by a travelling companion, as a witness to the event. This is the decision of the Court of Cassation, which decided a case crystal clear last February 2023.

But even more frequent is the case of cancellation of a flight, due to a strike: airlines invoke this as an exceptional case, in order to evade their obligations to reimburse travellers, provided for by European regulations.

In a ruling last February, no. 4261, the Italian Court of Cassation, in a case of cancellation due to a strike by air traffic controllers, established that this exemption exists, only if there is no room for the adoption of measures, sufficient to neutralise or minimise the sacrifices imposed on the users concerned.

It is therefore not sufficient to state in general and abstract terms, that an air traffic controllers' strike is an 'exceptional circumstance', that exempts an airline from the duty to pay compensation to its travellers.

Let's hope your holiday travels will be smooth, but keep in mind that there are European rules that protect all of us travellers.

last update June 2023