The right to safe transport + Air passenger rights after Covid-19

Wouter Verheyen, Julia Hornig

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlePopular

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Abstract

The coronavirus crisis has been extremely disruptive for the international
passenger transportation market. It has also triggered a major legal disruption in the
field of passenger rights. In recent decades, the focus of air passenger policy has largely
shifted from safety to rights in case of delay and cancellation, a change predominantly
induced by the EU. COVID-19 has led to a major paradigm shift, with safety again
becoming the number one policy target. Passengers have a wide range of tools to
enforce their rights to timely travel and these remedies have made an effective contribution
to a reduction in delays and cancellations in air transport. Passengers’ remedies
in case of unsafe transport seem largely limited to the possibility of bringing an
action in case of bodily injury, lésion corporelle, based on the Montreal Convention
(MC). This contribution aims firstly to evaluate the effectiveness of this remedy as a
preventive tool for increasing passenger safety. Secondly, it aims to assess the impact of
COVID-19 on existing passenger rights in respect of cancellation and delay, as well as
the impact of existing passenger rights policy on airlines’ operational margin for
enhanced safety management. Based on this analysis, we aim to make recommendations
for a more effective model for the protection of passengers’ safety, while at the same
time embedding safety in the existing passenger rights policy instead of overriding it.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)659-688
Number of pages30
JournalEuropean Review of Private Law
Volume29
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Kluwer Law International.

Research programs

  • SAI 2005-01 LM

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