Brussels, 27/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's Transport Committee unanimously adopted the report by Marieke Sanders-Ten Holte (ELDR, Netherlands) this week on the Directive on Air Carrier Liability and the compensation due to passengers in the event of death, injury, lost and damaged luggage and delays. The report's main amendment is the introduction of a notice requirement for passengers outlining in plain language how to claim and the time limits within which they must claim. The European Parliament will vote on the matter at its April plenary session (codecision procedure).
The draft Directive main provisions are 1) no financial limits to liability for passenger injury or death; 2) no challenge of claims up to 100,000 Special Drawing Rights (approximately EUR 140,000); 3) advance payments to bereaved relatives of at least 16,000 SDRs (approximately EUR 22,400) within two weeks of an accident; 4) up to 1,000 SDRs (approx. EUR 1,400) for loss, damage or delay of baggage; 5) up to 4,150 SDRs (approx. EUR 6,300) for damage caused by delay - unless the air carrier proves the delay was unavoidable. These compensation levels are already applied in practice by most major airlines in Europe but the Directive incorporates them into Community law.