This article considers Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 in so far as it deals with delay in the carriage by air of passengers, as interpreted by the European Court of Justice in the cases of R. (on the application of International Air Transport Association and European Low Fares Airline Association) v. Department of Transport and Sturgeon v. Condor Flugdienst GmbH and Böck v. Air France SA. It considers whether these two cases are consistent with each other and with the Montreal Convention (in respect of carriage to which the Convention and Regulation 261 both apply). It concludes that they are irreconcilable with each other and that if the IATA case is consistent with the Montreal Convention, as it purports to be, then Sturgeon is not.
Air and Space Law