ECJ ruling on Van der Lans V KLM – airline industry could face compensation pay outs in the region of €400 million per year

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) today announced their ruling on the Van der Lans V KLM case saying: ‘Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91 must be interpreted as meaning that a technical problem, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which occurred unexpectedly, which is not attributable to poor maintenance and which was also not