The Supreme Court awards damages, but takes into account the compensation paid.

Two consumers were denied boarding on a planned weekend trip by Easyjet due to overbooking. The airline subsequently refunded the ticket costs and paid a compensation payment of 250 euros each, but refused any further compensation. However, one of the consumers incurred additional hotel and rental car costs of 845 euros as a result of being denied boarding. The VKI sued for this amount for the consumer concerned. The Supreme Court has now confirmed the consumer's right to the amount of damages, but credited the compensation payment already made against the amount to be reimbursed. The consumer thus receives a further EUR 250 in addition to the compensation payment of EUR 595.

An individual trip can be made up of several components, such as flight, hotel and rental car. If the trip fails at short notice on the outbound flight, it is often too late to cancel other services. This is also the case with the two consumers: a weekend stay in Naples was planned; one consumer booked flights for himself and another person with Easyjet as well as a rental car for 60 euros and a hotel stay for around 785 euros. Although the two travelers arrived at the airport on time, they were denied boarding against their will because the flight was overbooked. The carrier then reimbursed the costs for the flight tickets in accordance with the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance and made a compensation payment of 250 euros per person, but refused to pay compensation for the rental car and hotel costs.

“Consumers should not be fobbed off with a compensation payment if they have incurred additional costs if they are denied a flight due to overbooking. The passenger rights regulation only defines the minimum rights of passengers and leaves further claims for damages unaffected," explains VKI lawyer Verena Grubner.

"In the case of a group with several travelers, it should be noted that the OGH did not take into account the compensation payment of the fellow traveler in its judgment," Grubner continued. “Every passenger is entitled to the compensation payment, regardless of who actually paid for the trip. So if only one of the travelers in a group pays the total costs, only this person has to have the compensation payment offset against further claims for damages. However, this does not apply to cases in which there are indications of an intended reimbursement or cost-sharing among themselves."