In the case at hand, the question was whether the designated body in Hungary was authorised to order an airline to pay out compensation for a delayed flight to passengers affected by this delay who have made individual complaints to that body. Previously, in the judgment Ruijssenaars and Others (see our comment No administrative fines for misbehaving airlines... and Air passengers denied compensation should go to court) the CJEU interpreted paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 16 Regulation 261/2004 as not requiring designated bodies to act on any individual passenger complaints and not being required to issue administrative fines for each individual infringement of the Regulation (paras 24 and 25). This aimed at protecting the bodies from becoming overwhelmed by individual complaints and ensuring they have space to conduct their general market monitoring obligations.
In the LOT judgment the CJEU had an opportunity to clarify that pursuant to Article 16 Regulation 261/2004 the Member States have discretion what powers to award to the designated bodies. This could mean that they choose to confer enforcement powers in individual passenger complaint cases on the designated body (paras 26-27). The national solutions must, however, provide for an option for passengers to seek further compensation for their losses before a court, pursuant to Article 12 Regulation (para 29). This means that the administrative procedure may not obstruct the passenger's or the air carrier's access to an effective, judicial remedy, giving effect to Article 47 of the Charter (paras 36-37).
This judgment is a welcomed clarification, as it may embolden the Member States to confer more powers on the bodies designated to enforce air passengers protection. The tricky part - how to avoid a flood of complaints - applies to both administrative bodies and courts, and could be helped by airlines complying more with the Regulation 261/2004 in the knowledge that passengers may claim sums owned them in various ways.
