Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave

Post 8

Recent Developments since 2021

Britain's withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit)
The United Kingdom left the European Union in January 2020, and subsequently left the Single Market and transition arrangements at the end of December 2020. However EC261 lives on since the Regulation was integrated into UK law - and more than once - well before Brexit. The are some minor issues that arise.

1) The UK no longer falls under direct oversight of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU - often also known as ECJ). This means that if the CJEU makes any future rulings relating to EC261, they will not necessarily carry over into UK law automatically. I use the word necessarily because the relevant appeal courts in the UK can certainly consider CJEU judgements, as they already do for judgements from many other international courts, and tribunals. So if the CJEU reaches a decision based on sound logic then it may well at some point find itself valid for the UK too. It just may take a little longer. On the other hand the UK courts could also make new rulings that assist consumers, without the CJEU being able to change them, and that would typically be a faster process than the CJEU.

Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave

Azurair and the 50% haircut
If you are rebooked, typically due to a cancelled flight, BA may put you on a service that departs earlier than your original booking. If it's more than 1 hour early it's still valid for compensation (so long as the flight was not cancelled for Extraordinary Circumstances). However BA, and many other airlines, are in the habit of using a particular reading of EC261 to cut the compensation due by 50%, on the basis that you arrived less than (say) 2 hours late. This interpretation is wrong and the CJEU has ruled in Azurair that this provision does not apply if you depart more than an hour early, since the inconvenience can often be greater than leaving 2 hours late. CEDR agrees with this, so if BA does cut your compensation on this basis, consider going to CEDR.