EU court: Air passengers entitled to damages

The EU’s highest court says airline passengers are entitled to compensation for nonmaterial damages, including taxi rides and housing their pets in kennels, in cases of flight cancellations or long delays.

The European Court of Justice ruled Thursday that this includes cases when passengers are denied boarding or are rerouted on other airlines.

The court was responding to complaints by three families booked on an Air France flight from Paris to Rio de Janeiro in 2008. The flight they were on took off, but then was forced to return due to technical reasons.

Airline passengers are already entitled to compensation of the costs of their ticket in cases of cancellation. But the EU court said this also covers flights that do not reach their destination.