BUSINESS NEWS
Royal Caribbean Group reports $1.7bn profit
Royal Caribbean Group reported record profits for 2023 and record bookings and prices for 2024 in full-year results last week, with a “record start” to the wave period and “rates higher than all prior years”. President and chief executive
Jason Liberty hailed 2023 as “exceptional” and suggested: “Demand for our brands continues to outpace broader travel.”
Icon of the Seas Royal Caribbean recorded
$13.9 billion in annual revenue and a net profit of $1.7 billion, compared with a loss of $2.2 billion in 2022. It reported “the five best booking
weeks” in the company’s history since the end of October, including
the first three weeks of the January wave period, giving the company “a record booked position in rate and volume” and “benefiting all key itineraries”. In addition, “spending on board and pre-cruise purchases exceed prior years at higher prices”. Group lines Royal Caribbean
International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea carried more than 7.6 million passengers in 2023, up from 6.5 million in 2019, and have increased capacity by 8.5% for 2024 with the launch of the world’s largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, in January. The group paid off $4 billion in debt in 2023 but owes $20 billion in long-term debt.
ECJ: Delayed fliers must show at airport to claim
Ian Taylor
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled air passengers who fail to present at the airport for a delayed flight are not entitled to compensation under EU Regulation 261 on air passenger rights. The ECJ ruling in January came
in a case referred by the German Federal Court of Justice between Ryanair subsidiary Laudamotion and claims-handler Flightright. It involved two passengers
who failed to present for boarding after being informed a flight between Dusseldorf and Palma de Mallorca would be delayed by more than three hours. One passenger submitted a
claim to Flightright for the €250 compensation due under Regulation 261 for such a delay, the other booked an alternative flight and also brought a claim against the carrier.
travelweekly.co.uk Both claims were dismissed by a
lower German court, but Flightright won on appeal, leading Laudamotion to appeal to the Federal Court. It sought an ECJ ruling on whether a passenger is entitled to compensation without presenting for check-in. Flightright argued the passengers should be treated as though their flights had been cancelled. But the ECJ noted that in providing compensation for delays, Regulation 261 requires “passengers present themselves for check-in in good time, except in the case of cancellation” and do so “to a representative of the air carrier . . . even if they have already checked in online”. It ruled: “Passengers whose
flight is delayed cannot be exempted from the obligation to present themselves or check-in.” The court noted neither passenger had “suffered a loss of time conferring entitlement to fixed compensation”. Flightright operates across
Ryanair subsidiary Laudamotion
Europe, including in the UK, and Regulation 261 applies in the UK under the Civil Aviation (Denied Boarding, Compensation and Assistance) Regulations of 2005. The UK government has
proposed amending the regulation but has no plans to do so in the current Parliament and any changes would apply only to domestic flights as the EC regulation continues to apply to all flights to and from the EU. However, it’s not clear a UK court would follow an ECJ ruling made since Britain exited the EU in 2020.
Passenger traffic in Europe recovers to 95% of 2019
European air passenger traffic recovered to within 5% of 2019 levels last year and should increase by more than 7% this year, according to airports association ACI Europe. However, director general Olivier
Jankovec warned leisure travel demand is “unlikely to keep defying macroeconomics but becoming increasingly tied to them” this year. He also warned of “operational
issues”, especially at border control, with “many outstanding issues to be resolved” with the EU Entry- Exit System (EES) due to apply to all non-Schengen Area visitors, including the UK, from the autumn. Air passenger numbers in Europe
hit 2.3 billion last year, almost 95% of the 2019 total and 19% up on 2022. International traffic grew by 21% and Heathrow returned to its position as Europe’s busiest airport, handling more than 79 million passengers – 28.5% up year on year. Airports in Portugal and Greece
saw 12% more passenger traffic than in 2019, but traffic remained down 30% in Finland, 22% in Germany and 21% in Sweden. Traffic in Spain was 3% up on 2019 but the UK 6% down. Iata reported global air traffic returned to 94% of the 2019 level last year and reached 97.5% in December. But international air traffic was just above 89% of the 2019 level and at 95% in December.
Passenger numbers in Europe rose 19% last year
8 FEBRUARY 2024 47
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