How Many Legs on a Passenger: An Analysis of the Term ‘Passenger’ under Regulation 261/2004

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 establishes the common rules on air passenger rights in cases of denied boarding, flight cancellations or long delays by setting out the legal requirements for care, assistance and compensation. While the Regulation has enhanced airline accountability and passenger protection, its brevity – only eighteen articles and twelve definitions – has left lacunae and produced ambiguities, resulting in a barrage of legal disputes. For example, over eighty cases have been adjudicated by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Despite these rulings offering interpretive guidance, questions remain about the Regulation’s scope and application. One question is prompted by the growing trend of passengers paying to travel with their animals inside the cabin. Analysing primary and secondary EU law, including relevant CJEU jurisprudence and industry practice, this paper will explore the different debates as to whether the term ‘passenger’, as used in the Regulation, includes animals travelling in the cabin. In doing so, the goal of the paper is to contribute to the legal discourse on evolving passenger rights due to changing consumer behaviour and airline practices, to see whether or to what degree animals and their owners can benefit from the care, assistance and compensation requirements found in the Regulation.