A new ruling from Italy’s Court of Cassation (order 20489/2026) published on 12 July could make it significantly harder for airlines to refuse EU 261 compensation when flights are scrubbed because of strike action. The court overturned two lower-court decisions that had sided with Wizz Air after the carrier cancelled a Rome domestic service in 2022, holding that the mere existence of an airport-wide strike is not enough to avoid payouts. Judges stated that carriers must provide “specific and concrete proof” that the particular flight was directly and unavoidably affected, such as operational logs, crew rosters or official notices from ENAC. Generic press releases or media reports will no longer suffice. The decision aligns Italian jurisprudence with recent Court of Justice of the EU precedents that narrow the definition of “extraordinary circumstances”. For corporate mobility programmes, the implications are immediate: staff whose Italian flights are cancelled due to strikes may have stronger grounds for claiming the €250–€600 statutory compensation, in addition to refunds and duty-of-care expenses. Travel-management companies should update their disruption-handling scripts and encourage travellers to collect evidence (boarding passes, SMS alerts, photos of departure boards) that links the cancellation to the industrial action in question. Airlines operating in Italy – including national carrier ITA Airways and low-cost rivals – face a higher litigation risk and may choose to settle claims faster rather than engage in costly court battles. Industry analysts predict a modest uptick in ticket prices or ancillary fees as carriers absorb the increased liability. The ruling arrives just days before a wave of summer strikes in the aviation sector, adding urgency for employers to verify contingency plans and, where possible, book flexible fares that allow same-day re-routing.
Source: Risoluto.it
