The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the travel and tourism sector. Following major travel disruptions caused by unpredictable travel bans, many flights were cancelled and passengers are now seeking compensation and reimbursement of costs. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and cancellation or long delay of flights was suddenly faced with a challenge to balance on one hand rights and interests of air passengers and the other, the interests of air carriers that were hit by liquidity problems. The thesis provides a general overview of the current provisions and comments on their deficiencies from a critical point of view. Through the analysis of the recent case law the concept of »extraordinary circumstances« is addressed as well. The latter is of particular importance in the present situation as only by proving such circumstances can the air carrier be released from the obligation to pay standard compensation to passengers. In the light of the foregoing, the master thesis examines the case law established by the Court of justice of the EU. The main objective of the research is to answer the question of whether the Regulation is designed to govern the rights of the passengers under such extreme conditions as society was introduced in recent years.
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