A flight that departed at a delay of 8 hours and more will be considered a canceled flight

Air travelers purchased airline tickets and landed at their destination 18.5 hours after the original arrival time. The airline did not appoint a representative on its behalf to help the travelers exercise their rights and provided them with no explanations.
The Court held that the airline would compensate its travelers. When a flight departs at a delay of over 8 hours after the original time, it is considered a “canceled flight” and the travelers are entitled to benefits of assistance, refund or alternate ticketing (upon passenger choice) and monetary remuneration. However, under special circumstances (for example, strike) outside of the airline’s control, travelers will not be entitled to monetary remuneration. In this case, the airline did not take reasonable measures to prevent the technical fault to the aircraft, did not prepare for a delay in the flight, did not make contingency plans for a scenario of a delay to the flight and did not provide travelers with an alternate flight or refund offer in real time. In addition, where the flight operator knowingly refrained from issuing benefits to travelers whose flight was canceled, it might also be compelled to pay additional compensation intended, inter alia, as a deterrent.