Suriname Airways ordered to compensate delayed passengers

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 October 2014, 2:26 by GxMedia

In The Netherlands… The  Amsterdam District Court has ordered Suriname Airways (SLM) to pay 7,800 Euros to twelve passengers for the delay of a flight two years ago.

The SLM had invoked exceptional circumstances, but the court rejected it.

The twelve passengers had tightened the process through the EU-claim organization.

The airline had asked the district judge to stay the proceedings until the Court had answered a number of questions but that request was turned down.

The passengers had booked an SLM flight from Amsterdam to Paramaribo in 2012.

However, the flight was delayed for more than 24 hours. 

According to rules of the European Union, a passenger is entitled to 600 euros compensation with a minimum delay of four hours on flights such as those travelling on the Trans Atlantic route.

 In July 2013, the Environment and Transport Inspectorate stated that there had been an unexpected safety problem and that the airline had rightly relied on extraordinary circumstances and so did not pay any compensation.