The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has made an important decision on the reimbursement of cancellation costs for travel cancellations during the corona pandemic. Accordingly, entry bans or travel cancellations that only occurred after the cancellation may not be taken into account when assessing the reimbursement. The BGH thus followed a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) from February 2024.
The decision was based on three cases in which travelers had canceled their booked package tours for 2020. They demanded that the organizers repay the deposits and cancellation fees. The BGH has now made it clear that the legal assessment is based exclusively on the extraordinary circumstances at the time of cancellation - later developments are irrelevant.
The cases were referred back to the relevant regional courts for a new hearing. These must now examine whether a significant impairment of the trip was already to be expected at the time of cancellation. In the case of a trip to Japan in particular, the BGH criticized the previous reasoning of the lower court, which had denied the likelihood of a significant impairment. The courts must now clarify whether an exceptional infection situation already existed at that time.
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