La “No Show Rule” nell’esperienza italiana

The «no show rule» is a contractual clause included in the general conditions of carriage of all air transport companies. The clause permits the carrier to cancel the entire ticket both in the case a passenger fails to use one leg of a multi-leg itinerary and in the case a passenger fails to use the outgoing flight of a round-trip/return ticket. The legal events which have characterized the Italian experience of this no-show clause; the decisions of the national courts and Antitrust Authority duly represent the evolutionary process of European policy on the protection of consumer rights. This is a twin-track in which a contractual provision becomes important under two different profiles, each affecting the other: a) as a contractual clause; b) as a commercial practice. Under the first profile it is the legitimacy of the clause in its static dimension that is in question. Under the second profile, the question is how the clause is applied (the clause itself would therefore be legitimate) before, during and after the stipulation of the contract. In this composite scenario, criteria have emerged that, if respected, allow the clause to preserve legitimacy under both these profiles. However, the question still to be resolved is whether the eventual refusal of a carrier to allow a passenger to board a return or sequential flight after a noshow constitutes a hypothesis of denied boarding according to Reg. EC 261/2004 and whether that passenger is entitled to the relevant assistance established for such denied boarding