1. If the tourist chooses to act under Regulation 261/2004, the air carrier can be exonerated from liability whenever it proves that the delay or cancellation of the fight occurred due to "exceptional circumstances". Point 12-13 of the preamble of Regulation 261/2004 states that transport operators should compensate passengers, except in cases where the cancellation occurs in exceptional circumstances, which cannot be avoided despite all reasonable measures taken. In such situations, passengers whose fights are canceled can only request and obtain reimbursement of the cost of tickets or rerouting under satisfactory conditions and beneft from appropriate services while waiting for a subsequent fight. Even the Montreal Convention shows that the obligations of actual air transport operators should be limited or their liability exempted in cases where the event is caused by exceptional circumstances, which cannot be avoided despite all reasonable measures taken. Such circumstances may arise in particular in the event of political instability, weather conditions incompatible with the carrying out of the fight in question, safety risks, unforeseen defciencies that may afect the safety of the fight and strikes afecting the operations of the actual air carrier. In addition, the operating air carrier will not owe passengers any compensation in the event of a fight cancellation if the passengers have been informed of this cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure. 2. By reference to this situation of the air carrier, that of the organizer of a travel service package is even more burdensome: Art. 13 paragraph 1 of Directive 2302/2015 establishes that the organizer is responsible for the performance of the travel services included in the contract regarding the travel service package, regardless of whether these services are to be provided by the organizer or by another travel service provider. In order for the organizer to be able to terminate the contract regarding the package of travel services without payment of compensation, it is necessary (art. 12 paragraph 3) that, in addition to the full reimbursement to the traveler of all payments made for the package, the non-execution of the contract to be caused by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances AND the organizer to have notifed the traveler about the termination of the contract, without delay and before the start of the performance of the package. This last condition means that the tour operator cannot be exempted from paying compensation to the tourist when the cancellation of an air fight included in a tourist package occurs or is known after the start of the package execution.
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