EU LEGISLATION AND CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP This double course of action for tourists is confirmed by Article 14(5) of NPTD, which also states that the rights to compensation or reduction of the price under that directive do not affect passengers’ rights under Regulation 261/2003. The European legislator anticipated that in this way it will be possible for some tourists to request damages/compensations both from the air carrier and from the tour organiser and specified in NPTD (art. 14 paragraph 5) that price reductions or compensations granted under the passenger rights regulations and under that directive are mutually exclusive to avoid overcompensation8. However, neither Regulation 261/2004 nor Directive 2302/2015 establish the entity that must bear the cost of the overlapping obligations: the tour operator (the organiser of the travel service package) or the operating air carrier? The settlement of such a matter is to be done by reference to the clauses of the air charter contract concluded between the organizer and the carrier and, possibly, to the applicable national legislation. It is certain that any such contractual clause must not adversely affect the ability of the tourist/passenger to address a request to either the package organizer or the air carrier and to benefit from the corresponding rights. IV. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LIABILITY OF THE AIR CARRIER AND THE ORGANIZER OF THE TRAVEL PACKAGE, IN CASE OF DELAY OR CANCELLATION OF AN AIR FLIGHT In addition to the above, it should also be noted that the European legislator was not concerned, especially at the time of the adoption of NPTD, to ensure a balance between the status and legal obligations of the tour operator (the organizer of a travel service package) and those of the air carrier, from the perspective of the recognized rights of tourists/passengers. The differences are major especially in the case of a charter flight cancellation: 8 Point 36 of the preamble of Directive 2015/2302: ”This Directive should not affect the rights of travellers to present claims both under this Directive and under other relevant Union legislation or international conventions, so that travellers continue to have the possibility to address claims to the organiser, the carrier or any other liable party, or, as the case may be, to more than one party. It should be clarified that, in order to avoid overcompensation, compensation or price reduction granted under this Directive and the compensation or price reduction granted under other relevant Union legislation or international conventions should be deducted from each other. The organiser’s liability should be without prejudice to the right to seek redress from third parties, including service providers”.
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