EU LEGISLATION AND CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP This last condition means that the tour operator cannot be exempted from paying compensation to the tourist when the cancellation of an air flight included in a tourist package occurs or is known after the start of the package execution. Or, in the context of the post-pandemic Covid19, from which we started at the beginning of our presentation, most of the problems that led to the cancellation of some flights were ones that appeared at the last moment, unknown a priori and unanticipated (airline staff and airport staff strikes, aircraft malfunctions, etc.). For example, an organizer of a travel package that includes coach transport from Porto to Lisbon and charter transport from Lisbon to Paris will owe compensation to tourists if the Lisbon-Paris flight is canceled after departure of tourists from Porto, even if the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances, known to the organizer after the start of the tourist trip.9 V. CONCLUSION Such a regime for the protection of tourists in their relationship with the organiser, such as that in Directive no 2302/2015, is excessive in our opinion and, by law, should be put in line with the protection regime for passengers of an air carrier. Ubi eadem est ratio, eadem lex esse debet! Where there is the same reason, there must be the same law! In other words, if the air carrier does not have the obligation to pay compensation if it can prove, in accordance with Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided despite the adoption of all possible measures, similarly the organiser of a package of travel services that includes air transport should not owe tourists compensation in case of cancellation of the trip, respectively of the flight, without such exception being conditional on notifying the traveler before starting the performance of the tourist package. 9 In Romania, the problem is very current, because a month ago an airline company in financial difficulties also as a result of the restrictions during the Covid19 pandemic, announced in the evening that starting 0:00h the next day none of its planes would take off. And to date, none of its planes have made any flights, except for those necessary to return the aircraft to their operating bases in Romania. At the time of the announcement, several travel package organizers had tourists in various tourist destinations around the globe, who would then return to Romania on charter or regular flights of that airline. In addition to the significant efforts made by these tour operators to complete the execution of the tour package and bring the tourists back to Romania, they are currently also facing compensation claims from some of the tourists.
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