BERLIN/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - More and more lawsuits against airlines are being brought before the courts at the 20 largest German airports. According to the German Association of Judges, there were more than 125,000 last year, more than ever before. Compared to the previous year, the number of cases nationwide has risen by around 80 percent. Customers mostly demand compensation for canceled or delayed flights.

With just under 37,300 cases, the Koln district court had the highest volume, according to a survey by the "Deutsche Richterzeitung", to which the association referred. This was almost twice as many as in the previous year. Lufthansa has its legal headquarters in the cathedral city. It is followed by Frankfurt with a good 15,000 cases (2022: around 11,300) and the Konigs Wusterhausen district court, which is responsible for the capital's BER airport, with just under 14,000 (2022: more than 7,000).

At the court in Brandenburg, proceedings brought by BER passengers now account for 93 percent of all civil lawsuits, according to the association. At the district court in Erdingen, which is responsible for Munich Airport, the figure is as high as 94 percent.

The number of cases at the Arbitration Board for Public Passenger Transport (SÖP) has also risen significantly again, even if the record year 2020 was narrowly missed with just under 39,800 complaints. Once again, air travel disputes accounted for by far the largest share of consumer complaints at 84%. The more than 33,000 arbitration requests mostly concerned canceled flights, delays and baggage problems. On average, 85 percent of the proceedings were concluded with an agreement, reports the SÖP.

Courts test AI

The Association of Judges sees portals that allow passengers to assert their claims quickly and easily as a key reason for the development in the courts. "Many local courts are groaning under a new wave of passenger proceedings," said Federal Managing Director Sven Rebehn to the German Press Agency.

The judiciary has reacted and is trying to use modern technology to better deal with the "assembly line lawsuits" with which law firms and debt collection service providers are inundating many courts. In Frankfurt, for example, an AI assistance program was tested. According to the Hessian Ministry of Justice, this can analyze pleadings, read out metadata and suggest text modules for judges for a ruling. The successful development of the "Frauke" prototype has also met with interest in Brandenburg: Last November, the two states agreed to work together.

"So far, however, no standard software has been developed that could help the courts through the flood of lawsuits in regular operation," says Rebehn. He reiterated his criticism of the lack of spending on the judiciary: "However, it will not be possible to noticeably accelerate the digitization of the judiciary in Germany with a mini-budget of 50 million euros per year from the federal government."

Fewer passengers than before the pandemic

According to figures from industry associations, air traffic in Germany has continued to recover from the coronavirus shock in 2023, but is still lagging behind in a European comparison. The German Airports Association (ADV) registered 183.62 million passengers landing and taking off at German airports from January to November. This was 20 percent more than in the same period of the previous year, but 21.3 percent less than in the eleven months of the pre-corona year 2019.

There are significantly fewer people on domestic flights in particular than before the pandemic. This will not change much this year either: According to the flight schedule evaluation by the industry association BDL, 53% of the seats from 2019 will be offered on domestic flights in the first half of the year. According to the forecast, this figure is 95% on long-haul routes and 89% on short and medium-haul routes to destinations outside Germany. The number of flights offered in Dresden, Stuttgart and Berlin will remain particularly low./mvk/DP/zb