The entitlement of UK air passengers to compel airlines to reimburse costs for extended flight delays has been suspended by the High Court. A European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling last November gave passengers the right to compensation for long delays, not just cancellations.

But the High Court has, at the request of UK airlines, referred the matter back to the ECJ for a further hearing.

It implies UK courts will not attend to any more cases till the ECJ rules again.

Notwithstanding the wrongs and rights of the matter for a moment, this is getting very tricky to follow. Demands for compensation relating to UK airlines will now be mothballed while the ECJ rethinks, but the status quo will continue to apply throughout the rest of the European Union.

Remember, too, the ongoing saga of compensation for cancelled flights, with a backlog of claims still to be processed from the Icelandic volcano crisis. The airlines aren't too happy about those cases either, with large costs having accrued from an event over which they had no control.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which enforces the airline regulations, said it would defend the current position at the next ECJ hearings.

A spokesman said that, "The High Court stayed our enforcement powers so the courts won't hear cases in the interim. But our view of the law hasn't changed - we wish to enforce the position laid down by the 2009 ruling."

The previous week, the European Commission threatened to take file a lawsuit against the Dutch airline KLM which has been compensating its passengers for the cost of just one day and one night's delay.

Ryanair at first claimed that it would not not to reimburse passengers whose flights were cancelled due to the ash cloud, but it backed down under pressure from the UK and Irish authorities.