Comparison of European Union law and Turkish law practices regarding the rights of passengers traveling by air

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the minimum rights that passengers traveling by air have in EU law and Turkish law in cases of denied boarding, cancellation, and delay. In this respect, the study is divided into three chapters. The sources of EU law and Turkish law are explained in the first chapter. Five types of cases are handled within the body of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in particular preliminary proceedings addressed among the sources of EU law. The purpose of this chapter is to give a brief introduction to EU law and Turkish law and to give general information to the reader of the preliminary ruling decisions of the CJEU. Denied boarding, cancellation, delay, and the rights of the passengers in these cases are discussed in the second chapter. Firstly, provisions of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, proposed amendments, and interpretative guidelines of the Commission in the context of the developing situation with Covid-19 are explained. Controversial decisions of CJEU such as Emirates Airlines, Wallentin-Hermann, Sturgeon have been translated into Turkish. In the third and final chapter, the same subjects are clarified in the same order within the Regulation regarding the Rights of Passengers Traveling by Air (SHY-YOLCU) in Turkish law. And the study has been completed by including some major decisions in Turkish law respecting the topic. Keywords: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91, SHY-YOLCU, denied boarding, cancellation, delay.