LUXEMBOURG (CN) - A Greek airline will be able to recoup more of its losses from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The Court of First Instance annulled part of the European Commission's decision to limit Olympic Airlines' recovery to less than $2 million euros and force it to pay back the balance on the $4.82 million euros it received to offset added costs from Sept. 11 - 14.
Europe's highest court found that the commission relied on insubstantial evidence when it decided not to pay the airline for the cancellation of a Sept. 15 flight to Toronto. The cancellation may have been directly connected to the attacks, the court ruled.
It also annulled the commission's decision not to pay Olympic for the 1.2 million euros in lost revenue on flights outside the North Atlantic and Israel, and about 500,000 euros spent on additional screening, the destruction of sensitive goods and extra hours worked by staff.
The court said the commission failed to explain how these alleged losses were "incompatible with the common market." It dismissed the rest of the action.
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