EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE RULING: DELAYS ON SINGLE TICKET JOURNEYS WITH NON-EU STOPOVERS COVERED BY REGULATION 261
July 23, 2018
On May 31, 2018 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that multiple flights booked under a single ticket must be considered a single journey under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. Practically, this means that a passenger delayed on the non-EU leg of their journey can still claim compensation under the regulation.
The ruling came in response to a question originating in a regional court in Berlin, which heard a passenger’s appeal against Royal Air Maroc’s decision to deny the passenger compensation for delays in their journey from Berlin, Germany to Agadir, Morocco, via Casablanca, Morocco.
The ECJ noted that article 3 of Regulation 261 only applies to flights departing from EU member states or from a third country to a member state. If the passenger’s second flight had been considered a “separate transport operation”, it would not have been deemed to be under the scope of the regulation.
The court noted that a connecting flight must be understood as two or more flights constituting a “whole” (i.e. booked as a single unit) for the right to compensation under the regulation to be upheld. As this was the case with the passenger in question, the court ruled that the passenger’s trip should be considered as a single connecting flight, bringing it under the scope of article 3 of Regulation 261 and providing the passenger with a mechanism to seek compensation for the delay.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Alexander Matthews (amatthews@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6633).
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