Passengers may request, under certain conditions, compensation in case of delay, even if it took place on a flight outside the European territory by a foreign company, decided the Court of Justice of the Union European.
Le Monde and AFP
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has decided. Passengers who have booked a flight from a European Union (EU) airport via a European company may claim compensation in case of delay, even if the latter took place on a flight outside the European territory by a foreign company, judged the Court , Thursday, April 7th.
The case concerned three passengers having made a reservation with the German company Lufthansa for a flight from Brussels, operated by the American United Airlines, and to San José (United States), with a stopover On the American floor in Newark.
having had a delay of more than three hours upon arrival on the second part of the flight, the three passengers had claimed a sum of 600 euros each before the Belgian justice, as foreseen the European rules.
The determining point of departure
United Airlines had contested compensation on the ground that these rules were not applicable, the technical problem of the device behind the delay occurring between two American airports. On the contrary, the European Justice has considered that the European Passenger Rights Regulations “appreciates in the light of the place of departure”, in this case an airport located in the EU, and “the final destination”, according to The communiqué of the EU Court of Justice.
The CJEU also specifies that a correspondence flight “falls within the scope of the European Regulation because passengers have” started their trip from an airport located in a Member State “.
The Court also affirms that a third country air carrier, when it made the volley even without having a transport contract with the passengers, “may be liable for compensation”. The carrier who “makes the decision to carry out a precise flight, by setting the itinerary, constitutes the actual air carrier” and it is “deemed to act on behalf of the contractual carrier”, in this case Lufthansa, concludes the Court.