The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the right to compensation for air passengers subject to long delays also applies to connecting flights made up of flights operated by separate air carriers.

Such a ruling was made by the Court after a passenger who purchased an electronic plane ticket made up of three flights experienced a long delay of more than four hours and was denied boarding one of the flights, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

In this particular case, the first flight from Stuttgart (Germany) to Zurich (Switzerland) was operated by Swiss International Air Lines, whereas the other two flights from Zurich to Philadelphia (US) and from Philadelphia to Kansas City (US), respectively, were operated by American Airlines.

Since there seemed to be a misunderstanding regarding the concept of a “connecting flight”, the Court explained that this concept covers a transport operation departing from an EU Member State made up of other lights operated by separate operating air carriers that do not have a legal relationship, where those flights have been combined by a travel agency that has charged an overall price and has issued a single ticket.

Based on this interpretation of a “connecting flight,” the Court pointed out that passengers still have the right to compensation even in cases when connecting flights are operated by different air carriers.

“The Court points out that concept of a ‘connecting flight’ must be understood as referring to two or more flights constituting a whole for the purposes of the right to compensation for passengers provided for in Regulation No 261/2004. That is the case when two or more flights were booked as a single unit,” the statement of the EU Court reads.

In line with EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers whose flight is delayed should be offered food and drinks. If the flight is delayed overnights, passengers should be offered accommodation as well.

In addition, all passengers have the right to claim compensation if they were not informed on time by the air carrier of the delay.

In general, the compensation for flights shorter than 1500 km is €250. On the other hand, the compensation for flights between 1500 and 3500 km is €400, and for those over 3500 km is €600.

 

Source SchengenVisaInfo.com