Request for a preliminary ruling from the Amtsgericht Hamburg (Germany) lodged on 6 August 2020 – SP v KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Direktion für Deutschland

(Case C-367/20)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Amtsgericht Hamburg

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: SP

Defendant: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Direktion für Deutschland

Question referred

Must Article 5(1)(c) and Article 7(1) of Regulation No 261/2004, ¹ read together with Article 3(5) of that regulation, be interpreted as meaning that, in the case of connecting flights, where there are two flights which are the subject of a single reservation, departing from an airport located outside the territory of any Member State (in a third country) for an airport located within the territory of a Member State via an airport in another [Member State], a passenger who suffers a delay of three hours or more in reaching his or her final destination, the cause of that delay arising in the journey’s first segment operated, under a code-share agreement, by an air carrier established in a third country, may bring his or her action for compensation under that regulation against the Community air carrier through which the flight was reserved in its entirety and which operated only the second segment of the journey?

By order of 12 November 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Ninth Chamber) ruled as follows:

Article 5(1)(c) and Article 7(1) of 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, read together with Article 3(1)(b) and (5) of that regulation, must be interpreted as meaning that, in the case of connecting flights, where there are two flights which are the subject of a single reservation, departing from an airport located within the territory of a third country for an airport located in a Member State via the airport of another Member State, a passenger who suffers a delay of three hours or more in reaching his or her final destination, the cause of that delay arising in the first flight operated, under a code-share agreement, by a carrier established in a third country, may bring his or her action for compensation under that regulation against the Community air carrier that performed the second flight.

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¹     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 (OJ 2004 L 46, p. 1).