Language of document :

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Köln (Germany) lodged on 28 October 2019 — TUIfly GmbH v EUflight.de GmbH

(Case C-792/19)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landgericht Köln

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: TUIfly GmbH

Respondent: EUflight.de GmbH

Questions referred

In the event of a strike, is the cancellation or long delay in the arrival of a flight caused by extraordinary circumstances within the meaning of Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 1 even if the flight at issue was not directly affected by the strike and could have proceeded as scheduled, but was cancelled or delayed due to measures taken by the air carrier to reorganise the flight schedule as a result of the strike (in this case, the use of the aircraft intended for the flight in order to remedy the consequences of the strike)?

In the event that an air carrier may also be released from liability in the case of a reorganisation measure:

Is it essential that the reorganisation measure had already been taken before the strike began, when it was not yet foreseeable which flight would ultimately be affected by the strike action, or is exculpation possible also if the flight schedule was reorganised only during or after the strike and it was already established that the flight at issue was not directly affected by the strike?

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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).