The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that passengers who book an alternative flight, because an airline had informed them in advance that their original flight would be delayed, are not entitled to compensation under EU passenger rights rules.
The case concerns two German passengers who took action against Ryanair and another flight operator in the German courts.
The ECJ ruled that air travellers who book an alternative flight, rather than turn up at the airport to board the original flight as usual, cannot avail of compensation because it cannot be established that the passenger who did not turn up at the airport suffered damage "in the form of an irreversible loss of time equal to or in excess of three hours."
Such an air traveller has not "in all likelihood, suffered such a loss of time," the court ruled.
The case relates to two German travellers who were travelling on separate flights from Düsseldorf to Palma de Mallorca.
One passenger, named only in German court documents as "WY", booked a return flight from Düsseldorf to Mallorca scheduled for October 31, 2019.
The booking was with Lauda Air, a low-cost airline owned by Ryanair.
Having been informed by the airline that the departure of the outbound flight would be delayed by six hours, WY booked a replacement flight to honour a business appointment in Mallorca.
His flight arrived with a delay of three hours and 32 minutes. Because he arrived more than three hours late, he sought flat-rate compensation under the EU passenger rights directive, claiming compensation of €250 from Lauda Air.
The passenger also asked Ryanair for information on the amount of unabsorbed taxes and their payment.
The second passenger also did not show up to the airport and instead booked an alternative flight, arriving less than three hours after the scheduled time of the original flight.
The German Federal Court of Justice asked the ECJ whether, in a situation where a flight delay is signalled in advance by an airline, a passenger is entitled to compensation where they did not turn up at the airport, or where they independently booked an alternative flight allowing them to reach their destination with a delay of less than three hours.
The ECJ today ruled that neither situation granted a right to fixed compensation.
The court held that passengers whose flight is affected by a long delay, like those whose flight is cancelled, suffer damage in the form of an irreversible loss of time equal to or in excess of three hours.
However, a passenger who did not go to the airport has not, in all likelihood, suffered such a loss of time, according to a court statement.
Moreover, where a flight is affected by a long delay, the intention is that it will still be performed and, accordingly, check-in must be carried out.
"It follows that passengers whose flight is affected by a long delay are not exempted from the obligation to present themselves for check-in, unlike passengers whose flight is cancelled and for whom such an exemption is expressly laid down in the Air Passenger Rights Regulation," the court added.
