Brussels, 04/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - The calculation of the compensation to be paid by airlines if an aircraft is late is to be made on the basis of the actual time of arrival of the flight - which corresponds to the time of opening the doors once the aircraft has landed, the European Court of Justice has ruled.
In its judgment in case C-452/13 given on 4 September, the Court ruled that the actual time of arrival of a flight was not the time when the wheels of the aircraft touch the runway, nor when the aircraft reaches a stationary position. Instead, the Court considers that the actual time of landing is when an end is put to the situation of constraint in which passengers find themselves when they are confined in the cabin of an aircraft - in other words, the actual time of arrival of a flight is when the doors of the aircraft are opened. It is only at this time that the possible length of delay of a flight will be judged for the purposes of compensation.
The Court made this ruling in a dispute between a passenger and the Germanwings airline. During a Cologne-Bonn flight, the wheels of the aircraft had touched the tarmac with a delay of two hours and fifty-eight minutes, but when the aircraft was in a stationary position the delay increased to three hours and three minutes - and the doors were opened a few minutes later. Knowing that, on the basis of an earlier Court judgment (see EUROPE 10023), only a delay of three hours or more allowed the passenger in question to be awarded compensation of €250, the Austrian court before which the case was brought between the passenger and Germanwings, asked the European Court of Justice which time corresponds to the actual arrival time of the aircraft - for the purposes of deciding on compensation. The verdict given by the Court will also be relevant for the ongoing review of air passengers' rights. (MD)