CJEU defines 'arrival time' in the context of flight delay compensation

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has ruled that a flight has officially arrived at its destination only when at least one of its doors is opened, settling many disputes on when a flight has landed and when a passenger can claim compensation from the airline.

The ruling is significant in the EU where passengers are entitled to €250 in compensation if a flight is delayed by more than three hours.

The case, Germanwings GmbH v Ronny Henning, was referred to the CJEU and arose from a compensation claim made by a passenger on a flight from Salzburg to Cologne.

Although the aircraft took off with a delay of three hours and 10 minutes, the aircraft touched down on the runway at Cologne Bonn airport with a delay of two hours and 58 minutes. Upon reaching its parking position, the aircraft was delay three hours and three minutes. The doors were opened shortly afterwards.

Henning took the view that the final destination was reached with a delay of more than three hours in relation to the scheduled arrival time and began proceedings in Austria to seek the amount of €250 on the basis of Articles 5 to 7 of Regulation No 261/2004.

Germanwings argued that, as the actual arrival time was the time at which the plane touched down on the tarmac at Cologne Bonn airport, the delay in relation to the scheduled arrival time is only two hours and 58 minutes, with the result that no compensation was payable.

The court stated that during the flight passengers are under the control of the air carrier and their activities are restricted during that time. As such, the concept of 'actual arrival time' must be understood as the time at which such a situation of constraint comes to an end.

The court, continuing in its judgment, said: "Passengers continue to be subject, in the enclosed space in which they are sitting, to various constraints. It is only when the passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft and the order is given to that effect to open the doors of the aircraft that the passengers cease to be subject to those constraints and may in principle resume their normal activities."

Stop watches at the ready Rob Williams is a partner and head of the solving disputes business line at Weightmans "Judgment wise, it has not been a good summer for airlines hoping to avoid compensation claims for flight delays. Following on the back of the recent Court of Appeal judgments in Dawson v Thomson Airways Limited (confirming a six year limitation period to bring a flight delay claim in England) and Jet2.com v Huzar (narrowing the circumstances that can be considered 'extraordinary' so as to refuse flight delay compensation), the Germanwings preliminary ruling is further bad news for airlines. "By deciding that, for the purposes of the compensation clock, 'arrival time' is when the aircraft is at the gate and the doors have opened, the potential pool for flight delay claims has been significantly widened; five minutes as in the Germanwings case will really make all the difference. "There can often be a delay of over 20 minutes plus between a plane touching down, getting to a gate and then the doors opening; there are likely to be different procedures at every airport and the delay on the ground could be significantly longer. All of this time post touch down now means that the delay compensation clock is still running, and, as on the facts of this case where the difference was a crucial five minutes, can make the difference between facing a plane load full of flight delay claims or not. "This decision appears, yet again, to have the potential to threaten the value for money which airlines offer their customers and may lead to a knock on effect of increased prices. There already appears to have been an increase in advertising for flight delay claims off the back of the Court of Appeal judgments; this is only likely to increase and a whole new tranche of claims should be expected. Will we see passengers boarding a plane with stop watches at the ready or 'plane gate rage' with planes fighting to get to a gate and open the doors?"