Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2012:117
Date: 2012-03-01
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Transport
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 1. European Union law — Interpretation — Methods — Literal, systematic and teleological interpretation 2. Transport — Air transport — Regulation No 1008/2008 — Common rules for the operation of air services in the European Union — Pricing — Optional price supplements — Concept — Price of cancellation insurance supplied by a party other than the air carrier, forming part of the overall price — Included (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1008/2008, Art. 23(1)) 3. Transport — Air transport — Regulation No 1008/2008 — Common rules for the operation of air services in the European Union — Substantive scope — Pricing of air services — Included (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1008/2008, Art. 1(1) and 23(1)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 12) 2. The concept of ‘optional price supplements’, referred to in the last sentence of Article 23(1) of Regulation No 1008/2008, on common rules for the operation of air services in the Community, must be interpreted as meaning that it covers costs, connected with the air travel, arising from services, such as a flight cancellation insurance, supplied by a party other than the air carrier and charged to the customer by the person selling that travel, together with the air fare, as part of a total price. The last sentence of Article 23(1) of Regulation No 1008/2008 concerns optional price supplements relating to services which, supplementing the air service itself, are neither compulsory nor necessary for the carriage of passengers or cargo, with the result that the customer chooses either to accept or refuse them. It is precisely because a customer is in a position to make that choice that such price supplements must be communicated to him in a clear, transparent and unambiguous way at the start of any booking process, and that their acceptance by the customer must be on an opt-in basis. In addition, for the purposes of granting the protection referred to in that provision, what matters is not that the optional additional service and the corresponding price supplement are offered by the air carrier concerned or by a service provider linked to it, but that that service and the corresponding price are offered in relation to the flight itself during the flight booking process. (see paras 14, 18, 20, operative part) 3. See the text of the decision. (see para. 19)