Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2018:702
Date: 2018-09-12
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Transport
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber), 12 September 2018 Transport — Air transport — Regulation No 261/2004 — Compensation and assistance to passengers — Reimbursement of the price of the ticket in the event of cancellation of a flight — Calculation — Account to be taken of the commission collected by a person acting as an intermediary between the passenger and the air carrier when the ticket was bought — Conditions (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 261/2004, Art. 2(f) and 8(1)(a)) 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, and in particular Article 8(1)(a) thereof, must be interpreted as meaning that the price of the ticket to be taken into consideration for the purposes of determining the reimbursement owed by the air carrier to a passenger in the event of cancellation of a flight includes the difference between the amount paid by that passenger and the amount received by the air carrier, which corresponds to a commission collected by a person acting as an intermediary between those two parties, unless that commission was set without the knowledge of the air carrier, which it is for the referring court to ascertain. In that regard, Article 2(f) of Regulation No 261/2004 defines a ‘ticket’ as a document or an equivalent in paperless form, including electronic form, issued or authorised by an air carrier or an agent authorised by such an air carrier. It follows from that definition that the various elements of such a ticket, including its price, must, if that ticket is not issued by the air carrier itself, in any event be authorised by it, and therefore cannot be set without its knowledge. A component of the price of the ticket which is set without the knowledge of the air carrier cannot be regarded as necessary in order to avail of the service proposed by the air carrier. (see paras 17, 19, 20, operative part)