Case C-321/11

Germán Rodríguez Cachafeiro

and

María de los Reyes Martínez-Reboredo Varela-Villamor

v

Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España SA

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil No 2 de A Coruña)

‛Air transport — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 — Compensation for passengers in the event of denied boarding — Concept of ‘denied boarding’ — Cancellation of a passenger’s boarding card by an air carrier because of the anticipated delay to an earlier flight also operated by it which included check-in for the flight concerned’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 4 October 2012

Transport — Air transport — Regulation No 261/2004 — Common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights — Denied boarding — Concept — Broad interpretation — Whether the concept applies to all situations in which a passenger is refused boarding — Contract of carriage involving several successive flights — Denial of boarding to the second flight because of the delay to the first flight — Delay attributable to the carrier — Included

(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 261/2004, first recital and Art. 2(j), and 3(2) of Council Regulation No 295/91, Art. 1)

Article 2(j) of Regulation No 261/2004 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 No 295/91, read in conjunction with Article 3(2) of Regulation No 261/2004, must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘denied boarding’ includes a situation where, in the context of a single contract of carriage involving a number of reservations on immediately connecting flights and a single check-in, an air carrier denies boarding to some passengers on the ground that the first flight included in their reservation has been subject to a delay attributable to that carrier and the latter mistakenly expected those passengers not to arrive in time to board the second flight.

The legislature expanded the scope of the definition of ‘denied boarding’ beyond merely situations where boarding is denied on account of overbooking referred to previously in Article 1 of Regulation No 295/91 establishing common rules for a denied-boarding compensation system in scheduled air transport, and construed ‘denied boarding’ broadly as covering all circumstances in which an air carrier may refuse to carry a passenger.

In addition, limiting the scope of ‘denied boarding’ exclusively to cases of overbooking would have the practical effect of substantially reducing the protection afforded to passengers under Regulation No 261/2004 and would therefore be contrary to the aim of that regulation — referred to in recital 1 in the preamble thereto — of ensuring a high level of protection for passengers. Consequently, a broad interpretation of the rights granted to passengers is justified.

(see paras 23-25, 36, operative part)

Case C-321/11

Germán Rodríguez Cachafeiro

and

María de los Reyes Martínez-Reboredo Varela-Villamor

v

Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España SA

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil No 2 de A Coruña)

‛Air transport — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 — Compensation for passengers in the event of denied boarding — Concept of ‘denied boarding’ — Cancellation of a passenger’s boarding card by an air carrier because of the anticipated delay to an earlier flight also operated by it which included check-in for the flight concerned’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 4 October 2012

Transport — Air transport — Regulation No 261/2004 — Common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights — Denied boarding — Concept — Broad interpretation — Whether the concept applies to all situations in which a passenger is refused boarding — Contract of carriage involving several successive flights — Denial of boarding to the second flight because of the delay to the first flight — Delay attributable to the carrier — Included

(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 261/2004, first recital and Art. 2(j), and 3(2) of Council Regulation No 295/91, Art. 1)

Article 2(j) of Regulation No 261/2004 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 No 295/91, read in conjunction with Article 3(2) of Regulation No 261/2004, must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘denied boarding’ includes a situation where, in the context of a single contract of carriage involving a number of reservations on immediately connecting flights and a single check-in, an air carrier denies boarding to some passengers on the ground that the first flight included in their reservation has been subject to a delay attributable to that carrier and the latter mistakenly expected those passengers not to arrive in time to board the second flight.

The legislature expanded the scope of the definition of ‘denied boarding’ beyond merely situations where boarding is denied on account of overbooking referred to previously in Article 1 of Regulation No 295/91 establishing common rules for a denied-boarding compensation system in scheduled air transport, and construed ‘denied boarding’ broadly as covering all circumstances in which an air carrier may refuse to carry a passenger.

In addition, limiting the scope of ‘denied boarding’ exclusively to cases of overbooking would have the practical effect of substantially reducing the protection afforded to passengers under Regulation No 261/2004 and would therefore be contrary to the aim of that regulation — referred to in recital 1 in the preamble thereto — of ensuring a high level of protection for passengers. Consequently, a broad interpretation of the rights granted to passengers is justified.

(see paras 23-25, 36, operative part)