Case C-516/23, Qatar Airways: Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 16 January 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main – Germany) – NW, YS v Qatar Airways (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Air transport – Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 3(3) – Travel free of charge or at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public – Passenger who has paid only charges and air transport taxes – Reservation in the context of a promotional campaign – Article 8(1)(c) – Right to re-routing at a later date – No requirement of a temporal link between the cancelled flight and the re-routing flight desired by the passenger)
Date: 2025-01-16
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: air transport, consumer protection, customers, reduced price, reservation, traveller








C_202501397EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/1397


10.3.2025






Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 16 January 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main – Germany) – NW, YS v Qatar Airways


(Case C-516/23,
                (1)
Qatar Airways)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Air transport - Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 - Article 3(3) - Travel free of charge or at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public - Passenger who has paid only charges and air transport taxes - Reservation in the context of a promotional campaign - Article 8(1)(c) - Right to re-routing at a later date - No requirement of a temporal link between the cancelled flight and the re-routing flight desired by the passenger)
(C/2025/1397)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landgericht Frankfurt am Main

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: NW, YS

Defendant: Qatar Airways

Operative part of the judgment







1.


The first alternative of the first sentence of Article 3(3) of 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,
must be interpreted as meaning that a passenger does not travel free of charge, within the meaning of that provision, where, in order to make his or her reservation, that passenger had to pay only air transport taxes and charges.










2.


The second alternative of the first sentence of Article 3(3) of Regulation No 261/2004
must be interpreted as meaning that a passenger does not travel at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public, within the meaning of that provision, where that passenger reserved his or her ticket in the context of a promotional campaign which was limited in time and in terms of the quantity of tickets offered and which was aimed at a specified professional category.










3.


Article 8(1)(c) of Regulation No 261/2004
must be interpreted as not requiring, for the purposes of its application, the existence of a temporal link between the cancelled flight and the re-routing flight desired by a passenger, since such re-routing to the final destination may be requested under comparable transport conditions at a later date, subject to availability of seats.






(1)  OJ C C/2023/126.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/1397/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)