Up until now, and yes this does indeed sound quite odd, it was not clear who was responsible when you missed your connecting flight with a different airline, due to the first one being late but also being the one/ or a partner of the one you booked your trip with. Where do you get compensation from? Often you had to sue abroad. The European Court of Justice has now cleared things up – in favour of passengers!
What’s the Deal?
Say you were flying from Germany to Italy, your homecountry, via France – yes, there are definitely better routes. The first leg of the trip is with a French partner airline of the German airline you actually booked your trip with. The second flight is with another partner airline. Now, due to whatever reason, the first flight is massively delayed and you miss your connection.
Thankfully, you are rebooked, but arrive home late and frustraded. You want compensation.
In the past, you had to sue the airline in its home country, in this case Germany, meaning a lot of extra stress for you and as a result, passengers often didn’t bother.
Now, thanks to a decision by the European Court of Justice regarding a specific case with Air Berlin and Iberia, passengers are now able to sue for compensation in their destination country, often their home country.
Via: Der Spiegel
