Case law
Sturgeon: a long delay pays like a cancellation
The ruling that brought delays into EU 261 and set the 3-hour line.
Legal referenceJoined Cases C-402/07 & C-432/07, 19 November 2009
EU 261 mentions compensation for cancellations and denied boarding, but not delays. In Sturgeon the Court held that passengers who arrive three hours or more late suffer the same harm as those on a cancelled flight, and so are owed the same Art. 7 compensation.
It is the foundation of every delay claim. The threshold is measured by arrival time at the final destination, not departure.
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