[jimworcs]

The rules are laid out in EU Directive, 261/2004. For a delay of 4.5 hours you are entitled to reasonable food and drinks, and the right to a refund on your flight if you decide not to travel. If it is overnight you are entitled to accommodation, and transport to and from the hotel. You are also entitled to make up to two international phone calls at the airlines expense. You are certainly not entitled to free tickets for a delay of 4.5 hours.

In fact, being denied boarding or a cancellation of your flight provides you with considerably more rights than those afforded by an extended delay. You would be far better off if it was cancelled. You should pursue compensation from the airline you purchased your ticket from. If this was Lufthansa and they codeshare with Continental, your claim should be processed by Lufthansa. If you hold a Continental ticket, your claim should be processed by them. Travelling on a US based airline does not affect your rights.. the law applies to all airlines flying into and out of the EU. Anything they offer you which is above that which is laid out above is entirely at the discretion of the airline. I promise you this.. you will not get free tickets for that kind of delay.

[Cicero]

Jimworcs,

For years regulation 261/04 lent itself to the interpretation you have put on it that delayed passengers were entitled to food and drink only, and for delays over 5 hours they got accommodation, and that passengers on cancelled flights were better off when it came to compensation.

However the ECJ judgment in Sturgeon v Condor and Bock v Air France

http://www.lawreports.co.uk/WLRD/200..._v_Condor.html

given on 19th November 2009 held that delayed passengers whose flights arrived 3 or more hours after the scheduled time were entitled to cash compensation provided in Article 7 of Regulstion 261/04 which in the case of a flight from Frankfurt to New York would be 600 euros per person.

[jimworcs]

That is very interesting.. I am not a lawyer, but I am not fully clear on the circumstances. It seems in the case cited, the passengers were delayed and put on a later flight. However, in this case, the originally planned aircraft took off. Is this different? If not, can we now say that any delay over 3 hours merits €600 regardless of the cause unless it is "extraordinary circumstances"? That will be great if true...

[Cicero]

The complete judgment can be found at this site:
http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bi...&Submit=Submit

The reasoning was based on the principle of equal treatment. Delayed passengers are equally affected as those on cancelled flights and so should be treated equally. See the excerpt below.

It would seem that whether the delayed passengers got on another flight whether their same flight was delayed makes no difference to their situation.

The question of "extraordinary circumstances" remains a defence to the airline.

"48 In that regard, all Community acts must be interpreted in accordance with primary law as a whole, including the principle of equal treatment, which requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is objectively justified ...

"50 In this instance, the situation of passengers whose flights are delayed should be compared with that of passengers whose flights are cancelled....

"69 In the light of the foregoing, the answer to the second part of the questions referred is that Articles 5, 6 and 7 of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that passengers whose flights are delayed may be treated, for the purposes of the application of the right to compensation, as passengers whose flights are cancelled and they may thus rely on the right to compensation laid down in Article 7 of the regulation where they suffer, on account of a flight delay, a loss of time equal to or in excess of three hours, that is, where they reach their final destination three hours or more after the arrival time originally scheduled by the air carrier."

[samson smith]

Originally Posted by Cicero

Jimworcs,

For years regulation 261/04 lent itself to the interpretation you have put on it that delayed passengers were entitled to food and drink only, and for delays over 5 hours they got accommodation, and that passengers on cancelled flights were better off when it came to compensation.

However the ECJ judgment in Sturgeon v Condor and Bock v Air France

http://www.lawreports.co.uk/WLRD/200..._v_Condor.html

given on 19th November 2009 held that delayed passengers whose flights arrived 3 or more hours after the scheduled time were entitled to cash compensation provided in Article 7 of Regulstion 261/04 which in the case of a flight from Frankfurt to New York would be 600 euros per person.

Very nice idea to provide good facilities to passengers by airport authorities, if the flight is delayed or canceled.