C-826/19 · 2021 · EC 261
WZ v Austrian Airlines AG
A diversion to another airport serving the same town or region is not a cancellation, so it carries no automatic compensation. The Court held on 22 April 2021 that compensation is due where the passenger reaches the booked airport, or another agreed close destination, three hours or more late, and that the carrier must offer on its own initiative to pay the transfer between the two airports.
REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V6 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026
- COURT
- Court of Justice of the European Union (Fourth Chamber)
- CASE NUMBER
- C-826/19
- JUDGMENT
- 22 April 2021
- CITATION
- ECLI:EU:C:2021:318
What the case was about
A Vienna to Berlin Tegel flight on 21 May 2018 ran late after weather at an aircraft turnaround three rotations earlier, missed Tegel's night flight ban, and landed at Berlin Schönefeld at 23.18.
The passenger claimed 250 euro; the airline answered that the delay was 58 minutes and his home was 24 km from Schönefeld.
What it changed
- The arrival delay of a diverted flight is measured when the passenger actually reaches the booked airport or an agreed nearby destination at the end of the transfer.
- An extraordinary circumstance on an earlier rotation of the same aircraft can excuse a later flight where a direct causal link is shown.
- Breach of the transfer cost duty in Art. 8(3) gives reimbursement of necessary, appropriate and reasonable expenses, not the flat rate sums.
SOURCES
- Case C-826/19 WZ v Austrian Airlines, judgment of 22 April 2021 (ECLI:EU:C:2021:318) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 8(3) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026