If a flight is brought forward by more than an hour, it is considered to be canceled.
The fact that the airline brought it forward could lead to serious inconvenience for passengers, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday in Luxembourg.
Passengers would therefore be entitled to the compensation payment provided for in the Passenger Rights Ordinance (Az. C.146 / 20 et al.)
The Regional Court of Düsseldorf and the Austrian Regional Court of Korneuburg have to decide on claims by passengers against various airlines.
The main proceedings concern claims against Eurowings, Austrian Airlines, Laudamotion as well as Azurair and Corendon Airlines.
The national courts submitted the open questions on EU law to the ECJ.
This now also decided that a passenger can have claims against an airline even if the tourism company he has commissioned has not booked the flight at all.
If the tour operator has issued the passenger with a receipt for the flight, this receipt counts as a confirmed booking.
Airlines, for their part, can claim recourse
The ECJ stated that the passenger could not be required to obtain information about the relationship between the travel company and the air carrier.
For its part, the airline could make recourse claims against the tour operator.
In the specific cases, the German and Austrian courts have to decide.