Folkerts — on missed connections, the final destination counts

The Folkerts ruling (ECJ C-11/11, 26 February 2013) closes a major gap airlines would otherwise exploit: what if your first flight was only 90 minutes delayed, but you missed your connection and arrived 8 hours late at your final destination?

The case. Mrs Folkerts booked an Air France itinerary from Bremen via Paris to Asunción (Paraguay). The Bremen-Paris leg was delayed 2:30 hours — not enough to trigger EU 261 on its own. But she missed her CDG-Asunción connection. Rebooked on a later flight: she arrived in Paraguay 11 hours after the originally scheduled time.

What did the ECJ decide? For compensation under Art. 7 EU 261/2004, what counts is the delay at the final destination caused by a failure in the carrier's performance — not the en-route delay. So: 11-hour final delay = €600 compensation (flight outside EU, > 3500 km).

Important nuance. The Court also held that the connecting flight falls under EU 261 if the first leg fell under EU 261 (EU departure or EU carrier). So even if your connecting flight is operated by a non-EU carrier from a non-EU airport, you can still claim.

Practical for your claim: if an airline says "your first flight was only 90 min late, no right to compensation", cite Folkerts and demand compensation based on final arrival. Our missed-connection letter does this.