The matter of Gahan v. Emirates (2016), a claim for statutory compensation of 600 Euros under European Union Regulation 261/2004, heard in Liverpool County Court, has been referred to the Court of Appeal.

The Claimant was flying from Manchester to Bangkok via a connection in Dubai. As a result of a delay of 4 hours to the flight to Dubai, the Claimant missed her scheduled connection and was reallocated to a later flight. She arrived in Bangkok almost 14 hours after her originally scheduled time of arrival. The Defendant successfully defended the claim for compensation for the delay on the basis that neither Dubai nor Bangkok were member states of the European Union. The legislation protects passengers “departing from an airport in a Member State”.

The Claimant sought permission to appeal the first instance decision, which was granted by Her Honour Judge Wood, who noted that there were conflicting previous decisions on the point. Accordingly, Her Honour Judge Wood thought an appeal at circuit judge level was unlikely to resolve the issue and an authority was required from the Court of Appeal.