Plaintiiff had booked a journey from Bremen/Germany to Asunción/Paraguay via Paris and São Paulo. Departure from Bremen to Paris was delayed about 2:30 hrs. Plaintiff therefore missed the connecting flight to São Paulo, was re-routed and reached Asunción only 11 hrs after the originally scheduled arrival time. She sued for compensation of EUR 600 under Reg. 261/2004 and AG Bremen as first instance court granted the claim. The appelate court (OLG Bremen) upheld the decision.Upon further appeal by the defendant airline, German Civil Supreme Court (BGH) lodged a new reference for preliminary ruling to the European Court of Jusitce onwhether a passenger is entitled to be compensated according to Art 6 and 7 of Reg. 261/2004 if the delay of the departure was less than the threshold set out in Art. 6 (here: 4 hrs for a flight form Germany to South America) while the passenger, however, arrived with a delay of 3 hrs or more, and whether it was of relevance that the delay of the first flight segment, if considered separately, exceeded the threshold set out in Art. 6.BGH Dec. 9, 2010, Xa ZR 80/10Source: BGH press release 236/2010 of Dec. 9, 2010
