Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience you experienced due to the delay of your flight EK150 from Amsterdam to Dubai on 10 August. Although every effort is made to achieve on-time departures, which is an integral part of our product, there are occasions when flights are delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. Being a customer service orientated organisation, we are well aware of the importance of meeting our passengers' expectations and regret we were unable to do so on this occasion. I do hope that you will accept my apology, as it is intended most sincerely.

As flight EK150 arrived into Dubai at 0735 hours on 11 August, therefore you missed your onward flight EK945 which was scheduled to depart at 0755 hours on 11 August. Our Reservations Team re-booked you on the next available flight to Basra on EK947 on 12 August. I note, in an effort to minimise the inconvenience you were provided with complimentary hotel accommodation at the airline's expense during your transit in Dubai.

Emirates wishes to inform you that it is always our intention to comply with legislation in all of the jurisdictions in which we operate. However, in specific response to your demand for compensation, we refer you to the actual text of the Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights.

In Article 6, paragraph 1, section (c), you will note that the requirement for compensation is applicable when the arrival delay is equal to or exceeds three hours if the flight is longer than 3,500 kilometers. We do not consider that EC261 Regulation can be applied to a case of a delay to one flight which leads to a missed connection and therefore an overall 4 hours plus delay in reaching the next stop over, since:

1. Advocate General Bot and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) clearly envisaged the delay of a single flight and not flights;
2. The final destination referred to in the Regulation, must therefore mean the destination of the flight concerned; and
3. The Regulation does not extend to non EU carriers operating flights from a non EU member state to another non EU member state.

The actual arrival time of flight, EK150 of 10 August, from Amsterdam to Dubai was at 0735 hours (11 August, local time in Dubai), which was 1 hour and 5 minutes late. The onward flight EK945 on 11 August operated from Dubai to Basra, which are both non-EU stations.

For the reasons set out above, and especially as a non EU carrier, regrettably, we are unable to meet with your request to offer as per EC regulations.

Thank you for your reply to my message. I have read your response, however, and must point out that you are incorrect.

Despite your personal interpretation of the EC261 regulation, the European Court of Justice has taken the opposite view. The specific quote from their ruling states:

"Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91 must be interpreted as meaning that compensation is payable, on the basis of that article, to a passenger on directly connecting flights who has been delayed at departure for a period below the limits specified in Article 6 of that regulation, but has arrived at the final destination at least three hours later than the scheduled arrival time, given that the compensation in question is not conditional upon there having been a delay at departure and, thus, upon the conditions set out in Article 6 having been met."

The full text of the decision is available here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...CJ0011:EN:HTML

The court was very clear in their statement that compensation applies to time of arrival at final destination when on a single connecting ticket. In addition, this regulation applies to any airline operating a flight that departs from an EU airport, so the fact that Emirates is not based in the EU has no relevance.

I have no doubt that Emirates is aware of this case, and am disappointed at your attempt to mislead.

Please let me know what details you require in order to process this compensation.