Originally Posted by
athome
Just for clarification:
Under German law, a contract of carriage with an airline is generally classified as a service contract, albeit with special legal overlaps.
Classification according to the German Civil Code (BGB)
- A service contract (Sections 611 et seq. BGB) does not owe a specific result, but only the proper performance of the services.
- In the case of an air transport contract, the airline does not owe the success of safe arrival, but the proper execution of the transport in accordance with the recognized rules of aviation.
👉 Therefore, the contract of carriage is not considered a contract for work (§§ 631 ff. BGB).
Special regulations
However, the contract of carriage is not a “pure” service contract, but a mixed-type or special service contract because:
Special laws apply, in particular:
- Montreal Convention (MC) – Liability for delays, baggage and personal injury
- Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 – Compensation and assistance in the event of delays, cancellations, denied boarding
These regulations supersede the BGB.
As the MC and EC261/04 is very clear, you can ask for - as already previously mentioned - for compensation (600 EUR) and hotel and meal costs. But that's it.
You are (unfortunately for me) perfectly right regarding it. I forgot about the Montreal Convention.
Anyway I'm a victim of my loyalty to LH group. For flight to BOG with them there are two options available: ZRH and FRA (Transfer in USA is not an option due to political situation there). But at least on the days around my original flight FRA-BOG was not available in business class. The reason was I guess problems with certification of Allegris in 787 aircrafts.