The 8th Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Sala 8ª del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea) ruled in judgement number 559/16, of September 7, about the compensation that passengers of flights with stopovers shall receive.
The judgement concludes that the Regulation number 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of February 11, 2004 shall be interpreted broadly in the sense that passengers shall be treated in the same way, and in accordance to common rules, regardless of whether they travel with direct or connecting flights.
The ruling confirms that the nature of the flight does not affect the harm suffered by the passenger, and therefore, it concludes that there will be no greater compensation despite the fact that the distance actually traveled is greater than the one made by a direct flight.
Consequently, the amount of the compensation shall be calculated from departure to destination and in accordance to the distance travelled by a direct flight from the airport of departure and the airport of arrival.