The fixed EU261 sum is not the limit of what a German passenger can recover. German contract law gives damages for the loss the airline’s breach actually caused, and package-travel law gives a price reduction against the tour operator on top. Article 12(1) of the Regulation preserves both and credits the EU261 payment against them.
Who is covered
Passengers whose journey touches Germany at either end, or who flew with a German-licensed carrier — enough of a connection for a German court to take the claim.
What you get
Your provable losses: the replacement ticket, the unused hotel, the pre-paid excursion, the day of leave. Plus default interest on the EU261 sum once you have demanded it with a deadline. For a package holiday, a proportionate reduction in the package price from the tour operator. No fixed figure — this is a receipts-and-payslips claim.
Where claims go wrong
Adding the damages to the EU261 sum instead of crediting the EU261 sum against them. Article 12(1) requires set-off, and getting it wrong makes the whole letter look opportunistic.
Claiming against the airline for a package problem. For a package, the counterparty is the tour operator under § 651i BGB.
Missing the German limitation rule. Three years, but running from the END of the calendar year in which the claim arose, which is more generous than it first looks.
A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 12(1)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 flightsURL verified 2026-08-05Art. 12(1)
BGB §§ 280, 281Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch §§ 280 and 281 (damages for breach of an obligation)
BGB § 286Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch § 286 (default of the debtor, and interest)
BGB § 651iBürgerliches Gesetzbuch § 651i (package travel — rights on non-conformity)
Sources
Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.
A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.
The clocks it starts
Limitation period — GermanyFatal if missedGermany: 3 years. BGB § 195 (regelmäßige Verjährungsfrist, three years) read with § 199(1), under which the period begins "mit dem Schluss des Jahres" — at the END of the calendar year in which the claim arose and the creditor learned of it. A flight on 4 March 2024 is therefore barred only from 1 January 2028, not from 4 March 2027. The clock does not start on the flight date: it starts at the end of the calendar year in which the claim arose, which buys you up to a further twelve months.BGB §§ 195, 199(1)Limitation period
What it entitles you to, beyond money
Damages for breach of the contract of carriage (BGB §§ 280, 281)A carrier that fails to carry you as agreed is in breach of the contract of carriage, and §§ 280 and 281 BGB give damages for the loss that breach causes — the replacement ticket, the wasted hotel night, the missed pre-paid excursion. This head of claim pays what you can PROVE you lost, so it lives or dies on documents: the non-refundable booking you could not use, the payslip showing the day of leave, the receipt for the replacement ticket. Nobody can tell you the figure in advance, and any tool that quotes one is guessing. Article 12(1) of Regulation 261/2004 preserves this claim but provides that anything paid under the Regulation may be deducted from it. Present the Article 7 figure as a CREDIT against your damages, not as an addition: a claim for "EUR 600 plus EUR 900" invites the airline to dismiss the whole thing, whereas "EUR 900, of which EUR 600 is the Article 7 sum" is exactly right.
Default interest on the Article 7 sum (BGB § 286)Once you have demanded payment and given a deadline, the airline is in default under § 286 BGB and interest runs on the compensation from that date. It is a small sum, but including it in the letter signals that you know the mechanics — and airlines settle faster with claimants who do.
Package travel — a price reduction and damages (BGB § 651i)If the flight was part of a package sold as one product, the claim is against the TOUR OPERATOR under § 651i BGB, not only against the airline. That route gives a proportionate reduction in the package price for the days lost, and damages on top. It is usually worth more than the Article 7 sum, and the two are cumulative in nature but subject to the same Article 12(1) set-off.
What the other side will say
Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.
"The Regulation already covers your loss"
high likelihood
The airline says the Article 7 sum is the complete answer and refuses to look at the receipts.
What answers it
Article 12(1) says in terms that the Regulation applies "without prejudice to a passenger's rights to further compensation" and that the Article 7 sum "may be deducted" from it. Deduction presupposes a larger claim. Please assess the itemised losses attached and set off the Article 7 payment against them.
01Demand the damages in writing, with the evidence attachedSet out each item of loss with its document, state the Article 7 figure separately as a credit, and give a deadline. This head of claim pays what you can PROVE you lost, so it lives or dies on documents: the non-refundable booking you could not use, the payslip showing the day of leave, the receipt for the replacement ticket. Nobody can tell you the figure in advance, and any tool that quotes one is guessing.Claim direct·typically 30 days
02Conciliation — söp — Schlichtungsstelle für den öffentlichen Personenverkehrsöp is the German conciliation body for public passenger transport and covers airlines as well as rail. It is free to the passenger, works in German, and produces a proposal that binds neither side but which airlines usually accept.Alternative dispute resolution·typically 90 days·official page
03Amtsgericht (local court)Binding on themClaims of this size go to the Amtsgericht, where representation by a lawyer is not required. The court fee scales with the value and is recoverable if you win.Small claims·typically 180 days
Documents
What this regime can produce.
Every one of these is a document you send yourself, in your own name. Duesday never writes to anybody on your behalf and is never anyone’s agent.