On November 18, 2023, the passengers of Eurowings flight EW9583 were scheduled to fly from Palma de Mallorca to Düsseldorf with an Airbus A320. Due to technical problems, this aircraft could not be used, so Eurowings Europe provided the 9H-EXQ. But that's when the trouble really started.

The originally planned machine can carry up to 180 passengers. However, the replacement flight, an Airbus A319, has 30 fewer seats. This resulted in an unspecified number of passengers not being able to be transported. Standing room is not permitted on board commercial aircraft.

The dissatisfaction of the affected travelers was enormous, because progress was said to be very slow and sluggish when it came to rebooking onto other flights. It is also said that one or the other was treated badly and did not understand why exactly he was not allowed to fly. It wasn't exactly without discussions among the passengers who were allowed to fly to Düsseldorf with the 9H-EXQ. The reason for this is that an above-average number of travelers had purchased paid seat reservations. However, these were not given, but the places were completely redistributed. Partly it is also due to the fact that the affected rows or seats are simply not available in the Airbus A319 - in contrast to the A320.

Regardless: The 9H-EXQ then left Palma de Mallorca Airport more than three hours late. This probably gave many travelers hope that compensation could be due in accordance with the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance. What is relevant is not the time of departure, but rather the time of arrival. The European Court of Justice ruled a long time ago that arrival is not the landing, but rather the time at which the first door is opened and the first passenger can get out. 

But this is exactly what happened two hours and 51 minutes later than shown on the booking confirmation. This means that those travelers who wanted to fly to Düsseldorf are not entitled to any compensation. For those left behind, Eurowings will probably have to compensate them. It is therefore obvious that the carrier has made every effort to bring as many travelers as possible to their destination within the delay that is subject to compensation.