The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom refused Emirates (EK, Dubai International) the right to appeal against its duty to compensate passengers for delays of connecting flights via Dubai International, which is expected to cost the airline millions of dollars in retrospective payments.

The Emirati carrier unsuccessfully tried to challenge its obligation to pay EUR600 euros (USD741) to each passenger who as a result of a missed connection arrived at his or her final destination more than four hours after the originally scheduled time but whose delayed arrival at Dubai was within this limit.

In October 2017, the Appeal Court already rejected Emirates' claim.

Under the European Union Regulation 261/2004, passengers of flights originating from the EU are entitled to compensation ranging from EUR250 euros to EUR600 euros depending on the length of the flight for delays, cancellations, and denied boarding. While the Regulation has been criticised for vagueness, over the last few years the European Court of Justice issued a host of rulings clarifying some of the more contentious issues, usually in passengers' favour.

Ruling in the Case C-11/11 (Folkerts), the ECJ unequivocally stated that if a passenger is travelling on a single itinerary out of the EU to a non-EU destination with a connection at a non-EU airport, the delay at the final destination should be taken into account for the purposes of a potential compensation. This means that even if the delay at the intermediate airport was within the legal limit but caused the passenger to miss a connecting flight and exacerbated the delay as a result, he or she should be compensated accordingly.

Emirates tried to argue that because the connecting flight originates outside the EU, it should not be subject to the bloc's legal regime. However, the UK Supreme Court found that the carrier did not raise an arguable point of law.

The Supreme Court ruling has been welcomed by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which has said it will now proceed with enforcement action against the carrier. The CAA also called upon Emirates and other carriers to join the Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme, which allows for settlements outside the courts.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Emirates currently operates a total of 123 weekly departures out of six UK airports (London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester International, Birmingham, GB, Glasgow International, and Newcastle, GB), and will add London Stansted to its British network on June 8.