In the case of package tours, nocturnal aircraft noise around the hotel can lead to a price reduction claim if the tour operator's documents do not contain any explicit reference to this circumstance, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled.

In the present case (reference number: X ZR 97/20), a vacationer who had booked a package tour to the island of Kos complained. He claimed that the fact that during the night there were planes approaching the airport above the hotel was a lack of travel. Among other things, he argued that his nocturnal rest was disturbed.

The tour operator rejected the claim, so the case ended up in court. The first instance initially ruled in favor of the tour operator, since the nightly disturbances could not be specifically proven. The vacationer appealed and won. However, the tour operator did not want to put up with this and went before the supreme court.

The judges of the German Federal Court of Justice now agreed with the plaintiff, because one could not have drawn the conclusion from the travel catalog that the accommodation is located directly in the approach path of Kos airport. In particular, the statement that the distance to the airport is nine kilometers and that the ground transfer takes about half an hour would not indicate this fact.

Also, according to the BGH, it is not up to the vacationer to ask the tour operator and/or the hotel whether the house is in an approach lane. The tour operator should have explicitly pointed this out in the travel documents at the latest. The decision of the lower court that the tour operator had to pay damages in the form of a reduction in the travel price because of the aircraft noise was confirmed.