LG Frankfurt; 2015-08-20; 2-24 S 31/15
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:LGFFM:2015:0820.2.24S31.15.0A
Date: 2015-08-20
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82015DE0820(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
Several private persons living in Germany (hereinafter ‘the plaintiffs’) sued an air carrier (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) seeking compensation under Regulation no 261/2004 (1) due to a delayed flight.
The plaintiffs booked a return flight from Frankfurt am Main to Melilla with a stopover in Madrid. The return flight from Frankfurt am Main to Melilla was carried out by the defendant, the return flight from Madrid to Melilla by a different air carrier. The return flight from Melilla to Madrid was delayed, causing the plaintiffs to miss the connecting flight to Frankfurt am Main and to arrive there with a delay of several hours.
According to the defendant, the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) as the court seised lacked international and local jurisdiction.
However, the Court of First Instance found itself to have both local and international jurisdiction stating that the plaintiffs were entitled to file an action both at the place of arrival or the place of departure of a flight.
The appeal of the defendant lodged with the Landgericht Frankfurt (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’) was successful.
Compensation claims pursued against an operating air carrier fall within the scope of Article 5(1)(b) of the Brussels I Regulation (2). According to a previous decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in contracts of carriage, the plaintiff is allowed to file an action both in courts of the place of departure or the place of arrival. However, this was not the case in this dispute.
The return flight from Madrid to Melilla was not carried out by the defendant, but a different airline. The fact that both flights were booked within a single reservation was not important. Courts holding jurisdiction were the courts in Spain.
The Court of Appeal annulled the judgment of the Court of First Instance and dismissed the action for being inadmissible.
(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 flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91.
(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(3) Judgment of the Court of Justice of 9 July 2009, Peter Rehder v Air Baltic Corporation, C-204/08, ECLI:EU:C:2009:439.