BGH; 2018-09-11; X ZR 92/15
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:BGH:2018:110918UXZR92.15.0
Date: 2018-09-11
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82018DE0911(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
In his claim for performance, a German citizen (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) requested performance of compensatory payments and reimbursement of expenses for care services from the Spanish airline company IBERIA (hereinafter ‘the defendant’).
Due to a delay to departure, the plaintiff claims that he and his wife and three children did not make their connecting flight back home and only arrived at their final destination after a four-hour delay.
The Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) ordered the defendant in accordance with the request.
On the defendant’s appeal, the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’) dismissed the claim owing to lack of international jurisdiction. According to the Court of Appeal, the place of fulfilment is Spain.
The plaintiff’s appeal to the Bundesgerichthof (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’) is founded.
The matters raised by the plaintiff are matters relating to a contract within the meaning of Article 5(1) of the Brussels I Regulation (1). The Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter ‘the CJEU’) also made a preliminary ruling on this fact in the context of the present proceedings.
Although the defendant is not a contracting party of the transport contract concluded by the plaintiff, it is not the identity of the parties, but a contractual basis of the obligation invoked that determines the rules of jurisdiction. This relationship exists between the passenger and the aerospace company.
The CJEU also determined that, in the case of a flight consisting of two legs, the place of arrival of the second leg is also a place of fulfilment.
The Supreme Court annulled the judgment of the Court of Appeal and dismissed the defendant’s appeal brought against the judgement of the Court of First Instance.
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.