AG Frankfurt; 2014-11-27; 31 C 3804/13 (23)
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:AGFFM:2014:1127.31C3804.13.23.0A
Date: 2014-11-27
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82014DE1127(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The dispute concerns the international and local jurisdiction in the case of a segmented flight with carriage by two different airlines on which the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) ruled.
The case concerns a dispute between a defendant established in Spain and the plaintiff.
The Court of First Instance has no jurisdiction under Article 5(1)(a) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1). The place of performance relevant for the determination of the place of jurisdiction when asserting the minimum rights under the Passenger Regulation (2) is therefore determined, in principle, by the place of performance of the contractual performance of the contract on which the flight is based, i.e. the places where, according to the contract, the main service is to be provided.
The Court of Justice of the European Union emphasised in Case C-204/08 (3) that the places of departure and arrival constitute the only places of performance where the service is provided under a contract concluded with a single airline. However, if, in the case of a segmented flight, the carriage is performed by two different air carriers without a single reservation being made with the carrier used, the individual flight segments must be considered separately when determining local jurisdiction.
The plaintiff claimed that it had booked certain flights with the defendant. The Court of First Instance is of the view that the booking was made with the two different companies. The flight from M. to F. was not carried out by the defendant. As only the flight from A. to M. was cancelled, only A. and M. are to be regarded as the places of performance giving rise to jurisdiction.
The Court of First Instance held that it had no international jurisdiction in the present case and dismissed the action as inadmissible.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(2) Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of Parliament and of the Council 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.
(3) Judgment of the Court of 9 July 2009, Peter Rehder v Air Baltic Corporation, C-204/08, ECLI:EU:C:2009:439, paragraph 43.