SL v Vueling Airlines SA (2020) C-86/19 CJEU
European Court of Justice, Fourth Chamber
Facts
13 On 18 September 2017, SL travelled from Ibiza (Spain) to Fuerteventura (Spain), transferring in Barcelona (Spain) on a flight operated by Vueling Airlines. She checked in baggage with that air carrier.
14 On arrival, after a flight which proceeded as normal, SL found that her baggage had not arrived at its destination. Accordingly, she lodged a complaint with that air carrier.
15 On 11 December 2017, SL brought an action against Vueling Airlines before the referring court, the Juzgado de lo Mercantil No 9 de Barcelona (Commercial Court No 9, Barcelona, Spain), seeking compensation corresponding to the maximum limit of 1 131 SDRs laid down in Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention for compensation for the material and non-material damage caused to her by the loss of her baggage. In support of her claim, SL submits that loss is the most serious case of damage to baggage under that provision.
16 Vueling Airlines acknowledges that that baggage was not found again. It nevertheless objects to the payment of the maximum limit for compensation laid down in Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention and offers only EUR 250 as compensation for the material and non-material damage caused by the loss of that baggage. It argues that SL has neither indicated the contents of that baggage, its value and weight nor provided supporting documents of the purchases made to replace the items which were in that baggage. Vueling Airlines takes the view that that evidence is necessary in order for a passenger to be able to prove that he or she should be awarded compensation corresponding to the maximum limit laid down in Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention.
Issue(s)
The referring court raised the following question:
‘Where the loss of a suitcase has been established, must the airline compensate the passenger in each and every case with the maximum compensation limit of 1 131 SDRs, since that is the most serious of the situations provided for in Articles 17(2) and 22(2) of the Montreal Convention, or is that maximum compensation limit one which can be adjusted by the court, including in the event of loss of a suitcase, in the light of the circumstances, so that the amount of 1 131 SDRs will be awarded only if the passenger establishes, by whatever means are permitted in law, that the value of the items and personal effects he or she was carrying in the checked baggage, and of those which he or she had to purchase to replace them, came to that limit, or, failing that, may other criteria be taken into account, such as, for example, the weight of the suitcase or whether the baggage was lost on the outbound or return journey, for the purposes of assessing the non-material damage caused by the inconvenience arising from the loss of the passenger’s baggage?’
At para [24], the Fourth Chamber observes that two questions have been asked as follows:
24 As a preliminary point, it should be noted that the question put by the referring court essentially covers two questions. The first concerns whether or not the compensation due under Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention, read in conjunction with Article 22(2) thereof, to a passenger whose checked baggage which was not the subject of a special declaration of interest in delivery has been lost during any period within which the checked baggage was in the charge of an air carrier, is payable on a fixed-sum basis. The second question concerns the manner in which the amount of that compensation is to be determined, in the event that the amount referred to in Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention is not a sum payable automatically and as a fixed sum.
Discussion
With regard to the first question:
30 As regards Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention, the Court has held not only that, in the carriage of baggage, the liability of an air carrier in the case of destruction, loss, damage or delay ‘is limited’, from 30 December 2009 until 28 December 2019, to the sum of 1 131 SDRs per passenger, but also that the limit laid down in that provision constitutes a maximum limit for compensation which cannot accrue automatically and in full to any passenger, even in the event of loss of his or her baggage (see, to that effect, judgment of 22 November 2012, Espada Sánchez and Others, C-410/11, EU:C:2012:747, paragraph 34).
31 The Court has also held that the limitation of compensation laid down in Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention must be applied to the total damage caused, regardless of whether that damage is material or non-material. In that regard, it has stated that the possibility for the passenger to make a special declaration of interest at the time when the checked baggage is handed over to the carrier, under the second part of that provision, confirms that the limit of an air carrier’s liability for the damage resulting from the loss of baggage is, in the absence of any special declaration of interest in delivery, an absolute limit which includes both non-material and material damage (see, to that effect, judgment of 6 May 2010, Walz, C-63/09, EU:C:2010:251, paragraphs 37 and 38).
32 Furthermore, it is apparent from the travaux préparatoires relating to the Montreal Convention that the amounts in the provision of the draft text which subsequently became Article 22 of that convention were intended to be maximum amounts and not fixed sums to be awarded automatically to injured parties. Although that interpretation could be more precisely reflected by using an expression such as ‘cannot exceed’, it was decided to use the expression ‘is limited’, in so far as that expression is commonly used in the case-law developed in relation to the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, signed in Warsaw on 12 October 1929 (League of Nations — Treaty Series, Vol. CXXXVII, p. 12), which was replaced by the Montreal Convention (minutes of the 12th meeting of the Plenary Commission of 25 May 1999, International Conference on Air Law, Montreal, 10 to 28 May 1999, Volume I, minutes).
33 In that context, it should also be noted that it does not follow from either Article 17(2) or Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention that loss of baggage must be regarded as the most serious case of damage to baggage, so that compensation corresponding to the sum laid down in the latter provision would be automatically payable to the passenger harmed merely because such a loss has been established. Those provisions merely list the various cases which may give rise to liability on the part of the air carrier for damage occurring in the carriage of baggage, within the limit laid down in the latter provision, without however establishing a hierarchy among those cases according to their gravity.
34 It follows that the amount of compensation payable by an air carrier to a passenger whose checked baggage which has not been the subject of a special declaration of interest in delivery has been destroyed, lost, damaged or delayed must be determined, within the limit laid down in Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention, in the light of the circumstances of the case.
35 In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the first question is that Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention, read in conjunction with Article 22(2) of that convention, must be interpreted as meaning that the sum provided for in that latter provision as the limit of the air carrier’s liability in the event of destruction, loss and delay of, or of damage to, checked baggage which has not been the subject of a special declaration of interest in delivery constitutes a maximum amount of compensation which the passenger concerned does not enjoy automatically and at a fixed rate. Consequently, it is for the national court to determine, within that limit, the amount of compensation payable to that passenger in the light of the circumstances of the case.
With regard to the second question:
41 It follows from the foregoing considerations that, as the Advocate General observed, in essence, in points 35 and 36 of his Opinion, in the context of actions brought on the basis of Article 17(2) and Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention, it is for the passengers concerned to establish to the requisite legal standard, in particular by documentary evidence of expenditure incurred in order to replace the contents of their baggage, the harm suffered in the event of destruction, loss and delay of, or of damage to, that baggage, and for the competent national courts to ascertain, pursuant to the case-law mentioned in paragraphs 39 and 40 of this judgment, that the applicable rules of national law, in particular in relation to evidence, do not render impossible in practice or excessively difficult the exercise of the right to compensation that passengers derive from those provisions.
42 In particular, in a situation where the aggrieved passenger has not adduced any proof of the harm caused by the destruction, loss and delay of, or of damage to, baggage, the factors mentioned by the referring court, such as the weight of the lost baggage and the circumstance whether the loss occurred during an outbound or return journey, may be taken into consideration by the national court in order to assess the harm suffered and to set the amount of compensation to be paid to the aggrieved passenger. However, those factors must not be taken into account in isolation, but must be assessed as a whole.
43 As regards, in particular, the weight of the lost baggage, in so far as, in principle, only the carrier is in a position to provide such evidence, after checking that baggage, it should be borne in mind that, in order to ensure compliance with the principle of effectiveness, if the national court finds that the fact of requiring a party to bear the burden of proof is likely to make it impossible or excessively difficult for such evidence to be adduced, since inter alia that evidence relates to information which that party will not have, the national court is required to use all procedures available to it under national law, including that of ordering the necessary measures of inquiry, in particular the production by one of the parties or a third party of a particular document (see, to that effect, judgment of 7 September 2006, Laboratoires Boiron, C-526/04, EU:C:2006:528, paragraph 55).
44 In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the second question is that Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention, read in conjunction with Article 22(2) thereof, must be interpreted as meaning that the amount of compensation due to a passenger, whose checked baggage which has not been the subject of a special declaration of interest in delivery has been destroyed, lost, damaged or delayed, must be determined by the national court in accordance with the applicable rules of national law, in particular in relation to evidence. Those rules must not, however, be any less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions and must not be framed in such a way as to render impossible in practice or excessively difficult the exercise of rights conferred by the Montreal Convention.
Useful for
Damages for lost damaged or delayed baggage must be proved under the Convention
Treaty provisions considered
Legislation considered
None identified.Key subjects or concepts
Baggage/ Damages/Appeals history
No relevant appeals or appeal history identified for this case.Other case information
Lawyers or counsel before the European Court of Justice, Fourth Chamber:Additional case references or citations:
No additional references or citations identified for this case.
Do you have a suggestion, correction or update for this case?
