BOGIATZI V DEUTSCHER LUFTPOOL

Case C-301/08 NYR, European Court of Justice, Fourth Chamber, 22 October 2009

Carriage by air - Air carrier liability in the event of accidents - Time bar for recovery under the Warsaw Convention, 1929 - Relationship between the Warsaw Convention 1929 and Regulation 2027/97 - Council Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 of 9 October 1997 on air carrier liability in the event of accidents - Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929, as amended by the four additional protocols signed at Montreal on 25 September 1975 (Warsaw Convention 1929)

Mrs Bogiatzi had suffered an injury as a result of an accidental fall on the tarmac at Luxembourg airport while boarding a Luxair plane. She claimed against Luzair and Deutscher Luftpool arguing that they were under a joint and several liability to compensate her for her injuries. The accident took place in December 1998 and she commenced proceedings for damages in December 2003. The claim was dismissed as inadmissible by the court and upon appeal. The Cour de cassation referred three questions for a preliminary ruling to the ECJ. The ECJ answered two of the three questions asked: (i) the Warsaw Convention 1929 as amended did not form part of the rules of the Community legal order which the Court of Justice had jurisdiction to interpret in the procedure for a reference for a preliminary ruling; (ii) Regulation No 2027/97 did not preclude the application of article 29 (containing the time bar) of the Warsaw Convention 1929, as amended, to a situation in which a passenger was seeking to establish the liability of the air carrier on account of harm suffered when flying between member states of the European Community. The Regulation, although in some parts designed to offer better protection to passengers, was in other parts designed to apply together with the Warsaw Convention 1929. The time bar belonged to the latter category, so that the Regulation did not preclude its application.