...during air travel: the Court of Justice of the European Union - CJEU – provides some details
A passenger, whose luggage has been damaged during an air travel has initiated proceedings against the Spanish airline company, asking for a compensation of € 3,200, in order to cover the total damage he sustained - approx. € 2,700 for material and € 500 for moral damage -.
The Montreal Convention provides a compensation limited to DTS 1,000 – approx. € 1,100 – in case of destruction, loss or luggage damage occurring during an air transport, but however, does not give any definition for the terms “damage” or “harm”.
Therefore, is this amount of DTS 1,000 to be considered per kind of damage (moral or material) or is it a total compensation covering all the damage and harm sustained?
In its decision dated 6th May 2010, the CJEU noticed that the Montreal Convention establishes a system of strict liability.
The provided compensation has to cover the whole of sustained damage (material and moral), the passenger’s request for compensation will thus be limited to DTS 1,000 for the whole of his damage.
June 2010
