Case C-63/09
Axel Walz
v
Clickair SA
(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil nº 4 de Barcelona)
(Air transport – Montreal Convention – Liability of carriers in respect of checked baggage – Article 22(2) – Limits of liability in case of destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage – Concept of ‘damage’ – Material and non-material damage)
Summary of the Judgment
Transport – Air transport – Regulation No 2027/97 – Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (Montreal Convention) – Liability of carriers in respect of checked baggage – Limit in case of destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage
(Council Regulation No 2027/97, as amended by Regulation No 889/2002, Art. 3(1); Montreal Convention of 1999, Art. 22(2))
The term ‘damage’, which underpins Article 22(2) of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, concluded in Montreal on 28 May 1999, that sets the limit of an air carrier’s liability for the damage resulting, inter alia, from the loss of baggage, must be interpreted as including both material and non-material damage.
The various limitations of compensation referred to in Chapter III of the Montreal Convention, including that set in Article 22(2) of that convention, must be applied to the total damage caused, regardless of whether that damage is material or non‑material.
(see paras 37, 39, operative part)