An interesting judgment has recently been delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-876/24, Vueling Airlines, concerning the determination of territorial jurisdiction in compensation claims arising from lost baggage.
The CJEU held that the online purchase of an airline ticket from the passenger’s place of residence does not, in itself, confer jurisdiction on the courts of that place.
More specifically, the Court clarified that the passenger’s residence cannot be regarded as the carrier’s “place of business through which the contract was made” within the meaning of the Montreal Convention merely because the contract of carriage was concluded online from that location.
The Court further confirmed that the carriage of baggage constitutes an ancillary service to the principal contract of air carriage. Accordingly, jurisdiction must be determined by reference to the passenger’s contract of carriage, rather than by treating the baggage service as a separate contractual basis for jurisdiction.
The judgment is of particular interest for the interpretation of the Montreal Convention and for the determination of jurisdiction in disputes between passengers and air carriers, especially in the context of modern online transactions.