Pets as baggage in air travel - CJEU in Iberia (C-218/24)

From an outsider's perspective, the recent judgment may appear controversial. "Pets as baggage" is likely to strike non-lawyers as dehumanising - suggesting that animals are treated as mere objects. However, lawyers may appreciate the legal advantages of such classification. Under international travel rules, such as the Montreal Convention, categorising pets as baggage can trigger compensation mechanisms if they are lost, or damaged, during transit. But does this legal framing actually benefit pet owners? 

In the given case, passengers on a flight from Buenos Aires (a city known for its large dog population) to Barcelona were travelling with a dog. Due to its size, the dog could not be accommodated in the cabin and was instead to be placed in the aircraft hold, inside a special pet carrier. The owner checked in the pet carrier, but tragically, "the dog left the pet carrier, ran around in the vicinity of the aircraft and could not be recovered" (para 16).

The Montreal Convention standardises compensation for lost baggage, unless passengers make a "special declaration of interest in delivery at destination" during check-in, and pay any required surcharge. In this case, the dog's owner did not make such a declaration. The legal issue then became whether the owner could claim compensation for non-material damages, or whether the Montreal Convention's baggage rules limited such claims. Spanish law recognises pets as sentient beings, and thus does not equate their loss with that of material things typically found in baggage (para 19).

The CJEU emphasised that the Montreal Convention is designed to define the limits of air carriers' liability for transporting passengers and their baggage (para 23). Since the Convention does not explicitly define "baggage," the term must be interpreted uniformly and autonomously (para 26). 

While the ordinary meaning of "baggage" refers to objects (para 29), the CJEU noted that for the Montreal Convention to apply to pets, they must be classified either as "passengers" or "baggage". Given this binary, the Court found "baggage" to be the more appropriate legal category (paras 33-34). Importantly, the Convention's liability limits for lost baggage cover both material and non-material damages, meaning the pet's owner could not claim further compensation from the air carrier (para 41).

This ruling ultimately favours air carriers by providing greater legal certainty regarding the types of claims passengers can make for lost items - including pets. It also shields carriers from the complexities of differing national laws on non-material damages. The decision reflects the pragmatic logic of international air travel law.

Delayed bags, immediate compensation rights - CJEU in Iberia (C-292/24)

On June 5, the CJEU issued a new judgment interpreting the Montreal convention, which governs rules for international air carriage, in the case Iberia (C-292/24). 

The case arose when passengers traveling from Frankfurt am Main (Germany) to Panama City (Panama), with a layover in Madrid (Spain), discovered that their checked-in luggage had not arrived in Panama. They reported the baggage as lost to Iberia and informed the airline that, unless they received an update within three days, they would buy replacement items and continue with their travel plans - which they ultimately did. They also had to rebook their outgoing flights from Panama City due to the delay. The luggage was eventually delivered to Panama City five days after their scheduled arrival. The passengers subsequently sought reimbursement for the cost of replacement items, additional travel expenses, and the rebooked flights. 

The legal question concerned the interpretation of the reporting deadlines set out in Article 31(2) of the Montreal Convention in cases of delayed or lost baggage. Article 31(2) states that 

'the person entitled to delivery must complain to the carrier forthwith after the discovery of the damage, and, at the latest, within seven days from the date of receipt in the case of checked baggage and fourteen days from the date of receipt in the case of cargo. In the case of delay, the complaint must be made at the latest within twenty-one days from the date on which the baggage or cargo have been placed at his or her disposal.'

The key issue was whether this deadline prevents passengers from claiming compensation for damage caused by a baggage delay before the baggage is returned, or whether they may do so only after they receive the baggage as the full scope of their damage may only then materialise. 

The CJEU adopted an interpretation of Article 31(2) of the Montreal Convention that is favourable to passengers. It held that passengers may submit a claim for damages arising from delayed baggage before the baggage is returned. According to the Court, the 21-period specified in Article 31(2) marks the latest possible moment to file a complaint - but not the earliest (para 20). By applying a literal interpretation of the provision, the CJEU found that passengers are entitled to submit a claim for compensation at any time between the moment their baggage is delayed and the expiry of the 21-day period following its return (para 21). 

Interestingly, the CJEU also noted that this interpretation benefits air carriers, as well. Early notification allows airlines to investigate the situation promptly, potentially mitigating the damage, and collect evidence to demonstrate that they took all reasonable steps to prevent the harm (paras 29-30).

The missing suitcase - CJEU in Vueling Airlines (C-86/19)

Last week the CJEU issued a judgment in the Vueling Airlines case (C-86/19) deciding on the liability of air carriers for lost or damaged checked in baggage. As a reminder to our readers, this area of air passenger rights is not regulated in Regulation No 261/2004, but rather in the Montreal Convention.

The checked in luggage of the passenger in the given case never arrived at the final destination, which led the passenger to claim the maximum amount of compensation provided in Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention - 1131 of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) (which would currently amount to ca 1376 Euro) - to compensate them for both material and non-material damages. The air carrier acknowledges its liability but wants to limit its compensation to the passenger to EUR 250 for all suffered by passenger losses. The passenger did not indicate the contents of the baggage, its value or weight, nor provided receipts for items bought to replace the lost items. Instead the passenger relies on the fact that loss of baggage is the most serious ground for liability of air carrier in Article 22(2) Montreal Convention and, therefore, should be awarded by the maximum amount of compensation provided in it. The referring courts indicates the different practice of national courts in awarding compensation in such cases: some courts require evidence as to specific passenger losses, others do not. Therefore, the CJEU is asked for its guidance.

The CJEU confirms first that Articles 17(2) and 22(2) Montreal Convention read jointly indicate that the amount of compensation for the lost baggage is not a fixed sum payable automatically to the passenger, but rather indicates the maximum amount of compensation that the air carrier needs to be prepared to pay when they are liable (para 35). This is not a surprising interpretation, as the previous case law on the Convention was also clear in indicating that these provisions aim to set absolute limits to the air carrier's liability, absent passengers indicating separately and explicitly a higher value of their checked in luggage, rather than regulate it on a fixed level (see e.g. our previous comment on Walz judgment).

The second question was more interesting: How are national courts to determine the amount of payable compensation? The answer to it is not surprising either, however, but rather deeply rooted in the limitations of the EU Law in relation to procedural matters. The CJEU is only able to indicate that the Montreal Convention leaves it to the national rules of evidence to determine how passengers are to prove the suffered losses, with the caveat that the national procedural rules must comply with the principles of effectiveness and equivalence (para 44). Already in the previous case - Espada Sanchez and Others (see our previous comment here) - the CJEU has confirmed that the burden of proof as to the value of the baggage is on the passenger (para 37). The CJEU mentions that the passengers could e.g. be asked to present receipts for items purchased to replace lost luggage, documents confirming the harms suffered as the result of the loss (para 41). When the passenger does not produce any such documents, the courts could consider the weight of the luggage, whether it was lost on an outbound or return journey, but any such assessments need to be made in consideration of the case as a whole (para 42). As it is the air carrier who is likely to have the record of the weight of the luggage, the national court may require them to help with providing evidence thereof (para 43).

Two more decisions concerning air passengers

Today, the Court of Justice of the EU has released two judgements which European consumers/travellers might want to know about. 

In the first one, Case C-139/11 (Joan Cuadrench Moré v KLM), it established that, in the case of passengers seeking damages for the cancellation of a flight under Regulation 261/2004, the time-limits for bringing an action are to be determined by the Member States in accordance with the principles of effectiveness and equivalence in relation to the procedural rules laid down by national law in respect of similar situations. Since the Regulation put in place a system of protection that is additional to those laid down in the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, the two-year time-limit provided by those treaties does not apply.

In the second decision, Case C-410/11 (Pedro Espada Sánchez and Others v Iberia), the Court was called to interpret the just-mentioned Montreal Convention, or the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage, to which the EU has adhered. 

The question concerned a family of four people (a Spanish couple and their two children) whose luggage went lost during a flight operated by Iberia. The Montreal Convention provides that an air carrier must pay compensation to each passenger, in the event of the loss of his baggage. In the claimants' case, the luggage of all four passengers had been put in two suitcases. The question before the Court, subsequently, was whether it was possible for the family to also claim damages for the luggage which had been not checked in under the requesting passenger's name. 

The court answered that, in light of the Convention's objectives, it must be possible for a passenger to claim damages for the loss of luggage which had been checked in under another passenger's name. The claimant must prove that the lost baggage did in fact contain his belongings. In making its assessment, the national court may take into account the fact that the concerned passengers are members of the same family, that they bought their tickets together or that they checked in at the same time.