Rehder v Air Baltic Corporation (C-204/08); [2009] All ER (D) 153 (Jul)
The second indent of Art 5(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 had to be interpreted as meaning that, in the case of air transport of passengers from one member state to another member state, carried out on the basis of a contract with only one airline, which was the operating carrier, the court having jurisdiction to deal with a claim for compensation founded on that transport contract and on reg 261/2004 was that, at the applicant’s choice, which had territorial jurisdiction over the place of departure or place of arrival of the aircraft, as those places were agreed in that contract.
Air transport consisted, by its very nature, of services provided in an indivisible and identical manner from the place of departure to that of arrival of the aircraft, with the result that a separate part of the service which was the principal service, which was to be provided in a specific place, could not be distinguished in such cases on the basis of an economic criterion.
