Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 26 February 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof — Austria) — Wucher Helicopter GmbH, Euro-Aviation Versicherungs AG v Fridolin Santer
(Case C-6/14) 1
(References for a preliminary ruling — Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 — Air carriers and aircraft operators — Insurance — Requirements — Definitions of ‘passenger’ and ‘member of the crew’ — Helicopter — Carriage of an expert in the blasting of avalanches using explosives — Injury suffered during a work flight — Compensation)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Oberster Gerichtshof
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicants: Wucher Helicopter GmbH, Euro-Aviation Versicherungs AG
Defendant: Fridolin Santer
Operative part of the judgment
1. Article 3(g) of Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on insurance requirements for air carriers and aircraft operators must be interpreted as meaning that the occupant of a helicopter held by a Community air carrier, who is carried on the basis of a contract between that air carrier and the occupant’s employer in order to perform a specific task, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, is a ‘passenger’ within the meaning of that provision;
2. Article 17 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, concluded in Montreal on 28 May 1999, signed by the European Community on 9 December 1999 on the basis of Article 300(2) EC, approved on behalf of the EC by Council Decision 2001/539/EC of 5 April 2001, must be interpreted as meaning that a person who comes within the definition of ‘passenger’ within the meaning of Article 3(g) of Regulation No 785/2004, also comes within the definition of ‘passenger’ within the meaning of Article 17 of that convention, once that person has been carried on the basis of a ‘contract of carriage’ within the meaning of Article 3 of that convention.
________________________1 OJ C 129, 28.4.2014.