14.1.2019   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 16/16


Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 15 November 2018 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof — Germany) — Verbraucherzentrale Baden-Württemberg eV v Germanwings GmbH

(Case C-330/17) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 - Article 2(18) - Article 23(1) - Transport - Common rules for the operation of air services in the European Union - Information - Indication of the final price to be paid - Inclusion of the air fare in the final price to be paid - Obligation to indicate air fares in euros or local currency - Choice of the relevant local currency - Connecting factors))

(2019/C 16/19)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesgerichtshof

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Verbraucherzentrale Baden-Württemberg eV

Defendant: Germanwings GmbH

Operative part of the judgment

Article 23(1) in conjunction with Article 2(18) of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on common rules for the operation of air services in the Community must be interpreted as meaning that, when indicating air fares for intra-Community air services, air carriers who do not express those fares in euros are required to choose a local currency that is objectively linked to the service offered. That is the case in particular of the currency which is legal tender in the Member State in which the place of departure or arrival of the flight is located.

Thus, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, in which an air carrier established in a Member State in which the euro is legal tender offers on the internet an air service for which the place of departure of the flight is located in another Member State in which a currency other than the euro is legal tender, the air fares may, if they are not expressed in euros, be indicated in the currency which is legal tender in that other Member State.


(1)  OJ C 293, 4.9.2017.