Michael Wukoschitz's blog

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of an action brought by the estate of a passenger against the operator of a cruise ship on which the passenger died after contracting a bacterial infection. The dismissal was made on the basis of the forum-selection clause in the passage contract, which provided that all personal injury claims were to be litigated in the courts of England and Wales and be governed by English law.

The Australian High court has ruled on 7 September 2012 that Indonesian national airline Garuda isn't immune from legal action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Since 2008, the ACCC has been pursuing a number of airlines, including Garuda in relation to alleged price fixing and anti-competitive conduct relating to surcharges applied to the carriage of air freight. Garuda contended that they were immune from the ACCC proceedings under the Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 (FSI Act).

The new law (AB 2354), which takes effect Jan. 1, 2013, permits travel agents to offer and disseminate travel insurance under the license of the “limited lines” insurance producer they work with, as long as certain consumer protections are followed. Before the law takes effect, the insurance commissioner will establish new procedures for insurance providers to follow.

Source: Travel Pulse; find article here>>.

The Bulgarian Parliament is about to enact a new tourism law and has adopted a draft at first reading. The purposes of the draft law are:

TripAdvisor.com provides information on various hotels, resorts and restaurants worldwide. Visitors to TripAdvisor's website can review these businesses by responding to surveys or post comments about their personal experiences. Based on these reviews, TripAdvisor compiles and publishes rankings, categorizing the businesses listed. In 2011 a ranking of "dirtiest hotels" identified the Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, as the "dirtiest hotel in America".

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a complaint filed by passengers against a cruise ship operator that alleges specific facts that, if proven, would sustain a finding of negligence is sufficient to withstand a motion for dismissal. In the instant case, plaintiffs alleged that an employee of the cruise ship operator encouraged them to go on a specific excursion during an island port call. They went on the excursion which included transportation on an open-air bus. The bus encountered the funeral service for a member of a local crime gang.

Upon reference of the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH), the CJEU has held in its judgement of Sep. 6, 2012 in Case C-190/11 (Mühlleitner) that the consumer’s possibility of bringing proceedings before the courts of his Member State against a trader domiciled in another Member State is not subject to the condition that the contract was concluded at a distance.

On August 28, 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a request for comments on current policy, guidance, and procedures that aircraft operators (ranging from pilots of general aviation aircraft up to and including air carrier certificate holders at the major airlines) use when determining if passenger use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) may be allowed during any phase of flight on their aircraft.

In the case concerned, the claimant had filed for a new passport but refused to provide his finger prints. The city of Bochum has therefore denied the issuance of the passport and the claimant filed a law suit against the city of Bochum before the Administrative Court Gelsenkirchen.

The court has doubts whether

Following enforcement action of the U.K. Office of Fair Trading (OFT), 12 airlines have agreed to include debit card surcharges in the headline price rather than surprise consumers at the end of the booking process. Any surcharges for paying by credit card will be easy to find when booking online. Aer Lingus, BMI Baby, Eastern Airways, easyJet, Flybe, German Wings, Jet2, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Thomas Cook, Thomson (TUI) and Wizz Air were subject to an OFT consumer law investigation and have agreed to change their practices.