News

The plaintiff booked two flight tickets through an internet booking form on the airline’s website. There was a note in the booking form saying “no name change permitted after booking. name has to comply with passenger’s ID card”. For the first ticket the plaintiff filled in his own name whereas for the second ticket he […]

The plaintiffs, both Austrian residents domiciled in Bludesch (Austrian Province of Vorarlberg), had booked a holiday package to Egypt organized by an Austrian tour operator located in Vienna. The booking was made online through the website of a German travel agency. By mistake of either the tour operator or the travel agency, they were booked

On Oct. 4, 2012, the ECJ has published two judgements in denied boarding cases. In both judgements, the ECJ held that the concept of ‘denied boarding’ pursuant to Reg. (EC) 261/2004 relates not only to cases of overbooking but also to those concerning other grounds, such as operational reasons.The first case (C-22/11) concernd a strike

On June 29, 2012, the German Landgericht Frankfurt am Main has lodged a new refrence for preliminary ruling to the ECJ on the following question:Is Article 2(j) of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004  to be interpreted, with regard to the ‘reasonable grounds’ mentioned therein, to the effect that ‘reasonable grounds’ can only be grounds pertaining

A lawsuit against Carnival Corp. stemming from the Costa Concordia accident was dismissed Sept. 28 in Florida. The judge stated it should be refiled in Italy. About 1,000 businesses on the island of Giglio, where the Costa ship capsized, moved to sue Carnival in Miami, where it is headquartered, instead of Italy, where Costa is

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

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 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: to ensure a sustainable development of tourism and for a competitive tourism industry; to further the development of niche areas of tourism, such as cultural, health/wellness, countryside, ecological, young

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

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