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O’Carroll v Ryanair, Sheriff Court, 2008 R appealed against a decision of the Sheriff Court to award damages against it for “stress, inconvenience, frustration and disruption” to their holiday as a result of delayed baggage. The appeal was to the Sheriff Principal of Grampian, Highland and Islands at Aberdeen. The pursuer represented himself and his […]

The Belgium consumer association Test-Achats claimed that the websites and contractual conditions of three airlines – Brussels Airlines, Ryanair and EasyJet – were incompatible with Belgium’s fair trading legislation which inter alia implements EU Directive 2005/29 on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices.On March 10 2010, the Tribunal de Commerce Namurissued three judgments. Those relating to Brussels

Russia stopped sending tourists to space last year because of lack of space in the International Space Station (ISS) after the crew has increased from three to six. RIA Novosti now reports that Russian Federal Space Agency plans to send Soyuz spacecraft with two space tourists to the International Space station (ISS) after 2013. The

Plaintiff, during the process of embarkation for a Jetstar flight from Brisbane to Adelaide, was directed to descend a flight of stairs within the terminal to access the tarmac for boarding. Having descended the stairs, he was unable to find an open door giving access to the tarmac and therefore began to ascend the stairs

Demographic change will have major implications for the tourism sector over the coming decades, but also presents important opportunities. This is among the central findings of the recently published UNWTO/European Travel Commission (ETC) report on ‘Demographic Change and Tourism’. The report sets out the main demographic trends worldwide and in major current and emerging source

The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) released a statement warning that dreams of Olympic tourism could turn to nightmares. ETOA’s research and analysis shows that the vast numbers of foreign visitors anticipated to arrive at previous Olympics did not materialise. No host city has predicted demand for an Olympics correctly.ETOA points out that if huge

The German Hotel and Restuarant Assocoation (DEHOGA) had classified the cruise ship “MS Deutschland” as “5 star superior” under its hotel classification system. The competing shipping company Hapag Llloyd sued for revocation of this classification. Landgericht Berlin dismissed the claim in first instance judgement but, however, held that DEHOGA will have to ammend its classification

After months of lobbying from a discount website, the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has started an investigation on whether some hotels have put pressure on third parties to raise their rates. Hotel rooms are often sold through websites at rates far lower than those offered by travel agents or the hotels themselves, because

Italian firm Aviointeriors has developed a saddle shaped SkyRider seat which would allow airlines a way to squeeze in more passengers by reducing the space between rows of seatbacks to just 23 inches.The company compares the forward seating position to that of a motor-scooter rider or horseback rider.Source: CNN; find article here>>.

On 16 September 2010, EU Consumer Commissioner John Dalli announced the initial results of the 2010 Sweep, targeting websites selling tickets to cultural and sporting events. This sector was chosen following the large number of complaints received by the European Consumer Centres (ECCs) for this product category in 2009 (close to 30% of complaints about