On Nov. 25, 2011, the German Amtsgericht Düsseldorf has filed a motion for preliminary ruling to the ECJ regarding the follwoing issue:Is a passenger entitled to compensation under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 if the departure time of a flight has been delayed for a period of time ...

UNESCO has called on the Italian government to restrict access of large cruise ships to culturally and ecologically important areas, particularly Venice and its Lagoon which are visited by some 300 large cruise ships a year.In a letter sent to the Italian Environment Minister on behalf of Director-General Irina Bokova, ...

Attorneys for six passengers of the Costa Concordia reportedly filed a law suit in Miami's federal court requesting USD 450 million in punitive damages and USD 10 million in compensatory damages. The complaint says plaintiffs were “in terror of catastrophic injury, death, drowning, having been placed in a situation where ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) fined Spirit Airlines USD 100,000 for failing to appropriately record and respond to complaints about the carrier's treatment of passengers with disabilities, violating DOT's rules implementing the Air Carrier Access Act which prohibits discrimination in air travel on the basis of disability. Under DOT's ...

The plaintiff is operating a hotel in Berlin. The defendant is running a website provding for online booking of accomodation and travel packages. The website also has a section where users can post unattributed comments and reviews on hotels. These reviews included some negative comments on the plaintiff's hotel.Claiming that ...

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) considers that there is a need to undertake a legislative reform of Regulation No 261/2004 in order to consolidate all air passenger rights into a single text. This reform should firstly, incorporate the body of case-law laid down by the Court of Justice ...

As reported by "Travel Weekly", New York-based personal-injury law firm Proner and Proner said it joined forces with Codacons, the Italian consumer-protection organization, in filing a class action against Costa Cruises. A second New York law firm, Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, also will represent passengers in the class action.Proner said ...

Upon complaints by three passengers who all suffer from severe cat allergies, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has ruled that Air Canada, Jazz and WestJet need to amend their policies with respect to the carriage of cats as carry-on baggage in the aircraft cabin as to include either: a ban ...

Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport has asked that the currently ongoing review of EU passenger ship safety legislation take fully into account any lessons to be learnt from the Costa Concordia tragedy. The review will prioritise, in particular, the issues of: design and stability of passenger ships, technological ...

The plaintiff and her daughter boarded the aircraft for a Continental flight from Newark to Cancun, Mexico. After a dsipute with the flight attendants over her seating and and while waiting in the forward galley, the plaintiff began talking on her cell phone. When a flight attendant told her to ...

About to take a train from Solingen to Dresden, the plaintiff who had already bought her ticket for the train ride slipped on the platform because of black ice and got injured. After a claim against the company which owns the station premises was dismissed because that company had assigned ...

The plaintiff had booked a holiday package and spent her vacations in Gran Canaria in April 2010. Her return flight scheduled for April 17, 2010 had been cancelled because of the air space closures caused by the 'ash cloud'. Thus she had to stay in Gran Canaria until April 23, ...

The plaintiff who had booked a coach tour package with the defendant tour operator sued for EUR 8.000 compensation for pain and suffering. He claimed that because of the narrow seating in the coach used by the defendant, as of the fourth day of the trip he had suffered pain ...

By decison of Dec. 12, 2011, the EU Council has approved the accession of the European Union to the Protocol of 2002 to the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974 (‘Athens Protocol'), with the exception of Articles 10 and 11 thereof. The ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) fined AirTran Airways USD 60,000 for violating federal aviation laws and the Department's rules prohibiting deceptive price advertising in air travel.For a period of time in the fall of 2011, AirTran displayed an advertisement on a number of websites advertising $59 one-way fares. The ...

As a hotel guest, the plaintiff - a professional photographer - had parked his car in the hotel garage. Several signs in the garage were saying"The hotel does not accept any liablity with regard to cars parked here nor with regard to their content. Please deposit your valuables at the ...

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Dec. 21, Theophilus Maranga says he "risked his life" by jumping on the would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian man who attempted to blow up a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam with a ...

On 30 June 2010, the Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on the "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of ...

Plaintiff Zachary Sanders filed a suit to review final agency action by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He claimed violations of his constitutional rights under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments (in particular: the right not to incriminate himself and the right not to fined in an excessive way) ...

Qantas has successfully opposed an application for registration of the words "Flying Kangaroo" for wines. Though not having used an according trademark, Qantas had filed evidence of its history of using a flying kangaroo logo and the words “Flying Kangaroo” as well as evidence of its strong association with the ...

In today's judgement in Case C-366/10, the Court of the European Union held that the directive including aviation activities in the EU's emissions trading scheme is valid and application of the emissions trading scheme to aviation infringes neither the principles of customary international law at issue nor the Open Skies ...

The third edition of the IFTTA Law Review is now available in pdf within the members' section of the website. It focusses on cases related to the Montreal Convention and the Warsaw Convention in particular with regard to the issue of exclusivity.

The consultation on the possible revision of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 aims to gather stakeholders' views on the identification of possible shortcomings of the Regulation and their extent, and on the options to improve its application, either via non-legislative measures or via a revision of the Regulation. The consultation period ...

On Sep. 8, 2011 the Austrian Adminstrative Court (VwGH) has filed a reference for preliminary ruling of the Court of the European Union with regard to Reg. (EC) 1371/2007 on Rail Passengers' Rights and Obligations. The referring court wants to know whetherArticle 30 para 1 is to be interpreted as ...

The airline industry is again asking the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) or more time — now a full year — to comply with portions of the DOT's new rules on the disclosure and implementation of baggage fees on multi-carrier routings. When the DOT adopted the rules in April, it set ...

On Dec. 1, 2011, the European Commission announced a comprehensive package of measures to help increase the capacity of Europe's airports, reduce delays and improve the quality of services offered to passengers. The measures address the quality of services passengers and airlines receive on the ground before they take off ...

After entering her assigned row on Icelandair Flight No. 656, Elin Phifer bent over, placed two carry-on bags under the seat in front of hers, stood up, and struck her head on an overhead television monitor, which was extended in the down position. Phifer collapsed and was assisted to her ...

Plaintiff-appellant Mary Lopez appealed a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered August 20, 2010 dismissing her disability discrimination claims against appellee Jet Blue Airways ("JetBlue") under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for failure ...

The Saman dance from Aceh has joined batik, wayang, and angklung as Indonesian's contribution to UNESCO's list of intangible world heritage as announced in Bali Thursday, November 24, 2011. The Saman Dance was included in the list under the category of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.Source: eTurboNews; ...

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published its findings from its Inquiry into Human Trafficking in Scotland. The Commission inquired into the nature and extent of human trafficking in Scotland. It focused on trafficking for the purposes of forced labour, domestic servitude and criminal exploitation, but more explicitly on ...