The Swiss Civil Aviation Authority (Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt BAZL) initiated proceedings against 14 airlines which alledgedly have violated passenger rights as provided by Reg. 261/2004. This European Regulation came into force in Switzerland on Dec. 1, 2006. Though the BAZL observed that for the most part the complaints filed by ...

In 2005, American Ailrines started to charge passengers who checked their luggage at curbside stations using skycaps a USD 2 fee per bag. Some skycaps filed a law suit against AA's retention of the fee, alleging that it was a “service charge” under the Massachusetts Tips Statute – and thus ...

Thai culture ministry said that foreign visitors should not be able to get Buddhist tattoos which disrespect religion. Thailand is mostly Buddhist, and Buddha statues and images are considered sacred objects of worship. The minister is concerned that tourists don't care about religion and are not aware that these tattoos ...

Two new preliminary rulings regarding travel law have been initiated before the European Court of Justice.One regarding interpretation of the PTD and the other of the Air Passenger's Rights Regulation:1. Case C-134/11 (Blödel-Pawlik/HanseMerkur)Referring court:Landgericht Hamburg (Germany)Question referred:Does Article 7 of Directive 90/314/EECon package travel, package holidays and package tours also ...

The case Hook v British Airways concerns a flight from London to Paphos, Cyprus on 26 July 2008 and the return flight on 10 August 2008. The plaintiff, a disabled person within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Regulation (EC) No.1107/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of ...

In a recent decsision, the Austrian Civil Supreme Court (OGH) has held that booking a package for a group or family constitutes a contract for the benefit of a third party and thus entitles any member of the group or family to file a claim with regard to his/her own ...

The EU Commission has now published the responses received on the ADR consultation. The responses filed by experts include an IFTTA paper drafted by Larry Gore, Tom Marigiotti and John Downes. It is the second time that IFTTA participated in an EU legislative process. The commission also published a Feedback ...

The Plaintiff flew with Air France on May 23, 2003, from Toronto to Paris. She was seated in a wheelchair and required assistance to access her seat on the airplane. Upon arrival at CDG airport in France, the Plaintiff claimed that Air France personnel failed to assist despite numerous requests ...

The Association for International Arbitration (AIA) is holding a conference on ADR in the Aviation Sector and the sector of Tour Operators on June 24 in Brussels. The provisonal programme includes the following papers: 1. Air passenger rights or wrongs (Mia Wouters) 2. Selected pitfalls and hard cases concerning air ...

Eurobarometer published aSurvey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourismbased on fliedwork in Feb 2011.A summary can be found here:SummaryThe entire analytical report cam be found here:ReportEuropean champion in traveling are the Finns!Stephan

In the "Ving Sverige" Case (see IFTTA news of Feb 8, 2011), the ECJ has now decided thatan invitation to purchase exists as soon as the information on the product advertised and its price is sufficient for the consumer to be able to make a transactional decision, without it being ...

The Plaintiffs were booked on an Alitalia flight from Bari to Rome and then on to Montreal. Because of a mechanical problem, which was identified only shortly before departure, the flight from Bari to Rome was delayed almost 3 hrs and they missed their connecting flight to Montreal.However, the claim ...

Due to an Associated Press report, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has suspended Zimbabwe's national carrier from all international financial and flight booking services.Find article here>>.

A vast majority of the voters in Zurich has objected an intiative to prohibit assisted suicide of foreigners. A second intiative seeking to limit suicide assistance to persons who have lived in the Canton for at least one year was also rejected.Source: Spiegel Online; find in German here>>.

Upon reference by the Augstākās Tiesas Senāts (Latvia), the ECJ has today intrepreted Reg. 261/2004 as follows:Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that an air carrier, since it is obliged to implement all reasonable measures to avoid extraordinary circumstances, must reasonably, at the stage ...

The Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, in coordination with HospitalityLawyer.com, is producing the first-ever Global Congress on Legal, Safety, and Security Solutions in Travel - a conference that places legal, safety and security solutions for the travel industry under one roof.Date: August 25-28, 2011Venue: HoustonGeneral Sessions will address topics, ...

The first issue of our new journal, the IFTTA Law Review 1-2011, is now available for download in pdf. Please note that pursuant to our agreement with the Sellier publishing company, the access is limited to paid IFTTA members. To visit the page, login is required. The IFTTA Law Review ...

The Prudential Insurance Co. has been given leave to appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal that legal professional privilege is confined to lawyers (solicitors and barristers) and not to other professions. The Law Society of England and Wales intend to intervene in the appeal to protect that ...

The 1st edition of our new "IFTTA Law Review" is now available in print as a supplement to "Reiserecht aktuell". The online version is expected to be available shortly. The issue contains an article by Klaus Tonner on the new Package Travel Directive, the IFTTA paper on the revision of ...

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a final rule to improve the air travel environment for consumers by:increasing the number of carriers that are required to adopt tarmac delay contingency plans and the airports at which they must adhere to the plan's terms; increasing the number of carriers that ...

The European Commission has adopted the 17th update of the list of airlines banned in the European Union. Some airlines – including four all-cargo air carriers from Indonesia and one air carrier from Ukraine – have been removed from the list as safety concerns have been satisfactorily addressed. However, all ...

In the judgement of Dec. 7, 2010 in joint cases C‑585/08 - Pammer and C-144/09 Alpenhof, the ECJ has given guidance to national courts with regard to the circumstances under which a trader whose activity is presented on its website or on that of an intermediary can be considered to ...

The plaintiffs had booked a flight from Linz to Perth via Frankfurt and Hongkong with the defendant. The flight from Linz to Frankfurt, however, was to be operated not by the defendant but by another airline. The flight from Linz to Frankfurt was cancelled and the operating carrier offered plaintiffs ...

Plaintiff had booked a round trip flight from Frankfurt to Antigua. The return flight started on time and had a scheduled stopover in Punta Cana. From there the aircraft started on time as well but due to a technical problem - the landing gear could not be retracted - had ...

Most airlines don't provide a refund of baggage fees if the bags are lost or delayed. A new DOT rule would require airlines to refund the fee if a bag is lost or not delivered in a “timely” manner. Exactly what “timely” means is yet to be determined. The Transportation ...

European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas today (note: April 11, 2011) announced a series of measures to clarify and strengthen the enforcement of passenger rights legislation, so consumers can more effectively access their rights and industry has more certainty and a level playing field across the EU. Vice-President Kallas also announced ...

Dear IFTTA-friends,I would like to announce the upcoming European Travel Law Forum, which is going to take place June 30th to July 1st in Salzburg. It will be connected to the IFTTA Europe Workshop which is going to follow on July 2nd.Some IFTTA members as our Co-president Michael Wukoschitz, Klaus ...

A class action against Alitalia has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleging, among other things, that Alitalia breached its contract with its customers and violated Regulation No. 261/2004 of the European Parliament and European Council by failing to pay compensation to certainAlitalia ...

The Bribery Act will come into force on 1st July 2011.The Bribery Act will: Introduce a corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery by persons working on behalf of a business. A business can avoid conviction if it can show that it has adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery. ...

Operators and travel agents shall have a look to Brussels: The EU wants to implement a minors clause into the new PTD. As with Computer games and video movies Travel brochures then should mandatory provide an age rating with FSK symbols of the film industry. As traveling contains several risks ...