Cases and deals
Insurance and litigation
- Armavia – A.320 accident in Black Sea – our remit was to assist the carrier and its insurers in dealing with passenger claims in Armavia and Russia - 105 claims were settled satisfactorily within 12 months of the loss
- Hellas Jet aircraft destroyed by fire whilst undergoing maintenance at Sabena Technics – settling first party claims and pursuing subrogation claim against responsible parties
Siberia Airlines – A 310 accident at Irkutsk - we represent the airline and its insurers in handling passenger and other liability claims in what is believed to be the first Russian domestic aviation accident to have involved litigation in the USA. Our London office has co-ordinated the multi-jurisdictional aspects with assistance from our Moscow, New York and Paris offices
- PIA – Fokker F.27 aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from Multan, Pakistan. Dealing with claims arising from the deaths of all onboard
- Iran Air Tours – TU.154. Aircraft crashed and caught fire on landing at Mashad following a domestic flight within Iran. Claims in respect of the deceased and injured passengers are being handled in accordance with the law of Iran
- Atlantic Airways - BAE.146-200 crashed on landing at Stord Airport, Norway when spoilers failed to deploy killing 3 passengers and 1 crew member and injuring 9 passengers and 3 crew members. Dealing with crew, passenger and third party claims and advising re possible subrogation
- Qatar Airways – total loss of Airbus 300 damaged by fire whilst undergoing maintenance in Abu Dhabi. Advising on subrogation prospects
- Atlas Helicopters Ltd crash at Thornhaugh, Nr Peterborough, killing pilot and 3 passengers including one high net worth passenger said to have a personal fortune of approximately £500m
- Accident to Eurocopter SA-365N helicopter crash in Morecambe Bay killing 2 pilots and five passengers. Advising CAA on liability
- Adam Air B737-400 accident en route from Surabaya to Manado, Sulawesi on 1st January 2007
- Mi-8 Helicopter loss near Khost, South Eastern Afghanistan. Dealing with multinational claims arising from the deaths of all onboard a Mi-8 helicopter which crashed during the course of a security related flight from Kabul to Khost in a region controlled by the Taliban
Regulatory
- We acted for British Airways in the challenge brought by the States of Guernsey against a transaction with Air UK concerning slots at Heathrow. The judgment ( in 1999) concerned the interpretation of the EC slot regulation and confirmed that airlines were entitled freely to exchange slots between themselves, and that it was irrelevant whether there was also an exchange of money
- We acted for IATA in bringing a challenge to EC Regulation 2027/97 on air carrier liability on the basis that it was incompatible with EC Member states' obligations under the Warsaw convention. The court (in 1999) held that the regulation was in conflict with the convention, and that the conflicting parts were suspended pending removal of the incompatibilities
- We also acted for IATA in challenging EC Regulation 261/2004 on denied boarding, cancellation and delay of flights on the grounds that it was incompatible with member states' obligations under the Montreal convention. The case was referred to the European Court (which dismissed the challenge in a judgment of highly questionable correctness)
- We acted for British Airways, Virgin and Lufthansa defending a claim brought by the Association of British Travel Agents in respect of commissions on passenger service charges, which became non-commissionable when they were separated out of the fare
- We have undertaken or participated in a number of studies for the European Commission on a variety of aviation subjects, including: - the third package; certification of aircraft products; transparency of airline ticket pricing; code-sharing and competition; rules on the ownership and control of airlines; and the fairness of airlines' conditions of carriage for the purposes of the directive on unfair terms in consumer contracts