Recent postings on IFTTA News

• German Supreme Court: tour organizer must not reserve alterations of the flying times;
• Austrian Supreme court asks CJEU for interpretion of Reg. 785/2004 and the Montreal Convention;
• Aviation Safety Network: accident fatalities at record low in 2013; 
•  UK: Supreme Court finds refusal of double room to same sex couple discriminatory;
•  U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal in West Caribbean Airways crash case; 
• Austrian Supreme Court: hotelier liable for legionella disease; 
• Canada: Ontario Superior Court of Justice decides on Montreal Convention exclusivity; 
• Australia: Supreme Cout of Queensland decides in 'cramped' air passenger case; 
• U.S. Jurisdiction re Eurail Pass; 
• Article on hotel classification in Ireland; 
• IFTTA Law Review 3-2013 now available online;
• UK: Court of Appeal decides in broken glass door case; 
• Australia to abolish travel agents licensing; 
• CJEU decides on jurisdiction in package travel case; 
• European Court of Human Rights: few hours' detention of airline passenger for airport security checks not excessive ; 
• Conference on latest developments in European Travel Law at ERA in Trier, Dec. 5-6, 2013; 
• CJEU: Including fingerprints in passports is lawful; 
• USA: DOT fines United Airlines USD 1.1 million for lengthy tarmac delays; 
• European Court of Human Rights affirms internet news portal's liability for offensive online comments of its readers about a ferry company; 
• USA: Appelate court decides on angry passenger's Facebook and Twitter posts about an airline employee; 
• Master program in International Tourism Management and Analysis (ITMA); 
• France: Court of Appeal affirms fine for price fixing in the leisure and tourism sector; 
• UK: Court of Appeal clarifies "accident" according to Article 17 of the Montreal Convention;         

Australia: compensation for inhaling smoke from pyrolysed oil in cabin of aircraft

The New South Wales Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by East-West Airlines against a flight attendant who inhaled smoke in an aircraft cabin 18 years ago and had developed a persistent cough. The New South Wales Dust Diseases Tribunal had previously found that due to the smoke from pyrolysed oil she was exposed to dust, which caused her to develop her cough and awarded the flight attendant $139,000.

East West Airlines Ltd v. Turner [2010] NSWCA 53; BC201001873 - 01 Apr 2010 - Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Appeal.

Judgement available here>>.

Australia: advertising campaign to accompany tough new laws on sex tourism

The Australian government has promised to fight the sexual exploitation of children wherever it occurs. Adverts have been placed in national newspapers that warn offenders they can be prosecuted in Australia even if their crimes are committed elsewhere. The measures include jail terms of up to 25 years for Australians found guilty of sex crimes against children in foreign countries.

Source: bbc.co.uk; find article here>>.

Australia: Federal Court rules agains Qantas in fuel surcharge case

Australian Federal Court today ruled the fuel surcharge the airline charges passengers is not a tax, but simply part of the fare. Qantas will therefore be made to repay years of disputed commission fees to travel agents of tens of millions of dollars at least.

The court upheld an appeal by Leonie's Travel, forcing airlines to include the fuel surcharge in their base figure for calculating commissions paid to agents. The case will now return to the original judge to determine how much Qantas owes the agents.

Source: The Sidney Morning Herald; find article here>>.

Full text of Fedreral Court Judgement Leonie's Travel Pty Ltd v Qantas Airways Limited

[2010] FCAFC 37 available here>>.

Australia: no exemption of Age Discrimination Act for cruise line

Australia's largest pleasure cruise company, Carnival Australia, a subsidiary of global Carnival Corp., demands that young adults aged 18 to 21 are accompanied by a parent or guardian if they book one of a range of South Pacific cruises from Australian ports from November through January. The policy aims to exclude large groups of students who celebrate the end of the school or college year usually by excessive drinking.

A rejected passenger lodged an age discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission which Carnival responded by asking for an exemption from its so-called under-21 policy of the Age Discrimination Act.

The commission, however, rejected the exemption application as such exemption would undermine the law's aim of eliminating age discrimination in the provision of goods and services.

Source: msnbc; find article here>>.

Australia: holiday makers warned on using unlicensed travel agents

The Australian Travel Compensation Fund says booking with a licensed agent is “more important than ever'”as more businesses struggle in the tough economic climate. The TCF has exceeded $50 million in payments to Australian travellers who have been left out of pocket after their travel agencies collapsed. However, travellers are eligible for financial protection only if they used a licensed agent. The TCF was set up in 1986 to provide a safety net for travellers who would lose money if a travel agency collapsed or became insolvent.

Source: news.com.au; find article here>>.

"European Community strengthens aviation relations with Australia"

As stated by the EU Press Room, "Today, the European Union and Australia signed an aviation agreement which allows European airlines to fly between any EU Member State and Australia. 'I welcome this important step in the EU's air transport relations with Australia,' said Jacques Barrot, Vice-President in charge of transport. 'This will pave the way for a comprehensive aviation agreement involving cooperation in key aviation areas such as competition, safety and the environment.'
The horizontal agreement signed today removes nationality restrictions in the bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and Australia and therefore allows any EU airline to operate flights between any EU Member State where it is established and Australia. This agreement acknowledges the existence of the European single market for air transport in the relations between the EU and Australia. It demonstrates that there is an external dimension of the single market for air transport. The agreement recognises that airlines in the EU are not any longer national airlines but Community airlines."

This Press Release is available in full text.

Australia: Airline fuel surcharge inconsistencies exposed

A survey of airline fuel surcharges between Australia and the UK has unveiled significant inconsistencies.
The disparity between the world's major airlines is so great that Australian flyers have been warned by the nation's largest travel agency Flight Centre to ensure they take the surcharges into account before deciding which airline to use.
A schedule of 13 airlines flying the long-haul route between Sydney and London shows passengers can pay anything between zero and A$802.40 in surcharges - on top of the quoted fares. (US$1 = A$0.92 at the time of writing).

Source: www.aviationrecord.com; find details here>>.

World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Report Highlights the Importance of Environmental Sustainability

Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the second annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, released today by the World Economic Forum. Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, Canada and France complete the top-10 list. The rankings cover 130 countries around the world.
Improvements have been made to the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) this year. The “environmental regulation” pillar has been revised and improved as well as being re-named the “environmental sustainability” pillar to better reflect its components and to capture the increasingly recognized importance of sustainability in the sector’s development.
The TTCI measures the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the T&T sector in different countries. It is composed of 14 pillars of travel and tourism competitiveness:

1. Policy rules and regulations
2. Environmental sustainability
3. Safety and security
4. Health and hygiene
5. Prioritization of travel and tourism
6. Air transport infrastructure
7. Ground transport infrastructure
8. Tourism infrastructure
9. Information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure
10. Price competitiveness
11. Human capital
12. Affinity for travel & tourism
13. Natural resources
14. Cultural resources

This cross-country analysis of the drivers of competitiveness in travel and tourism provides useful comparative information for making business decisions and additional value to governments wishing to improve their travel and tourism environments.

Source: World Economic Forum; read full press release here.

Note that "Policy rules and regulations" is regarded the first pillar - thus in my opinion emphasising the importance of a legal frame i.e. travel and tourism law.

"Terror alert puts cloud over Bali travel cover"

As reported by Clive Dorman, at The Age, "A Travel law specialist has warned that government advice about travel to Indonesia may technically invalidate travel insurance for trips to the holiday island of Bali.
Even though insurers continue to cover travellers to Bali, Tony Cordato, of Sydney's Cordato Partners Tourism Lawyers, believes the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's advice for travel to Bali triggers the exclusion clause in travel insurance policies that disqualifies covering anyone who ignores government warnings.
The department advises that people should 'reconsider their need' to travel to Indonesia, including Bali, 'because of the very high threat of terrorist attack'. It is the second-highest category, a so-called level four warning. Mr Cordato said that while the issue had not been tested in court, 'the conclusion must be that there is no travel insurance coverage for travel to countries where level four travel advisories apply'.
Travel insurers and the Insurance Council of Australia have so far been unwilling to weigh in on the issue. But the industry is already facing a dramatic increase in disputes over travel insurance policies as more Australians, particularly older Australians, travel overseas."

Australia: United Air Lines to use all-inclusive price advertising

United Airlines has provided court enforceable undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACC) after concerns were raised about its airfare advertising. The ACCC became aware that United Air Lines had been advertising headline airfares on its Australian based website and in newspapers without including applicable taxes, levies and charges payable by a consumer as a pre-condition of receiving the services.
Failing to make the total price to be paid clear in advertisements is likely to mislead consumers and breach the Trade Practices Act 1974.
As part of the undertakings, United Airlines will also review its trade practices compliance program to ensure it will continue to meet its obligations under the Act.

Source: http://www.accc.gov.au/; read full article here.

"Travel Lawyer highlights black hole in Travel Insurance Cover"

"In giving a presentation to the Diploma Travel Annual Conference last Saturday on the Gold Coast, Travel Lawyer, Anthony Cordato, highlighted the black hole that exists in Travel Insurance cover.
'What we are talking about is that if a traveller visits certain high-risk countries, then they are not covered for medical and hospital expenses, medical evacuation, financial loss (including cancellation and trip disruption) and accidental death or total permanent disability', Cordato says.
'It’s like using a mobile phone when driving, as soon as you enter some areas, there is no coverage.'
The black hole is the exclusion found in Travel Insurance policies that you did not follow advice in the mass media of a government or other official body’s warning against travel to a particular country or parts of a particular country." Read more >>

Source: eTravel Blackboard.

"Competition: Commission ends block exemption for IATA passenger tariff conferences for routes between the EU and non-EU countries"

As stated by the EU Press Room, "The European Commission has decided not to renew a Block Exemption Regulation that exempts IATA passenger tariff conferences concerning air routes between the EU and non-EU countries from the EC Treaty’s ban on restrictive business practices (Article 81). Tariff conferences allow airlines to agree prices for multi-leg flights on the same ticket that use more than one carrier. The exemption expires on 30 June 2007 for routes between the EU and the US or Australia, and on 31 October 2007 for routes between the EU and other third countries (see IP/06/1294 and MEMO/06/359). IATA has not supplied data that would allow the Commission to conclude that an exemption would continue to benefit passengers. IATA is now developing a new interlining system to replace passenger tariff conferences: this will not be covered by a block exemption and, as is the case for other sectors of the economy, it will be for IATA and individual carriers to ensure that their agreements are compatible with the competition rules."

This Press Release is available in full text.

Virgin Blue accused of discriminating against disabled passengers

Australian airline Virgin Blue faced action in the Federal Court in Sydney over its policy on disabled passengers.
Two wheelchair users were told they would have to pay for carers to travel with them, even though both live independently. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre says it has been contacted by at least 100 other people across the country with similar concerns. The centre's CEO Robin Banks says Virgin Blue is creating unlawful, discriminatory hurdles for people with disabilities.

The case is due to resume in September.

Source: abc.net.au. Read the full article here.

Australia offers a mix of breast implant and tourism as a package to the US

Australia is keenly promoting the concept of breast implant together with a holiday Down Under, especially to the travelers from the US.
Australia's newly appointed breast enlargement ambassador is reportedly encouraging American women to consider traveling to Australia for breast enhancement surgery. The initiative comes at a stage when the nation is counting on exposure in the huge US market resulting on big bucks for Australian tourism. Read more here.

Remark: an interesting combination indeed, especially in terms of tour organizer's liability...

Australia considers cooling down Geat Barrier Reef

Australian marine scientists have proposed to protect the corals from being damaged as a result of climate change.
Speaking at the recent Ecotourism Australia Conference, Andrew Skeat, executive director of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, said the proposal involves watering the ocean surface at peak heat times to avoid coral bleaching, which is caused by higher than average water temperatures linked with global climate change, and when organisms which make up corals die leaving behind white limestone skeleton. A fine spray of seawater will be pumped onto the reef to break up the ocean water, cooling the corals. It also considered permanently placing sunshades over some areas of the reef. The UNESCO World Heritage listed reef, stretching over more than 345,000 sq kilometers (133,000 sq miles) off the coast of Queensland, is the world's largest coral system.
For Details look here.

New adventure tourism operators law in Western Australia

The Western Australia government has imposed new strict standards for adventure tourism operators, in a move to protect tourists following some near tragedies in the state's wilderness areas.
Under the new legislation, accreditation will be compulsory for all adventure tourism operators. Details here.

The Great Barrier Reef will not be closed to tourism

Responding to a recent report related to several world heritage sites being taken off the tourism map, the Queensland Tourism Industry Council has rejected the opinion that suggests closing off most of the Great Barrier Reef to tourism.
According to The Courier Mail in Australia, coral reef expert Terry Hughes, the Great Barrier Reef was a big place and the tourism industry had little impact. Source: http://travelwirenews.com/eTN/02OCT2006.htm

Tourists to sign up for values?

Australian lawmakers are in a heated debate over a proposal that would require visitors to Australia to sign an 'Australian values' pledge before being granted a visa to enter the country, according to published reports. "It's wrong to expect tourists to sign up to a country s values for a visit," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Prime Minister Howard was replying to proposals by opposition leader Kim Beazley, who had proposed visa reforms to include a section for people to sign up to Australian values, laws and institutions of democracy (http://travelwirenews.com/eTN/14SEPT2006.htm).

(Originally posted by Michael Wukoschitz)

Brisbane World's best Airport

IATA has chosen Brisbane Airport as world's best airport and bestowed the "Eagle Award". The airport is expecting 15 million passengers this year.

(Originally posted by Michael Wukoschitz)