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;         

Europe: Commission launches campaign to inform passengers about their rights

A Europe-wide publicity campaign in 23 languages launched by the European Commission is meant to provide passengers with easier access to information about their rights when travelling by rail or air. As part of the "Your Passenger Rights At Hand" campaign a website has been launched. Here people are able to find out what their rights are for each of the transport modes.

Source: European Commission Newsroom

China Says It Has World's Fastest Train

China has unveiled what it says is the world's fastest rail link in the world, a train connecting the cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan, with an average speed of 217 miles per hour. The super-high-speed train reduces the 1,069 km journey to a three hour ride and cuts the previous journey time by more than seven and a half hours. Work on the project began in 2005 as part of plans to expand a high-speed network aimed at eventually linking the business hub of Guangzhou with Beijing. Test runs for the service began earlier in December and the link officially went into service last Saturday. Beijing has an ambitious rail development program aimed at increasing the national network from the current 86,000 km to 120,000km, making it the most extensive rail system outside the US.
ARTA E-NEWS FOR December 29, 2009 www.artaonline.com