Aviation, International Trade and Shipping

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Aviation, International Trade and Shipping

Members of Chambers have extensive experience of all aspects of work involving aviation and international trade.  Fountain Court is recognised as the market leader in aviation work and members are frequently involved in commercial disputes relating to the aviation sector, international carriage, regulatory and product liability issues.  International trade is the backdrop to a major part of the work done in chambers, particularly disputes arising from commercial contracts of all types.  Frequently, that involves work relating to sale of goods, agency and distribution agreements.  A more detailed breakdown of these facets of members’ practices in these fields is set out below.

Aviation

Members of chambers are regularly involved in matters across the spectrum of aviation work, including:

Commercial disputes, such as those relating to the purchase, lease and maintenance of aircraft, insurance and reinsurance of aircraft, public liability, disputes involving travel agents and both air carriers and clients.  For example: Sunrock v SAS, the Volare litigation, BAA v Ryanair, Protea Leasing v RAC, Sahara India Airlines v Polaris Group, and Air India v Caribjet.

International Carriage, disputes and issues arising under the Warsaw and Montreal Convention regimes, inter-carrier agreements and EU legislation on passenger liability.  Recent notable cases include Fujitsu v Bax Global Inc, Quantum Corporation v Plane Trucking Ltd, the Deep Vein Thrombosis Group Litigation and Cochrane v Godolphin & Ors. Junior members of Chambers regularly act for airlines in smaller disputes relating to carriage by air and in travel and holiday claims.

Regulatory Work, licensing and airspace design by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the applicability of competition law to national ATS providers, disputes between governments, airlines and airport authorities, the impact of the Consumer Credit Act on travel agents, issues arising under the Chicago Convention, problems arising from the implementation of EU Directives.  Members have been involved in recent leading cases such as ABTA v CAA; Islamic Human Rights Commission v CAA and others; Thomas Hill and Dedham Vale Society v CAA and Biggin Hill Airport Ltd. v Bromley LBC.

Product Liability claims concerning the duty of care owed in respect of the certification of engines, the manufacture of Boeing 747 cockpit windows, the corrosion of fuel tanks of BAE 146 aircraft, the design of the main landing gear of passenger aircraft and in arbitration proceedings concerning engine development programmes and in claims arising out of fatal accidents.  Members have been involved in the notable cases of Amiri Flight v Crossair, and the Virgin Atlantic hard landing at Heathrow in 1997.

Arbitrators; Michael Crane QC and Bankim Thanki QC act as arbitrators in aviation disputes. A number of Members co-authored the book Carriage by Air (Butterworths, 2001) and two Members contributed to the chapters on aviation in Bullen & Leake & Jacob's Precedents of Pleadings 15th ed. (Sweet & Maxwell, 2004).

Sale of Goods & Agency

Members have experience of all types of international and domestic sales and services contracts, and disputes as to ownership, and have been involved in a number of leading cases. For example: Michael Gerson (Leasing) Ltd v Wilkinson, JJD SA v Avon Tyres, Atari v Electronics Boutique, Federal Republic of Germany and City of Gotha v Sotheby's and St Albans DC v International Computers.

Disputes arising from all types of agency, distribution and similar agreements are regularly handled in Chambers. A number of members of Chambers have acted in or advised on claims brought under the Commercial Agents Regulations of 1993. Members also have experience of representing companies in proceedings for damages brought by disgruntled franchisees. Recent cases include: Shell v Coral Oil, the Prince Jefri Bolkiah litigation, Orange Personal Communications Services v Squires and disputes concerning transfer pricing in the context of agreements for the worldwide supply of pharmaceutical products.

Shipping

Several members of Fountain Court have experience of dry shipping disputes, including claims arising from the Carriage of Goods by Sea, damage to vessels, and shipbuilding and the sale of ships.

Carriage of Goods by Sea:
Members of Chambers have experience of claims arising from loss or damage to cargoes, delay in delivery and claims for freight and demurrage. They are familiar with issues arising out of the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules and the various Carriage of Goods by Sea Acts. For example: The Stolt Loyalty and The Texaco Melbourne.

Damage to vessels:
Members of Chambers have experience of claims resulting from damage to vessels caused by unsafe berths, ports or cargos. For example: Bibby Bulk Carriers v Cansulex and The Cambridgeshire, an action concerning a sister vessel to The Spiliada.

Ship-Building and Sale:
Members of Fountain Court have long experience of acting in disputes arising from the construction and sale of ships. For example: Ali Shipping v Shipyard Trogir, Flender Werfft v Aegean Maritime, The Hannah Blumenthal, Milburn Services Ltd v United Trading Group (UK) Ltd and asset freezing injunctions.

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