London barrister, James Dove, has won compensation from the Spanish airline, Iberia, which cancelled his unused return ticket to Madrid when he missed the outbound flight.
Most carriers have an immediate cancellation rule in place, where the return flight is automatically cancelled when the outbound trip is unused in order to prevent so-called tariff abuse – where the passengers buys a ticket fully intending not to fly the whole itinerary to take advantage of cheaper fares.
Dove had bought a one-way ticket to Spain on another carrier and called Iberia to discuss whether he could have his return trip kept open. He was told that the whole trip had been cancelled, in line with Iberia’s conditions of carriage, and he bought a flight home on a different airline. Dove then sought to recover the cost of the Madrid-London flight, arguing that it was an unfair contract term for Iberia to keep the money.
At the Mayor's and City of London Court, Deputy District Judge Case agreed with Dove and ordered Iberia to pay back the money for the Madrid-London leg.
This landmark case gives more power for others seeking to claim back lost money because the airline cancelled the return of their trip even though the judgment is not binding.