£5000 victory for man who put easyJet in dock

By RAY MASSEY, MOTORING EDITOR
Created: 07:14 EST, 28 May 2011

A disgruntled passenger who took easyJet to court is the first person in Britain to be awarded compensation from the airline in a landmark ruling.

Criticism: Judge said the airline 'acted unreasonably'

Giles Instone's flight to Geneva for a ski break with friends was cancelled because of a booking error by the airline, and he was forced to pay for another flight later that day.

He used European Union rules to argue that the airline broke the law by failing to inform him of the error two weeks in advance.

Mr Instone, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, told how he went down the legal route after his attempts to contact the airline were met with a wall of silence.

A judge accepted that easyJet acted 'unreasonably' and he was awarded £600 to cover the flight he had to buy from another airline plus compensation, and his £4,438 legal costs.

It is thought to be the first time the airline has been forced by a British court to pay compensation to a customer for failing to meet its legal obligations. Experts believe it could open the floodgates to further claims.

Mr Instone, 59, who runs an air freight company, said: 'They were clearly in the wrong - they held on to my money and made it incredibly difficult for me to get them to put things right and pay me back.

'I know this experience happens to lots of other people so I really hope my victory will stop budget airlines from behaving badly towards their customers.'

In a judgment at Central London County Court, easyJet was criticised by Deputy District Judge Lawrence, who said the airline 'acted unreasonably by not conceding right at the outset'.

An easyJet spokesman said: 'We got it wrong. We would like to apologise to Mr Instone.'