Airways Corp of New Zealand v Geyserland Airways Ltd

Last updated

Airways Corp of New Zealand v Geyserland Airways Ltd
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
Court High Court of New Zealand
Full case nameAirways Corp of New Zealand v Geyserland Airways Ltd
Decided30 June 1995
Citation(s)[1996] 1 NZLR 116
Court membership
Judge(s) sittingThorp J

Airways Corp of New Zealand v Geyserland Airways Ltd [1996] 1 NZLR 116 is a New Zealand legal case involving the legal concept of acceptance. [1]

Contents

Background

IN 1987, the Airways Corporation of New Zealand (ACNZ) which was responsible for air traffic control in New Zealand was privatised.

In a bid to recoup its costs, it started charging airlines for providing this service. ACNZ gave Geyserland notice informing it that it was now subject to their "standard terms of contract", which included a term for the charging of landing fees, and they were subsequently invoiced for air control fees.

Geyserland refused to pay the charges, as they claimed they did not agree to any contract with them, even though they continued to request air traffic control services from ACNZ at the Rotorua airport. They pointed out that ACNZ were required by law to provide air traffic control services under the Civil Aviation Regulations 1953.

Left with no other option, ACNZ sued Geyserland for the unpaid landing fees.

Held

The Court ruled that as Geyserland had not accepted ACNZ’s contract, there was no legally binding contract between the two parties.

The Court stated obiter , that ACNZ may have been successful if they had sued under quantum meruit i.e. Geyserland benefited from the improved air safety, but this was never plead in court by ACNZ.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heathrow Airport</span> Main airport serving London, England, United Kingdom

Heathrow Airport, called London Airport until 1966, is the main international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system. The airport is owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings, owned mostly by Qatar Investment Authority, Public Investment Fund and CDPQ. In 2022, it was the second-busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic and the busiest airport in Europe in 2023. In fact, it's ranked as one of the busiest airports in the world in the Airports Council International rankings. It is also the airport with the world's most international connections as of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airport</span> Facility with a runway for aircraft

An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface such as a runway for a plane to take off and to land or a helipad, and often includes adjacent utility buildings such as control towers, hangars and terminals, to maintain and monitor aircraft. Larger airports may have airport aprons, taxiway bridges, air traffic control centres, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. In some countries, the US in particular, airports also typically have one or more fixed-base operators, serving general aviation.

Ryanair Holdings PLC is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier group headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland. The company includes the subsidiaries Ryanair DACTooltip Designated activity company, Malta Air, Buzz, Lauda Europe and Ryanair UK. Ryanair DAC, the oldest airline of the group, was founded in 1984. Ryanair Holdings was established in 1996 as a holding company for Ryanair with the two companies having the same board of directors and executive officers. In 2019 the transition began from the airline Ryanair and its subsidiaries into separate sister airlines under the holding company. Later in 2019 Malta Air joined Ryanair Holdings.

United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which five individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fee</span> Price to be paid for remuneration for services

A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom receive a fee in contradistinction to a payment, salary, or wage, and often use guineas rather than pounds as units of account. Under the feudal system, a Knight's fee was what was given to a knight for his service, usually the usage of land. A contingent fee is an attorney's fee which is reduced or not charged at all if the court case is lost by the attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L.F. Wade International Airport</span> International airport serving St. Davids Island, Bermuda

L.F. Wade International Airport, formerly named Bermuda International Airport, is the sole airport serving the British overseas territory of Bermuda in the north Atlantic Ocean. It is located in the parish of St. George's and is 6 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda's capital, Hamilton. In 2016, the airport handled 402,925 passengers, up 5.6% from 2006. It has one passenger terminal, one cargo terminal, eight aircraft stands and can support all aircraft sizes up to and including the Airbus A380. Currently, nine passenger or cargo airlines operate seasonal or year-round scheduled services from the Azores, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The airport covers 536 acres of land and contains one runway.

Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group and operates flights as United Express via respective code sharing agreements with United Airlines. It serves more than 180 markets in the Western Hemisphere. In a 1997 article from the Journal of Air Transportation, Mesa's safety record was noted as having the fewest incidents among domestic regional airlines at that time. Mesa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2010, hoping to shed financial obligations for leases on airplanes it no longer needed and emerged from bankruptcy in March 2011. In November 2017, Mesa opened a new training center in Phoenix. The 23,000-square-foot facility features a full-size CRJ-200 cabin trainer aircraft, 14 classrooms, and has the capacity to train 300 crew members at one time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-cost carrier</span> Airline with generally lower fares

A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (LCC), also called no-frills, budget or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries, for cheaper fares. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge extra fees such as for carry-on baggage. As of April 2020, the world's largest low-cost carrier is Southwest Airlines, which operates primarily in the United States, as well as in some surrounding areas.

The freedoms of the air, also called five freedoms of air transport, are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country's airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country's airspace. They were formulated as a result of disagreements over the extent of aviation liberalisation in the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, known as the Chicago Convention. The United States had called for a standardized set of separate air rights to be negotiated between states, but most other countries were concerned that the size of the U.S. airlines would dominate air travel if there were not strict rules. The freedoms of the air are the fundamental building blocks of the international commercial aviation route network. The use of the terms "freedom" and "right" confers entitlement to operate international air services only within the scope of the multilateral and bilateral treaties that allow them.

de Havilland Express Type of aircraft

The de Havilland Express, also known as the de Havilland D.H.86, was a four-engined passenger aircraft manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1934 and 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trump Shuttle</span> Former air shuttle service of the United States (1989–1992)

Trump Shuttle, Inc. was an airline owned by businessman Donald Trump from 1989 to 1992. The landing rights and some of the physical assets necessary to operate the shuttle flights were originally part of Eastern Air Lines and known as the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle. It operated hourly flights on Boeing 727 aircraft from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Boston Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., as well as charter service to other destinations. Its IATA designator code was TB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar International Airport</span> Airport in Gibraltar

Gibraltar International Airport, previously known as North Front Airport, is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The runway and aerodrome is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the civilian-operated terminal. National Air Traffic Services (NATS) hold the contract for provision of air navigation services at the airport.

Te Manatū WakaMinistry of Transport is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the New Zealand Government on transport policy. The Ministry works closely with other government transport partners, including the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to advance their strategic objectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadi International Airport</span> Airport in Fiji

Nadi International Airport is the main international airport of Fiji as well as an important regional hub for the South Pacific islands, located by the coast on the Ba Province in the Western Division of the main island Viti Levu. Owned and operated by Fiji Airports Limited, it is the main hub of Fiji Airways and its domestic and regional subsidiary Fiji Link. The airport is located at Namaka, 10 km from the city of Nadi and 20 km from the city of Lautoka. In 2019, it handled 2,485,319 passengers on international and domestic flights. It handles about 97% of international visitors to Fiji, of whom 86% are tourists. Despite being Fiji's main airport, it is a considerable distance from the country's major population centre; it is located 192 kilometres (119 mi) northwest of the country's capital and largest city Suva and its own airport, Nausori International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pago Pago International Airport</span> Airport in American Samoa

Pago Pago International Airport, also known as Tafuna Airport, is a public airport located 7 miles (11.3 km) southwest of the central business district of Pago Pago, in the village and plains of Tafuna on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenstown Airport</span> Airport in Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown International Airport is an international airport located in Frankton, Otago, New Zealand, which serves the resort town of Queenstown. The airport handled 2.25 million passengers as of 2018 making it the fourth busiest airport in New Zealand by passenger traffic. The airport is known for its scenery and challenging approach to land due to the nearby high terrain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airwork Services</span> 1928–1960 British airline

Airwork Limited, also referred to during its history as Airwork Services Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary company of VT Group plc. It has a long and rich history in providing a variety of defence support services to the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm and overseas air forces, as well as having played an important role in the development of civil aviation – both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

United Airways (BD) Ltd., operated as United Airways, was a Bangladeshi airline headquartered in Uttara, Dhaka. It operated flights from its main hub at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and secondary hub at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong. It was founded in 2005 and began flights on 10 July 2007 with a Bombardier Dash 8–100, purchased from Island Air. United Airways was the first listed company in the aviation sector of Bangladesh; it became listed in July 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narita International Airport</span> Major international airport serving Greater Tokyo, Japan

Narita International Airport, also known as Tokyo-Narita International Airport, formerly and originally known as New Tokyo International Airport, is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport (HND). It is about 60 kilometers (37 mi) east of central Tokyo in Narita, Chiba. The facility since July 2019, covers 1,137 hectares of land and there are future plans to expand to nearly 1,200 ha.

Kaikohe Aerodrome is an airfield south-east of Kaikohe in the Northland region of New Zealand. Built in 1942 as a US Marines bomber base, is the largest grass strip in the Southern hemisphere used now by general aviation. Other than powered aircraft, gliders use the airfield, and an area next to the runways is used by model airplane flyers. There are skydiving operations as well, with a landing spot near the old terminal.

References

  1. Walker, Campbell (2004). Butterworths Student Companion Contract (4th ed.). LexisNexis. pp. 47–48. ISBN   0-408-71770-X.