An airline passenger who complained about the 'worn out' seats he was offered in business class has won almost £7,000. Mark Morgan, who works as a surgeon, paid for premium seats for himself and his wife on an Emirates flight to London from New Zealand - but said the accommodation wasn't what he expected.
It emerged that Emirates was running older planes from Auckland than the Boeing 777-300 used in advertising aimed at New Zealand travellers. Stuff reports that Mr Morgan found the seats didn’t recline to lie flat, were less cushioned than those shown in Emirates’ advertising, and the entertainment system was not a new, upgraded system, and “due to its age, malfunctioned”.
In addition there was no minibar or internet connection. Mr Morgan took his case to New Zealand's Disputes Tribunal, arguing Emirates was selling a service that "essentially did not exist".
The airline said it was allowed to vary its advertised services in accordance with its small print. It denied breaking the Fair Trading Act.
But Stuff said Disputes Tribunal referee Laura Mueller ordered the airline to pay Morgan, quoting her as saying: "Emirates advertised a business class service that consumers were very unlikely to receive."
Ms Mueller continued: “The promotional materials were based on an updated/new business class seat and service that is not in place in the older aircraft that Emirates flies to NZ. The Fair Trading Act 1986 prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct in trade. The advertising of a service that Emirates knew would unlikely be delivered is misleading and deceptive.”
She added: “The Tribunal finds that Emirates misrepresented the business class service available to NZ customers, and to Mr Morgan in particular and is in breach of the FTA.”
Emirates is understood to have offered Mr Morgan a refund of $786. This was on the grounds that the service he received represented a 5% reduction in quality.
Stuff said Mr Morgan wanted a partial refund of the price of the tickets he bought, as well as a refund of the price he paid to upgrade to first class on one leg of the journey so he and his wife could get seats that lay flat, so they could sleep.
Ms Mueller ruled that Mr Morgan's claim for NZ$13,555 (£6,953) was reasonable. She ordered Emirates to pay the sum by March 27.
