Adamopoulos v Olympic Airways SA

In *Adamopoulos v Olympic Airways SA*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal concerning the proper interpretation and application of the Warsaw Convention, specifically in relation to the carriage of passengers by air. The dispute arose from an incident where the appellant, a passenger, suffered injuries during a flight operated by the respondent airline. The core of the disagreement lay in whether the airline could rely on certain limitations of liability provided by the Convention, given the circumstances of the passenger's injury.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the injury sustained by the appellant fell within the scope of Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention, which deals with liability for death or bodily injury of a passenger. This required the court to determine whether the injury occurred "on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking." A further issue was whether the respondent airline could avail itself of the liability limitations stipulated in Article 22 of the Convention, assuming Article 17 was engaged.

The Court of Appeal analysed the meaning of "operations of embarking or disembarking" in the context of the Convention. It was held that these operations are not confined to the immediate act of boarding or alighting but encompass a period of time during which the passenger is under the carrier's care and control. The court considered the specific facts of the appellant's injury, which occurred while the passenger was in the process of disembarking from the aircraft, and concluded that the injury did indeed occur within the scope of Article 17. Consequently, the limitations of liability under Article 22 were applicable. The appeal was dismissed.