Aerolink Air Services Pty Ltd v Bankstown Airport Ltd

Aerolink Air Services Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of the primary judge concerning damages claimed for the destruction of aircraft logbooks by Bankstown Airport Ltd (the respondent). The appellant alleged that the respondent had destroyed these logbooks, causing it loss.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the primary judge had erred in finding that the logbooks for one specific aircraft had survived an earlier fire and were not destroyed by the respondent, and conversely, whether the primary judge had erred in not being satisfied that the logbooks for another aircraft had survived the fire and were subsequently destroyed by the respondent. The appeal did not raise any novel questions of legal principle.

The Court of Appeal considered the evidence presented regarding the fate of the logbooks. It was noted that there was evidence suggesting some logbooks may have been destroyed in an earlier fire, which complicated the appellant's claim that the respondent was solely responsible for their destruction. After reviewing the evidence and the primary judge's findings, the Court of Appeal found no error in the primary judge's assessment of the facts concerning the logbooks for the first aircraft, nor in the conclusion that the appellant had not satisfied the onus of proof regarding the logbooks for the second aircraft.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the respondent’s costs of the appeal.