Justice Ibrahim Kala of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered British Airways to pay a Nigerian passenger, Mr Stephen Osho, N50m as general damages for the loss of his luggage and unfair treatment.
The court also awarded N3m as the cost of the action in favour of Osho, bringing the total compensation to N53m.
Delivering judgment on August 21, Justice Kala held that Osho had proved that the airline breached its obligations under the international contract of carriage when it failed to deliver his checked baggage on Flight BA307 from Paris to London on December 2, 2022.
The judge ruled that the passenger suffered undue hardship, inconvenience, and financial loss due to the airline’s conduct.
He faulted the defence put forward by British Airways, which had claimed that an old Air France tag negligently left on Osho’s bag was responsible for the loss.
Kala said, “From the cases presented by parties before this court, there is admissible, credible and sufficient evidence to establish, on the balance of probability, that the defendant is responsible and liable for the loss of the plaintiff’s baggage during the period it was in charge of the defendant’s carrier, having cleared and issued with baggage tag No BA741520, for its flight BA307, from Paris to London on December 2, 2022, but the bag never arrived with the flight and ultimately got lost,” he held.
Kala said the argument “collapsed like a pack of cards,” describing it as an afterthought aimed at exonerating the carrier from liability under Article 17 (2) of the Montreal Convention.
The judge further held,” I am emboldened to state that the defendant erected a weak defence regarding the so- called old Air France tag claimed to have been negligently left by the plaintiff on the bag to have been responsible for its loss, all in an attempt to exonerate the defendant’s carrier from liability under the proviso to Article 17 (2) of the Montreal convention, and which defence, with greatest respect collapsed like a park of cards.
“As rightly pointed out by the plaintiff’s counsel, the botched defence seemed to be an afterthought. Therefore, the defendant has indeed failed to offer any reasonable justification that the plaintiff negligently contributed to the loss or missing of his luggage at the material time, and has also failed to exonerate itself from liability arising from the plaintiff’s missing luggage.”
He added, “The defendant failed to offer any reasonable justification that the plaintiff negligently contributed to the loss of his luggage, and has also failed to exonerate itself from liability. Having so found, the sole issue for determination is resolved in the positive, and this translates to mean that the defendant is liable for damage.”
Osho had filed a suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1754/2023, on August 31, 2023, seeking damages against the airline.
British Airways, in its defence, argued that Osho was responsible for his predicament and urged the court not to award any compensation, suggesting that any cost granted should not exceed N60,000.
The court, however, dismissed the plea, describing it as untenable in the light of the facts.
The judgment followed months of legal exchanges, during which Osho testified and tendered documents, including his boarding pass and baggage tag No. BA741520.
Kala held that British Airways failed to discharge the burden of proof to absolve itself of liability, thereby entitling Osho to substantial damages.