Icelandair asked for £5 million after a catering truck accident
The operators of the damaged aircraft want to be compensated for lucrative business deals that fell through while the aircraft was being repaired. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
VIP charter airline Oryx Jet wants Icelandair to pay 5 million pounds as compensation for a 2018 accident when an Icelandair employee driving a catering vehicle hit one of Oryx Jet’s aircraft.
In an interview with Mbl.is Mr. Skarphéðinn Pétursson, Oryx Jet’s lawyer in the case, claims that Icelandair has purposefully tried to delay the ongoing court case with the intent of forcing Oryx into bankruptcy.
Oryx is based in the UK and operates two aircraft. According to the airline’s website it specializes in luxury charter flights for corporate, sports, diplomatic and entertainment group travel.
In the September 2018 incident an Icelandair Ground Services employee at Keflavik Airport operated a service truck without the required permits and hit Oryx Jet’s aircraft during the loading of catering.
As a result of this the aircraft could not transport passengers from Iceland as planned and was out of service for two months while undergoing repairs.
According to Mbl.is Icelandair has admitted to being responsible for the incident but the two airlines companies in dispute on what amount should be paid in damages. Oryx claims that the accident caused the airline to lose a lucrative contract with Saudi Arabian princes who had planned to have Oryx transport their prized falcons. “The damage to the aircraft itself isn’t the main issue being disputed but the losses that likely resulted from the incident, i.e. contracts that Oryx didn’t get while the aircraft was being repaired,” says Mr. Pétursson.
The District Court of Reykjavik on Wednesday decided on the questions a specially appointed assessor will be required to resolve. The assessor will be tasked with evaluating the validity of Oryx Jet’s claim of having lost the Saudi Arabian business deal as a result of the accident.
Icelandair had appealed a previous decision of the District Court to the Court of Appeals claiming that the questions put before the assessor were too leading. The Court of Appeals agreed, sending the case back to the District Court and asking Mr. Pétursson to change the wording of his questions. He says that the new questions approved by the District Court are practically identical to the original questions, and that Icelandair is using “legal gymnastics” to delay the case.
“The only thing they have accomplished is that the case has been stuck in the court system a further five months. It’s all utter nonsense”, says Mr. Pétursson.
The assessor is expected to have completed his task by the middle of September and a ruling should follow soon thereafter. ai@mbl.is
