WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2020) A US judge rejected a lawsuit filed against Russia's Aeroflot by passengers who complained about flights being late and other delays, court documents revealed.
"The airlines move to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(2) for lack of personal jurisdiction and Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. For the reasons discussed below, Aeroflot's motion to dismiss is granted," Judge Manish Shah of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said in the document on Wednesday.
The passengers' attorneys tried to bring a $10 million class action lawsuit against Aeroflot and Finnish airline Finnair for violating the Montreal Convention on Civil Aviation and the anti-racketeering act (RICO).
The judge noted that the laws cited are not relevant to the case. The Montreal convention relates to passenger deaths and/or injuries while RICO applies to extortion charges by organizations, he added.
Shah also said the American court has no jurisdiction to try the case against Russian and Finnish airlines.
In addition, Shah said he sided with the airlines on the fact the plaintiffs failed to point to contractual terms that were violated.
"The airlines argue that plaintiffs have failed to state a claim for breach of contract because plaintiffs do not identify what contractual term the airlines breached... I agree with defendants," the judge said.
Aeroflot's Deputy CEO Vladimir Aleksandrov previously described the lawsuit as an attempt to generate publicity to pressure the airline into a settlement.
