A North Vancouver businessman has launched a lawsuit against Cathay Pacific Airways, saying the airline recently charged him more than $400 for a “tax” on a ticket that wasn’t really a tax at all, but simply an additional airline fee.
Ahmet Kadioglu filed the suit against the international airline in B.C. Supreme Court Aug. 17.
In his submission, Kadioglu said he bought a ticket in July at a Flight Centre travel agency for a trip to Hong Kong in October. The fare alone was $809.
But the charges included an additional $409 of “taxes” for a total price of more than $1200.
Kadioglu’s lawyer, Jim Poyner, said that of the $409 in “taxes”, more than $275 was actually an additional surcharge that went directly back to the airline.
By representing that cost as a tax paid to a government or other third party — such as an airport authority — the airline was using a deceptive business practice and breaking the law, said Poyner.
Poyner said the airline’s labelling the extra fee a tax would be similar to a client coming into Poyner’s office and getting charged an extra “tax” of $100, which really just went to paying the lawyer’s office rent.
Airlines have got away with the practice, he said, because “people are used to paying taxes that have to be paid,” he said.
Recently, airlines have explained away the extra taxes by describing them as a fuel surcharge, he added.
“I don’t see anything wrong with fuel surcharges, as long as it’s spelled out on the ticket, and you know what you’re paying for,” he said. “It’s misleading and deceitful the way this is done.”
Poyner is asking the courts to certify Kadioglu’s case as a class action lawsuit and to order Cathay Pacific to pay back its customers all amounts they paid that were falsely represented as taxes over the past six years.
Cathay is the fourth airline to be hit with a lawsuit over the tax issue.
Poyner has previously filed lawsuits against British Airways, Lufthansa and Air Canada, alleging similar practices.
The courts have not yet certified those cases.
Poyner said the airlines most recently argued the issue should be dealt with in federal court as an aeronautical issue.
But that misses the “pith and substance” of the case, he said, which is about consumer protection under provincial laws and the ability of consumers to compare airline ticket prices. The parties are still waiting for a decision on that issue.
None of the claims in the lawsuits have been proven in court.
Cathay Pacific did not respond to a request for comment.
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