Ticket is a contract between airline and passenger
PLJ 2011 SC 689 · Lahore High Court
This case involved a passenger, Daoud Shami, who sued Emirates Airlines for damages after he was prevented from boarding his connecting flight from Lahore to Dubai on his way to attend his graduation ceremony in Washington D.C. He claimed this caused him mental shock and financial loss due to breach of contract, since his onward flight from London to Washington had been cancelled by Virgin Atlantic Airlines, allegedly because he lacked a UK visa.
The trial court initially ruled in his favor, but the Lahore High Court overturned that decision, finding that the ticket was actually issued by Continental Airlines (not properly made a party to the case), that the original ticket showing the actual terms of travel was never produced as evidence, and that Emirates Airlines could not be held liable for damages it had no way of anticipating.
The Supreme Court examined international aviation law, including the Warsaw Convention and the Carriage by Air Act, 1966, confirming that an airline ticket serves as evidence of a contract between the airline and passenger, with its printed terms governing that relationship. The Court also reiterated basic contract law principles: a party can only recover damages that naturally flow from a breach, or special damages if the other party knew in advance about special circumstances that made such losses foreseeable.
This case is significant because it clarifies how ticket terms function as contractual evidence in air travel disputes, and reinforces that airlines cannot be held liable for losses they had no knowledge of or control over.
یہ مقدمہ ایک مسافر داؤد شامی سے متعلق ہے جس نے ایمریٹس ایئرلائن کے خلاف ہرجانے کا دعویٰ دائر کیا تھا۔ اس کا مؤقف تھا کہ اسے لاہور سے دبئی جانے والی کنیکٹنگ پرواز میں سوار ہونے سے روک دیا گیا تھا، جبکہ وہ واشنگٹن ڈی سی میں اپنی گریجویشن تقریب میں شرکت کے لیے جا رہا تھا۔ اس کا کہنا تھا کہ اس واقعے کی وجہ سے اسے ذہنی صدمہ اور مالی نقصان پہنچا، اور یہ کہ معاہدے کی خلاف ورزی ہوئی، کیونکہ لندن سے واشنگٹن جانے والی اس کی اگلی پرواز ورجن اٹلانٹک ایئرلائن نے منسوخ کر دی تھی، مبینہ طور پر اس لیے کہ اس کے پاس برطانوی ویزا نہیں تھا۔
ٹرائل کورٹ نے ابتدائی طور پر اس کے حق میں فیصلہ دیا، لیکن لاہور ہائی کورٹ نے یہ فیصلہ کالعدم قرار دے دیا۔ ہائی کورٹ نے یہ نتیجہ اخذ کیا کہ ٹکٹ دراصل کانٹینینٹل ایئرلائن نے جاری کیا تھا (جسے مق