Lawyers predict wide repercussions for the travel industry after a ruling that passengers in an air crash can sue for psychological damage.

The holiday jet from Cardiff crash-landed at Gerona airport in Spain in September 1999.


Judge Graham Jones, sitting at the Civil Justice Centre in Cardiff, said Thomson Holidays could be liable to compensate customers for psychiatric injuries because it had not clearly stated the limit of its liability for such injuries in its conditions of business.


Peter Evans, a partner at Welsh firm Hugh James, who is leading a group action, said the travel industry could not hide behind airline conditions of carriage and the 'outdated' 1929 Warsaw Convention, which only allows for compensation for bodily injuries. 'They have to state clearly what they mean in their terms and conditions,' he said.


A Thomson spokeswoman said the company regretted the ruling but was confident the crew will be found to have acted properly.