Durham Tees Valley Airport Ltd v Bmi Baby Ltd & Anor

Durham Tees Valley Airport Ltd v Bmi Baby Ltd & Anor

The agreements imposed an obligation on bmibaby to base and operate two aircraft from DTVA for 10 years, but the absence of objective criteria or minimum requirements for operation rendered any implied term as to reasonable operation unenforceable; thus, the claim fails for lack of certainty.

Parties
Claimant: Durham Tees Valley Airport Limited; 1st Defendant: BMI Baby Limited; 2nd Defendant: British Midland Airways Limited
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
30 April 2009
Procedural Posture
Commercial Contract Dispute / Final Judgment
Outcome
claim dismissed
Legal Topics
Interpretation of Contracts, Implied Terms, Damages, Agreement to Agree

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 16 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 3
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Durham Tees Valley Airport Limited

Claimant

BMI Baby Limited

1st Defendant

British Midland Airways Limited

2nd Defendant

Procedural Posture

Commercial Contract Dispute / Final Judgment

  1. 1 Whether the agreements obliged bmibaby to base and operate two aircraft from DTVA for 10 years
  2. 2 Whether a term could be implied as to the manner and extent of operation
  3. 3 Whether the agreements were enforceable or amounted to an agreement to agree

Ratio Decidendi

The agreements imposed an obligation on bmibaby to base and operate two aircraft from DTVA for 10 years, but the absence of objective criteria or minimum requirements for operation rendered any implied term as to reasonable operation unenforceable; thus, the claim fails for lack of certainty.

Court Disposition

claim dismissed

Orders

  • judgment for the defendants
  • costs to be determined