Russian court forces BA to pay ice hockey star it falsely ejected from plane

Last updated at 18:00 31 August 2007


A Russian court has awarded former NHL All-Star Pavel Bure 67,000 roubles (£1,300) in damages after British Airways prevented him from boarding a flight from Moscow to London.

The court ruled the airline had violated Bure's consumer rights and awarded the ex-hockey player 57,000 roubles in compensation, the cost of an air ticket from Moscow to London, plus 10,000 roubles in moral damages.

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pavel bure

Bure, 36, had been seeking 20 million roubles in damages over the incident, which happened last October. Bure's lawyer, Dmitry Ragulin, said the airline pilot had mistaken his client for a soccer hooligan.

BA plane

A spokesman for the airline in Moscow said it had no immediate comment but was preparing a statement.

Ragulin said he was planning to appeal to seek bigger damages. "We are disappointed that the court had awarded such small compensation for the moral damages," he said.

"If the British airline violated the right of such a famous person, known throughout the world as the Russian Rocket, then what about ordinary mortals?

"If David Beckham, the British idol, was thrown off a plane by a Russian airline, then what size of compensation would he have got?," Ragulin said.

Bure, nicknamed the Russian Rocket for his explosive speed and firepower, was forced to retire from the game following a serious knee injury in 2003. He twice won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goalscorer in 2000 and 2001.

British Airways was not represented at the hearing. A representative arrived after the start of the hearing and said the company's lawyer was ill and so unable to attend.

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