Australian airlines feel the heat over coffee spills

Nov 25, 2011, 3:07 GMT

Sydney - Two passengers are taking legal action against Australian airlines after allegedly having hot coffee accidentally spilled over them, lawyers said Friday.

The passengers were suing Qantas Airways Ltd subsidiary Jetstar Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd subsidiary Pacific Blue for pain and suffering and reimbursement of medical expenses.

Canadian Sebestien Cote-Paquin told the legal firm that he was asleep on a Jetstar flight from Hawaii to Sydney in November 2010 when the alleged incident took place.

'I made a bit of noise and when I took off my shirt to stop more coffee dripping onto my arm my skin just peeled off,' Cote-Paquin was quoted as saying by the lawyers' press release.

An Australian woman flying with Pacific Blue from Melbourne to Bali in October said her holiday was ruined.

'The burns still hurt today and I don't know if I will be left with permanent scarring,' she told Maurice Blackburn.

The passengers were entitled to take legal action as Australia is a signatory to the 1999 Montreal Convention which covers incidents occurring on international flights, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers said.

'Airlines have a clear responsibility to care for the wellbeing and safety of their passengers,' the legal firm said.