Cohen Milstein advertises for BA-Virgin price fix claimants

US class action firm Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll is to launch an advertising campaign to encourage people affected by the British Airways and Virgin price fixing scam to make a claim.

The US firm reached a settlement in a US price fixing class action brought against British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic in February (TheLawyer.com, 15 February 2008).

The £100m settlement gave eight million customers who paid for a transatlantic ticket between 11 August 2004 and 23 March 2006 the right to claim for compensation.

Of the £100m settlement, £73.5m was allocated for paying claims brought by those who brought tickets in sterling.

Cohen Milstein has so far received 1,200 registrations for compensation, from businesses ranging from SMEs to blue chip firms as well as 100,000 registrations from individuals.

However, it is thought many thousands more could be entitled to a financial reward.

The marketing campaign has been sanctioned by the US District Court for the Northern District of California as part of its preliminary approval of the settlement.

Cohen Milstein partner Anthony Maton (pictured) said: “In granting its approval the US Federal Court has taken into account the fact that UK businesses and consumers are unlikely to have previously come across a settlement of this type.

“It has therefore sanctioned a robust, multi-pronged notification programme designed to deliver plain and easy to understand information about the settlement. The programme is estimated to reach almost 90 per cent of those passengers who are entitled to make a claim.”

The advertisements, which will be funded by BA and Virgin, will run in national newspapers and travel booking websites such Expedia and Lastminute.

BA and Virgin will also publish the marketing campaign in their in-flight publications, High Life and Seatback respectively.