Danae Air Transport SA v Air Canada - Court of Appeal (Kennedy, Ward and Tuckey LJJ) - 29 July 1999

Arbitration - Arbitration agreement excluding all rights of appeal - Whether Court has jurisdiction to remit arbitrators’ final costs award where arbitrators made basic arithmetical error

An arbitration tribunal had made a final award ordering the claimants, Danae Air Transport, to pay the costs of the award from 15 August 1995 and Air Canada’s costs from that date. The arbitrators made that costs award because they thought that Danae had failed to beat a Calderbank offer made by Air Canada on 15 August 1995. In reaching that conclusion, the arbitrators had made a basic arithmetical error. Danae had in fact beaten the offer so they should have been awarded all their costs.