Western Digital Corporation and Ors v British Airways plc - Court of Appeal (Morritt and Mance LJJ and Harrison J) - 12 May 2000

Carriage of goods by air - Warsaw Convention - Whether notice of complaint of cargo loss validly made under Article 26(2) - Whether owner of cargo not named as consignee in air waybill entitled to claim against carrier under Article 18

This action arose from the loss of two consignments of computer equipment which the second claimant (‘Western Digital Singapore’) dispatched to the third claimant (‘Western Digital Nederlands’). Western Digital Singapore’s freight forwarders (‘LEP’) arranged delivery to ‘Express Cargo Forwarding’, the latter company having been engaged by Western Digital Nederlands to receive the consignments. LEP combined the two consignments with five others in relation to which they had also received instructions from Western Digital Singapore. LEP arranged for their carriage by air with Qantas, and issued a Qantas Air waybill 081 95894934. The air waybill named the shippers as LEP, and named the consignees as Express Cargo Forwarding. It gave a general description of the seven consignments. In the event, the carriage was performed by the defendant, British Airways, on 21 June 1996. The two consignments which were the subject of the present action were never delivered.