The High Court of Justice has denied Manchester Airports Group (MAG) leave to appeal against a High Court ruling that the government acted lawfully in categorising countries under the traffic light system.
The denial of an appeal brings an end to the case brought by MAG in July against the secretaries of state for transport and health, backed by Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways parent IAG, Virgin Atlantic, Tui UK and by travel industry entrepreneur Clive Jacobs.
MAG sought to appeal on the grounds that the High Court “misunderstood the evidence” for a judicial review of the system and was wrong in its conclusions regarding a common law obligation on the government.
The appeal was refused on the grounds it “largely rehearse[d] matters the Claimant [MAG] relied on at the hearing”.
Jacobs, chairman of Travel Weekly parent Jacobs Media Group, backed the legal action as an ‘intervener’ on behalf of travel SMEs.
He had launched a crowdfunding appeal for legal action against the government in mid-June, days before MAG announced it was bringing the case against the government.
Following the denial of an appeal, Jacobs said: “The case has come to a natural end. It wasn’t successful, but it brought enough attention to make the government reconsider the traffic light system.
“It’s my belief this set in motion the chain of events which got the industry back moving more quickly than it might have done.
“While on the surface we failed and the appeal was rejected, the reality is there is no longer a traffic light system.”
Jacobs launched an initial appeal for £20,000 through the CrowdJustice platform and raised £28,615.
The legal costs came to £26, 875 – of which £13,416 (including VAT) went on QC’s fees – and CrowdJustice deducted £1,740 for its fees.
The balance of almost £10,990 (excluding VAT) went to law firm SMB LLP, acting on behalf of Jacobs, which deferred its normal charges. These would have amounted to £23,146 before tax.
SMB partner Simon Goldberg said: “The case was definitely one worth taking because the claim has clearly raised issues that the government had not properly considered.
“The present changes to the traffic light system have unarguably come about as a result of the lobbying by the industry, a key component of which was the noise that the claim has made.”
Jacobs said: “A lot of people in the industry put into the fund and supported the campaign. I don’t want them to feel their money was wasted. We did achieve something.
“By bringing this action we got the government to take the travel industry and the damage being done to the industry more seriously.”
He added: “The lawyers did a lot of extra work. It’s important that is recognised. People’s money wasn’t wasted.
“The government was quite entrenched. Legal action is a blunt instrument, but it worked in the sense that it got the government to pay attention.”