Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli has sued a company specializing in luxury jet services for renting him an older, noisier-than-arranged plane during a 2021 US tour.
According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in New Hampshire, Seabrook’s Private Jet Services breached the terms of the contract when a flight crew told Bocelli and his crew they could expect a bumpy ride before landing in Cleveland from California.
In the lawsuit, the composer is claiming damages of three times the $569,800 (about 587,233 euros) he paid for alternative flights, attorney fees and damages.
The lawsuit states that Bocelli’s representative hired the company to take him to the United States on a tour in November and December last year.
The specifications include an allowable model and age of manufacture of the jet, which “ideally should be no more than four years old,” as well as requirements for onboard services.
Whenever Bocelli rents a jet, the captain is ordered not to make any onboard announcements about weather conditions and air turbulence, “all to avoid undue fear” to the singer, the lawsuit states.
However, the company is said to have agreed to the requirements, which include using the Falcon 2000LX for shorter flights within the United States and another aircraft for transatlantic flights.
But the final statement excluded the terms of the proposal that identified the specific aircraft and, in fine print, “which included, among other things, a type of aircraft on which the parties disagreed – the Falcon 2000, rather than the Falcon 2000LX”.
The company apologized for the mistake in the aircraft selection and the loss of crew, but a representative said it could not find an acceptable aircraft for the last five dates of the tour.
The lawsuit does not say whether the company supplied the wrong aircraft for a tour location.
The company did not cancel flights for the final dates and did not reimburse Bocelli, forcing the singer to charter new flights with another company, costing him more than $300,000 (about $309,000).
Source: DN
