A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against Air Canada over fuel surcharges.
The lawsuit, approved Monday, argues the country's largest airline "illegally overcharged its customers" by more than doubling the cost of fuel on some flights.
Michael Vathilakis, the petitioners' lawyer, said Air Canada misrepresented the stated purpose of the surcharge, which was to partially offset the fluctuating price of jet fuel.
"What Air Canada did was represented to passengers that they were collecting this amount in order to offset volatility, when in fact the allegations are that they were in many cases actually reaping a real profit on it," Vathilakis said in a phone interview.
"In multiple cases, they charged an amount that was equal to or higher than the entire cost of fuel for the flight."
The lawsuit cites one example in which Air Canada allegedly charged business and economy passengers 105 per cent more than the fuel cost on a flight to Paris in January 2014.
