AIRLINES COULD be forced to pay millions of pounds in compensation to the families of people who have died or suffered from deep vein thrombosis on flights.

The move, which comes after a landmark ruling in the United States Supreme Court last week, gives fresh hope to hundreds of British families whose claims were blocked by the Court of Appeal in London last July.

The Supreme Court established that the airlines were liable if they failed to take action to prevent an “accident”, the term used to describe any harm suffered by passengers.

Last year the British Court of Appeal ruled that under the 1929 Warsaw Convention on passenger protection, accidents could not be caused by airlines’ lack of action, for example by not warning of the dangers of deep vein thrombosis.

The US court ruled, however, that airlines could be liable if they failed to take action when there was a threat to passengers’ health.

The Supreme Court case concerned Abid Hanson, a doctor who died from an asthma attack after being exposed to other passengers’ cigarette smoke.

The Court found that the failure to move Dr Hanson to the no-smoking section, despite repeated requests, did constitute an “accident” and that the airline was therefore liable for his death.

The Court ordered the airline, Olympic Airways to pay $1.4 million (750,000) to Dr Hanson’s family.

Late night lawyers representing almost 600 British families of those who died or suffered form deep vein thrombosis claimed that the ruling gave them renewed hope.

Des Collins, a senior partner at Collins Solicitors, a transport law firm in Watford , said “This potentially opens up thousands of deep vein thrombosis claims in the UK against airlines and tens of thousands of case world-side. It could potentially cost the airline industry millions”.

Mr Collins said that the US ruling put pressure on the House of Lords to comply with the American court or force a redraft of the Warsaw Convention, signed by Britain and most of the developed world.

His company was told by the House of Lords last week that a decision on whether it can appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision will be made within weeks.

He said he believed that the House of Lords would be forced unto hearing the British cases because the US ruling has caused “a disparity” in international law.

Sean Gates, a senior partner at the City-based Gates and Partners, which is representing a number of carriers, including British Airways, in worldwide deep vein thrombosis litigation said: “There is a possibility of an opening for a small number of claims, but I think the House of Lords will close this opening.”

The relatives of deep vein thrombosis victims gave a cautious welcome to the ruling. Ruth Christoffersen, the chairman of the campaign group Varda, who lost her daughter Emma, 28, to deep vein thrombosis, said “This decision could have many ramifications and I would like to think it will”.