The course provides an overview of the most imporatnt private air law instruments - Warsaw System and Montreal Convention and passenger protection regulations in EU, such as EU Regulation 261/2004 and EU Regulation 1107/2006.
There are several different angles through which the development of the Warsaw Convention system can be viewed. The content of the successive convetions and protocols shows which issues were the focus at the time of their adoption. Courts decisons in different parties reveals problems that have arisen in interpretation and application of the Convention. Examination of changes in the conditions of carriage shows how air carriers have lived with the Convention in changing conditions and how these have effectively produced changes in the legal environment for carriage by air without formally changing the regime itself. The Montreal Convention evolved from the original Warsaw Convention, several Protocols and a Supplementary Convention which amended the original Convention in most countries.
In EU, high level of protection for passengers has been established by Regulation 261/2004 and Regulation 1107/2006. EU model followed many countries. The provisions of the Regulation 261/2004 were being interpreted in various ways, due to grey zones and gaps in the current text, and that the enforcement varied between Member States. Furthermore, it revealed that it is difficult for passengers to assert their individual rights. Case-law has had a decisive impact on the interpretation of the Regulation 261/2004, specially interpretative judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Parallel existence of the Warsaw System and the Montreal Convention presented a problem of uniformity and EU inserted Montreal Convention 1999 in its legal system by the Regulation 889/2002, which had amended the Regulation 2027/97 and prescribed unique applicability of Montreal Convention 1999 for all EU carriers.
1. Introduction to International Air Law;
2. Warsaw System;
3. Montreal Convention of 1999;
4. Regulation 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellations, or long delays of flights;
5. Passengers with Reduced Mobility (PRM), Regulation 1107/2006.