ANALYSIS OF THE NORMS GOVERNING LIABILITY OF AIRLINES ACCORDING TO THE 1929 WARSAW AND 1999 MONTREAL CONVENTIONS

Abstract

Today air transport is one of the most common means of transportati on in the world. As of 2019, the number of air passengers was 4.56 billion.1 It is true that as a result of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, this indicator decreased to 1.8 billion in 2020, but in 2021-2022, but a growing trend can be observed again. According to data from the Internati onal Civil Aviati on Organizati on (ICAO), compared to 2021, 47% more passengers were transported by airlines in 2022 and this growth is expected to be maintained in the coming years.2 Along with the growth of the role and use of air transport, it is natural that there are frequent cases of various violati ons from airlines. For example, there may be loss of luggage, fl ight delay, passenger injury and etc. At such ti mes, the questi on of airline liability will arise, so it is important to know where this liability of the airline comes from. When similar cases occur, the airline represents the so-called “strong side”, because it has powerful resources, and in many cases passengers who have been harmed do not even know how to protect their rights. Thus, in order for the balance of power to be preserved, it became necessary to have such regulatory norms that would defi ne the bases of responsibility of the airlines and oblige them to compensate the damages caused to the passengers. Regarding the liability of airlines, the paper will discuss 2 main conventi ons: the 1929 Conventi on for the Unifi cati on of Certain Rules Relati ng to Internati onal Carriage by Air, commonly referred to as the Warsaw Conventi on; And the second is the 1999 Montreal Conventi on also named as a conventi on “for the Unifi cati on of Certain Rules for Internati onal Carriage by Air”, known as the Montreal Conventi on.”

The purpose of this paper is, fi rst of all, to briefl y review and defi ne what is internati onal air carriage, as well as to characterize the meaning of liability in internati onal law, to determine how the issue of liability is regulated according to the Warsaw and Montreal Conventi ons, and also to off er an overview of existi ng practi cal cases related to liability.