Air carrier liability insurance

Air carrier liability insurance is one type of liability insurance . The object of insurance is the property interest of the airline carrying passengers and cargo associated with the reimbursement of damage to passengers and / or customers.

When insuring civil liability of an air carrier ( aircraft owner), the following types of damage are distinguished, which is covered by this type of insurance ^[1] :

• damage, loss or destruction of baggage and cargo ;
• death or damage to the health of passengers;
• death, personal injury or property damage caused by the body of the aircraft or objects falling out of it to third parties on the surface of the earth and outside the aircraft.

Responsibility for domestic flights (domestic flights) are governed by the domestic laws of the country. Responsibility of the air carrier on international flights for the first two types of damage is provided for by the Warsaw Convention of 1929 of ICAO ( International Civil Aviation Organization ), the Hague Protocol of 1955 amending the Warsaw Convention and the Guadalajara Convention of 1961 to supplement the Warsaw Convention on the unification of certain rules related to international air travel. According to these documents, the air carrier is automatically responsible for damage if it occurred during the flight. The concept of “air transportation” covers the entire time during which the cargo is in charge of the carrier ( aircraft board, airfield , as well as outside the airfield, if this is due to the need for loading, delivery, reloading or landing the aircraft outside the airfield). The carrier is not liable only if it proves that he and his staff and agents have taken all necessary measures to avoid damage, or that it was impossible to take such measures ^[1] . The law enforcement of conventions to a particular passenger depends on his nationality . If the state of which he is a citizen has signed this or that convention or protocol, then all the provisions of the signed act apply to the passenger.

In 2003, the Montreal Convention of 1999 entered into force, replacing Warsaw. As of July 2015, 112 states have joined this convention, including all members of the European Union, the USA, Japan, China, India, Brazil, South Africa and other countries ^[2] .

The provisions of the Montreal Convention take precedence over the provisions of the still existing Warsaw Convention. The main novelty of the Montreal Convention is a change in the terms of compensation and the size of the carrier’s liability. The size (amount) of liability is nominated in special drawing rights (SDR, SDR), a “two-level” responsibility is introduced for causing harm to the life and health of a passenger:

1) in respect of damage, the amount of which does not exceed 113100 SDR (≈ € 129000) per passenger, the carrier cannot exclude or limit his liability;

2) in relation to damage, the size of which is more than 113100 SDR, the carrier may be liable to each passenger in cases where the air carrier itself does not prove the absence of its negligence or other wrongful act or omission, or the presence of exclusively negligence or other wrongful act or omission of a third party contributing to harm .

Liability for damage to third parties inflicted on the surface of the earth is governed by the ICAO Rome Convention of 1952 . Third parties are understood to be all individuals and legal entities , except for passengers, crew and other employees of the airline ^[1] .

Under the air carrier’s liability insurance contract , the insurance company pays the amounts that it is obliged to pay by law as compensation for damage to a person or property of third parties. Insurance of civil liability of the air carrier when flying abroad is mandatory. Since, according to international rules, the insurance amount , that is, the required minimum liability of insurance companies is tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars, reinsurance is actively used for this type of insurance, which increases the reliability of insurance protection ^[1] .

For all types of aviation insurance there are general exceptions to the scope of liability of the insurer , unless they are specifically stipulated in the contract. An insurance contract can be concluded for any period: for one flight, for a period of time associated with regular flights or special flights (for example, demonstration of aircraft).