Liability, Insurance, Carriage by Air and Aviation Offences
This domain tests who pays when something goes wrong: the carriage-by-air liability regime, the insurance rules that back it, and the criminal law overlay for offences. Questions often hinge on the applicable limit or on which instrument governs.
The carriage-by-air regime
The Warsaw Convention 1929 established the first global liability scheme with a limit of 125 000 gold francs and a presumption of carrier fault. The Montreal Convention 1999 replaced it for States party to both. Montreal has two tiers for death or injury: strict liability up to 128 821 SDR (the 2019 revision of the original 100 000 SDR), with the limits reviewed every five years, and above that an unlimited liability unless the carrier proves the damage was not due to its negligence. Current limits also include 1 288 SDR for baggage, 22 SDR per kilogram for cargo and 5 346 SDR for delay. Article 33 allows the victim to sue in the territory of the passenger's principal and permanent residence in certain circumstances.
Insurance
Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 requires air carriers and aircraft operators to hold insurance for passengers (minimum 250 000 SDR per passenger), baggage (1 000 SDR), cargo (17 SDR per kilogram) and third-party liability scaled to maximum take-off mass. The insurance certificate must be carried on board and produced on request.
Offences and consumer rules
Offences under the Tokyo, Hague and Montreal conventions are criminal in nature and are separate from civil liability. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 gives passengers rights for denied boarding, cancellation and long delays, with fixed compensation of 250, 400 or 600 euro depending on distance; this is a consumer protection regime, not a liability regime for damage.
Worked example
A suitcase is destroyed on a flight between two States party to the Montreal Convention. The carrier is strictly liable up to 1 288 SDR unless it proves the damage resulted from the inherent defect or quality of the baggage; the passenger may claim the actual value but not more than the limit. A separate claim for the disruption would be pursued only if the delay exceeded three hours and the flight fell within the scope of Regulation 261/2004.
Traps
Warsaw and Montreal limits differ and the higher applies only between Montreal States. Regulation 785/2004 sets minimum insurance cover, not the amount a claimant may recover. Regulation 261/2004 does not compensate for baggage damage or injury.