Legal provisions of COM(1995)724 - Air carrier liability in case of accidents

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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

dossier COM(1995)724 - Air carrier liability in case of accidents.
document COM(1995)724 EN
date October  9, 1997


Contents

Article 1

This Regulation lays down the obligations of Community air carriers in relation to liability in the event of accidents to passengers for damage sustained in the event of death or wounding of a passenger or any other bodily injury suffered by a passenger, if the accident which caused the damage so sustained took place on board an aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

This Regulation also clarifies some insurance requirements for Community air carriers.

In addition, this Regulation sets down some requirements on information to be provided by air carriers established outside the Community which operate to, from or within the Community.

Article 2

1. For the purpose of this Regulation:

(a) 'air carrier` shall mean an air transport undertaking with a valid operating licence;

(b) 'Community air carrier` shall mean an air carrier with a valid operating licence granted by a Member State in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92;

(c) 'person entitled to compensation` shall mean a passenger or any person entitled to claim in respect of that passenger, in accordance with applicable law;

(d) 'ecu` shall mean the unit of account in drawing up the general budget of the European Communities in accordance with Articles 207 and 209 of the Treaty;

(e) 'SDR` shall mean a Special Drawing Right as defined by the International Monetary Fund;

(f) 'Warsaw Convention` shall mean the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929, or the Warsaw Convention as amended at The Hague on 28 September 1955 and the Convention supplementary to the Warsaw Convention done at Guadalajara on 18 September 1961 - whichever is applicable to the passenger contract of carriage, together with all international instruments which supplement, and are associated with, it and are in force.

2. Concepts contained in this Regulation which are not defined in paragraph 1 shall be equivalent to those used in the Warsaw Convention.

Article 3

1. (a) The liability of a Community air carrier for damages sustained in the event of death, wounding or any other bodily injury by a passenger in the event of an accident shall not be subject to any financial limit, be it defined by law, convention or contract.

(b) The obligation of insurance set out in Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 shall be understood as requiring that a Community air carrier shall be insured up to the limit of the liability required under paragraph 2 and thereafter up to a reasonable level.

2. For any damages up to the sum of the equivalent in ecus of 100 000 SDR, the Community air carrier shall not exclude or limit his liability by proving that he and his agents have taken all necessary measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for him or them to take such measures.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, if the Community air carrier proves that the damage was caused by, or contributed to by, the negligence of the injured or deceased passenger, the carrier may be exonerated wholly or partly from its liability in accordance with applicable law.

Article 4 - In the event of death, wounding or any other bodily injury suffered by a passenger in the event of an accident, nothing in this Regulation shall

(a) imply that a Community air carrier is the sole party liable to pay damages; or

(b) restrict any rights of a Community air carrier to seek contribution or indemnity from any other party in accordance with applicable law.

Article 5

1. The Community air carrier shall without delay, and in any event not later than fifteen days after the identity of the natural person entitled to compensation has been established, make such advance payments as may be required to meet immediate economic needs on a basis proportional to the hardship suffered.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, an advance payment shall not be less than the equivalent in ecus of 15 000 SDR per passanger in the event of death.

3. An advance payment shall not constitute recognition of liability and may be offset against any subsequent sums paid on the basis of Community air carrier liability, but is not returnable, except in the cases prescribed in Article 3 (3) or in circumstances where it is subsequently proved that the person who received the advance payment caused, or contributed to, the damage by negligence or was not the person entitled to compensation.

Article 6

1. The provisions contained in Articles 3 and 5 shall be included in the Community air carrier's conditions of carriage.

2. Adequate information on the provisions contained in Articles 3 and 5 shall, on request, be available to passengers at the Community air carrier's agencies, travel agencies and check-in counters and at points of sale. The ticket document or an equivalent shall contain a summary of the requirements in plain and intelligible language.

3. Air carriers established outside the Community operating to, from or within the Community and not applying the provisions referred to in Articles 3 and 5 shall expressly and clearly inform the passengers thereof, at the time of purchase of the ticket at the carrier's agencies, travel agencies or check-in counters located in the territory of a Member State. Air carriers shall provide the passengers with a form setting out their conditions. The fact that only a liability limit is indicated on the ticket document or an equivalent shall not constitute sufficient information.

Article 7

No later than two years after the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall draw up a report on the application of the Regulation which, inter alia, takes into account economic developments and developments in international fora. Such report may be accompanied by proposals for a revision of this Regulation.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force one year after the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.


This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.