Air carriers liability in the carriage of passengers

Področje letalstva je najmlajša transportna panoga, vendar hkrati tudi najhitreje rastoča. Skladno s hitrim razvojem letalstva se je pojavila tudi nuja po enotni pravni ureditvi pravic in obveznosti potnikov ter prevoznikov, zato se je področje letalskega prava v zadnjih nekaj desetletjih eksponentno razvilo. Temelje nadaljnji ureditvi je postavila Varšavska konvencija iz leta 1929, katere glavna namena sta bila predvsem poenotenje pravil in zaščita letalskih družb pred morebitnimi enormnimi zneski odškodnin na eni strani in zaščita potnikov v primeru povzročene škode na drugi. Zaradi svoje zastarelosti pa t.i. Varšavski sistem kmalu ni več ustrezal novim trendom na področju letalstva, zato je bila leta 1999 sprejeta t.i. Montrealska konvencija, katere najpomembnejša novost je brez dvoma uvedba neomejene odškodninske odgovornosti letalskih prevoznikov v primeru poškodbe ali smrti potnika. Poleg mednarodno sprejetih konvencij so na področju letalstva pomembne tudi uredbe Evropske unijepredvsem Uredba št. 2027/97 o odgovornosti letalskega prevoznika v primeru nesreče, ki je bila dopolnjena z Uredbo 889/02, in povzema bistvene določbe Montrealske konvencije, ter Uredba št. 261/2004 o določitvi skupnih pravil glede odškodnine in pomoči potnikom v primerih zavrnitve vkrcanja, odpovedi ali velike zamude letov ter o razveljavitvi Uredbe št. 295/91. V magistrski nalogi obravnavam odgovornost letalskih prevoznik pri prevozu potnikov in se osredotočam na odgovornost za smrt ali poškodbo potnikov, prevoz prtljage in odgovornost v primeru zavrnitve vkrcanja, zamude ali odpovedi leta.With fast and continuously ongoing development of airline industry in the past decades, a need to unify the area of Aviation Law was inevitable. Warsaw Convention from 1929 is one of the most important conventions that set the foundation for protection of air carriers and air passenger’s rights. The primary goal of Warsaw Convention was, besides the unification of legislation, protection of air carriers from potentially enormous liability threats. Nevertheless with tremendous development in airline industry, a need to reform the rules set in Warsaw Convention, was necessary and has resulted in the so called Montreal Convention from year 1999. The biggest and most important novelty presented in Montreal Convention is an institute of unlimited liability of air carriers in case of injury or death of a passenger. In addition to the international conventions, the European Union regulations are also of high importance in the area of aviation law, especially the Regulation No 2027/97 on air carrier liability in the event of accidents, and the Regulation No 261/2004 on establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights. In my thesis I discuss air carrier liability towards passengers, with focus on liability in case of accidents, baggage transport and liability in case of delays, denied boarding or flight cancelations