The objective of this Regulation is to establish minimum insurance requirements for air carriers and aircraft operators in respect of passengers, baggage, cargo and third parties.
Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on insurance requirements for air carriers and aircraft operators
Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on insurance requirements for air carriers and aircraft operators
Article 1 Objective
1.
2.
In respect of the carriage of mail, the insurance requirements are those set out in Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 and in the national laws of the Member States.
Article 2 Scope
1.
This Regulation shall apply to all air carriers and to all aircraft operators flying within, into, out of, or over the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies.
2.
This Regulation shall not apply to:
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State aircraft as referred to in Article 3(b) of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed at Chicago on 7 December 1944;
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model aircraft with an MTOM of less than 20 kg;
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foot-launched flying machines (including powered paragliders and hang gliders);
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captive balloons;
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kites;
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parachutes (including parascending parachutes);
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aircraft, including gliders, with a MTOM of less than 500 kg, and microlights, which:
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are used for non-commercial purposes, or
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are used for local flight instruction which does not entail the crossing of international borders,
in so far as the insurance obligations under this Regulation relating to the risks of war and terrorism are concerned.
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3.
The application of this Regulation to the airport of Gibraltar is understood to be without prejudice to the respective legal positions of the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom with regard to the dispute over sovereignty over the territory in which the airport is situated.
4.
Application of this Regulation to Gibraltar airport shall be suspended until the arrangements included in the Joint Declaration made by the Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom on 2 December 1987 enter into operation. The Governments of Spain and the United Kingdom will inform the Council of such date of entry into operation.
Article 3 Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation:
- (a) ‘air carrier’
- means an air transport undertaking with a valid operating licence;
- (b) ‘Community air carrier’
- means an air carrier with a valid operating licence granted by a Member State in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92;
- (c) ‘aircraft operator’
- means the person or entity, not being an air carrier, who has continual effective disposal of the use or operation of the aircraft; the natural or legal person in whose name the aircraft is registered shall be presumed to be the operator, unless that person can prove that another person is the operator;
- (d) ‘flight’ means:
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with regard to passengers and unchecked baggage, the period of transport of the passengers by aircraft including their boarding and disembarkation,
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with regard to cargo and checked baggage, the period of transport of baggage and cargo from the moment the baggage or cargo is handed to the air carrier until the moment of delivery to the entitled recipient,
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with regard to third parties, the use of an aircraft from the moment when power is applied to its engines for the purpose of taxiing or actual take-off until the moment when it is on the surface and its engines have come to a complete stop; additionally, it shall mean the moving of an aircraft by towing and push-back vehicles or by powers which are typical for the drive and the lift of aircraft, particularly air streams;
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- (e) ‘SDR’
- means a Special Drawing Right as defined by the International Monetary Fund;
- (f) ‘MTOM’
- means the Maximum Take Off Mass, which corresponds to a certified amount specific to all aircraft types, as stated in the certificate of airworthiness of the aircraft;
- (g) ‘passenger’
- means any person who is on a flight with the consent of the air carrier or the aircraft operator, excluding on-duty members of both the flight crew and the cabin crew;
- (h) ‘third party’
- means any legal or natural person, excluding passengers and on-duty members of both the flight crew and the cabin crew;
- (i) ‘commercial operation’
- means an operation for remuneration and/or hire.
Article 4 Principles of insurance
1.
Air carriers and aircraft operators referred to in Article 2 shall be insured in accordance with this Regulation as regards their aviation-specific liability in respect of passengers, baggage, cargo and third parties. The insured risks shall include acts of war, terrorism, hijacking, acts of sabotage, unlawful seizure of aircraft and civil commotion.
2.
Air carriers and aircraft operators shall ensure that insurance cover exists for each and every flight, regardless of whether the aircraft operated is at their disposal through ownership or any form of lease agreement, or through joint or franchise operations, code-sharing or any other agreement of the same nature.
3.
This Regulation is without prejudice to the rules on liability as arising from:
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international Conventions to which the Member States and/or the Community are parties,
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Community law, and
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national law of the Member States.
Article 5 Compliance
1.
Air carriers and, when so required, aircraft operators, as referred to in Article 2, shall demonstrate compliance with the insurance requirements set out in this Regulation by providing the competent authorities of the Member State concerned with a deposit of an insurance certificate or other evidence of valid insurance.
2.
For the purpose of this Article ‘Member State concerned’ shall mean the Member State which has granted the operating licence to the Community air carrier or the Member State where the aircraft of the aircraft operator is registered. For non-Community air carriers and aircraft operators using aircraft registered outside the Community, ‘Member State concerned’ shall mean the Member State to or from which the flights are operated.
3.
By way of exception from paragraph 1, Member States overflown may require that air carriers and aircraft operators referred to in Article 2 produce evidence of valid insurance in accordance with this Regulation.
4.
With regard to Community air carriers and aircraft operators using aircraft registered in the Community, the deposit of evidence of insurance in the Member State referred to in paragraph 2 is sufficient for all Member States, without prejudice to the application of Article 8(6).
5.
In exceptional cases of insurance-market failure, the Commission may determine, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 9(2), the appropriate measures for the application of paragraph 1.