Click here to download the Air transport 2020 report, published by Getting the Deal Through.

Jurisdictions covered

The following 23 jurisdictions are covered in this report:

Argentina; Bahamas; Belgium; Brazil; Canada; Chile; European Union; France; Germany; Greece; India; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Malta; Netherlands; Nigeria; Poland; Russia; Spain; Switzerland; United Kingdom; United States.

Questions

The set of questions relating to the topic of air transport and answered by the guide for each jurisdiction covered include:

General

• • Which bodies regulate aviation in your country? Under what basic laws?

Aviation operations

• • How is air transport regulated in terms of safety?
• • What safety regulation is provided for air operations that do not constitute public or commercial transport, and how is the distinction made?
• • How is access to the market for the provision of air transport services regulated?
• • What requirements apply in the areas of financial fitness and nationality of ownership regarding control of air carriers?
• • What procedures are there to obtain licences or other rights to operate particular routes?
• • What procedures are there for hearing or deciding contested applications for licences or other rights to operate particular routes?
• • Is there a declared policy on airline access or competition? What is it?
• • What requirements must a foreign air carrier satisfy in order to operate in your country?
• • Are there specific rules in place to ensure aviation services are offered to remote destinations when vital for the local economy?
• • How are charter services specifically regulated?
• • How are airfares regulated?
• • How is the operation of unmanned aircraft systems (drones) regulated?

Aircraft

• • Who is entitled to be mentioned in the aircraft register? What requirements or limitations apply to the ownership of an aircraft listed on your country’s register?
• • Is there a register of aircraft mortgages or charges? How does it function?
• • What rights are there to detain aircraft, in respect of unpaid airport or air navigation charges, or other unpaid debts?
• • Do specific rules regulate the maintenance of aircraft? What are they?

Airports

• • Who owns the airports?
• • What system is there for the licensing of airports?
• • Do specific rules regulate the maintenance of aircraft? What are they?
• • Are there laws or rules restricting or qualifying access to airports?
• • How are slots allocated at congested airports?
• • Are there any laws or rules specifically relating to ground handling? What are they?
• • Who provides air traffic control services? And how are they regulated?

Liability and accidents

• • What rules apply in respect of death of, or injury to, passengers or loss or damage to baggage or cargo in respect of domestic carriage?
• • Are there any special rules about the liability of aircraft operators for surface damage? What are they?
• • What system and procedures are in place for the investigation of air accidents?
• • Is there a mandatory accident and incident reporting system? How does it operate?

Competition law

• • Do sector-specific or general competition rules apply to aviation?
• • Is there a sector-specific regulator or are competition rules applied by the general competition authority?
• • How is the relevant market for the purposes of a competition assessment in the aviation sector defined by the competition authorities?
• • How have the competition authorities regulated code-sharing and air-carrier joint ventures?
• • What types of remedies have been imposed to remedy concerns identified by the competition authorities?

Financial support and state aid

• • Are there sector-specific rules regulating direct or indirect financial support to companies by the government or government-controlled agencies or companies (state aid) in the aviation sector? Is state aid regulated generally?
• • What are the main principles of the state aid rules applicable to the aviation sector?
• • Are there exemptions from the state aid rules or situations in which they do not apply?
• • Must clearance from the competition authorities be obtained before state aid may be granted? What are the main procedural steps for doing so?
• • If so, what are the main procedural steps to obtain clearance?
• • If no clearance is obtained, what procedures apply to recover unlawfully granted state aid?

Miscellaneous

• • What rules regulate denied boarding, cancellation or delay?
• • What rules apply to the sale of package holiday products?
• • Is there any other aviation-specific consumer legislation?
• • What mandatory insurance requirements apply to the operation of aircraft?
• • What legal requirements are there with regard to aviation security?
• • What serious crimes exist with regard to aviation?