Civil contracts in the area of air transportation: concept, characteristics, classification

Abstract

The subject of this research is the concept, characteristics and interrelation of contracts in the area of air transportation. The article is dedication to understanding of legal nature and key elements of air contracts, specificity of their theoretical and practical application, classification; as well as aimed at creation of integral concept of regulatory system. Such understanding is acquired from a broad context of civil law literature and case law. Reference to the provisions of civil law doctrine allowed presenting an original view upon the subject matter, and propose recommendations on the improvement of aviation legislation. The main conclusion consists in the fact that civil law regulation of contracts in the area of air transportation is characterized by the existence of special contracts with peculiar features, which define the content of aviation legislation. With regards to each contractual construct, there emerge various question not only from the perspective of legal regulation and law enforcement (overbooking in the contract of air transportation of passengers), but also scientific approaches toward determination of the concept and nature of a particular contract (qualification of the shipping agreement as a bilateral or multilateral, legal nature of the shipping agreement for air cargo). The absence of universal understanding and interpretation of concept, contradiction of legislation, existence of legal gaps do not contribute to uniformity of aviation legislation, making it complicated for studying and application. The author also reviewed draft laws on regulation of air transportation and separate clauses thereof. Presented analysis reflects only few problematic aspects in the area of air transportation. The acquired results can be used in theoretical legal research, as well as legislative and practical activities.