Third Party liability in Air Transport

Abstract

The Third International Conference on Private Air Law, held in Rome, resulted in the adoption of two conventions dealing with the subjects of air carrier liability to third parties and precautionary arrestof aircraft. The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Damage Caused by Foreign Aircraft to Third Parties on the Surface (Rome Convention 1933) and the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Precautionary Arrest of Aircraft were two of these conventions. The conventions attempted to achieve a balance between the rights of third parties affected by a foreign aircraft (i.e. damage caused by an aircraft in territory outside its home country) and the interests of the aircraft's home countryto protect the interest of fledgling air transport industry to enable it stand the challenges.