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

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation shall not apply to:

(a) State aircraft as referred to in Article 3(b) of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed at Chicago on 7 December 1944;

(b) model aircraft with an MTOM of less than 20 kg;

(c) foot-launched flying machines (including powered paragliders and hang gliders);

(d) captive balloons;

(e) kites;

(f) parachutes (including parascending parachutes);

(g) aircraft, including gliders, with a MTOM of less than 500 kg, and microlights, which: — are used for non-commercial purposes, or — 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.

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:

(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

This Regulation is without prejudice to the rules on liability as arising from:

— international Conventions to which the Member States and/or the Community are parties,

— Community law, and

— national law of the Member States.

Article 5

Compliance

Article 6

Insurance in respect of liability for passengers, baggage and cargo

Article 7

Insurance in respect of liability for third parties

If at any time insurance cover for damage to third parties due to risks of war or terrorism is not available to any air carrier or aircraft operator on a per-accident basis, such air carrier or aircraft operator may satisfy its obligation to insure such risks by insuring on an aggregate basis. The Commission shall closely monitor the application of this provision in order to ensure that such aggregate is at least equivalent to the relevant amount set out in the table.

Article 8

Enforcement and sanctions

Article 8a

Exercise of the delegation

Article 9

Committee procedure

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

Article 10

Report and cooperation

Article 11

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force twelve months following the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.