The Charter as a Form of Air Carriage Contract
Air carriage and transport are carried out under two principal contracts. Under a passenger carriage contract, the carrier is obliged to bring the passenger to the destination and, where the passenger checks in baggage, to deliver it to the destination and hand it to the authorized person; the passenger pays the fare established for carriage and, where baggage is checked in, also the charge for its carriage. Under a cargo transport contract, the carrier is obliged to deliver the cargo handed over by the consignor to the destination and hand it to the authorized person, while the consignor pays the established charge. To these two forms the charter adds a third: unlike one-off carriage, the charter covers the capacity of the aircraft, or part of it, over one or more flights.
The Mandatory Content of a Charter Contract
Under a charter, one party — the hireling party — transfers for a determined charge to the other party — the charterer — the whole capacity of one or more aircraft or part of it, for one or more flights, for the carriage of passengers, the transport of baggage and cargo or for another purpose — the charter may thus be concluded for purposes beyond carriage as well, where the parties so require. The law directly determines what a charter contract must provide:
- the names of the parties;
- the type of aircraft;
- the purpose of the hire;
- the quantity of passengers and cargo (baggage and postal items) to be carried;
- the amount of the hire charge;
- the initial point and time of the route;
- the destination.
Two items deserve particular attention: the distribution of capacity — where the charterer takes the whole capacity, the risk of empty seats lies with it, while on partial capacity the hireling party may transfer the remaining space to another party — and the formulation of the charge: a lump sum or a calculation dependent on the number of flights arranges the economics of performance differently. The initial point and time of the route are also critical for dispute prevention, since delay and postponement are assessed against the time fixed in the contract.