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The year 2003 marks the entering into force of the new Montreal Convention governing certain rules for international carriage by air. This, however, does not mean that the international community, including States, air carriers and their agents, passengers, shippers and consignors, insurance companies and the legal community in general (specially aviation lawyers and judges) shall only rely on this instrument. The Warsaw Convention and its complementary instruments, known as the Warsaw System, is still applicable and in certain circumstances, may be the only existing relation binding States and air carriers, especially in terms of liability and compensatory damages arising from an accident or delay. Good knowledge of the conflicts that may arise within the existing international legal framework is an asset for a successful civil aviation case consultancy or trial.

Article 17 in the Warsaw Convention 1929, the core provision to all liability for passenger injury and death, has been the most litigated Article of the Warsaw Convention. The main reason for this is that the Warsaw Convention, the axis of private international air law, unfortunately did not provide clear definitions regarding "accident" and "bodily injury" in the Article 17. Its amendments, the Hague Protocol 1955 and the Guatemala Protocol 1971, did not succeed in clarifying the meanings. Although the Montreal Conference 1999 witnessed strong debates regarding the amendment of Article 17, the Montreal Convention 1999 did not succeed in changing Article 17. Since the Warsaw System did not provide definitions of "accident" and "bodily injury", each State has interpreted the two terms individually. Inconsistency in interpreting "accident" and "bodily injury" has emerged, since every State has a different jurisprudence. This phenomenon has created confusion in the international air transport community. In order to clear up the confusion, the International Civil Aviation Organization should amend Article 17 to specify and clarify the terms: "accident" and "bodily injury", while balancing the interests of all parties in the international air transport community.

The primary intention of this thesis is to examine open skies policy and its far-reaching impact on the Asia-Pacific region. / In order to achieve this, we will describe the historic evolution of economic regulation in civil air transport, which laid the foundation for an open skies regime. Moreover, the scope of an open skies regime on a global scale is addressed. Then, a detailed study of the essential elements of bilateral open skies agreements is undertaken. / Afterwards, an analysis of the current economic air transport regulation in Asia-Pacific is conducted. With the emergence of the open skies trend, most Asia-Pacific nations began to liberalize their air transport industries. Yet, bilateral agreements remain the primary means to attain this goal. / More necessarily, several Asia-Pacific countries' air transport policies will be comprehensively examined. This examination includes Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia. / Finally, a perspective for liberalization via a hybrid of bilateral and sub-regional open skies arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region is presented.

At present, international attention is focused on an emerging draft treaty concerning security interests in mobile goods. Highly valued mobile assets (such as aircraft) by nature move from one jurisdiction to another, and therefore, an international convention dealing the creation and recognition of property rights in such goods is necessary. This thesis will concentrate on the laws governing the taking of aircraft as security. / The draft UNIDROIT Convention, once approved and implemented by states, would introduce a vast degree of economic benefits to airlines and their respective governments, ranging from lower banking interest rates to more credit being generated, all of which will benefit national economies and the traveling public at large. / Given the strong attitude shown by a majority of states that reflects their unwillingness to surrender some basic legal principles relating to property rights, the author considers it proper to undertake this work, which will concentrate on important legal problems relating to international aircraft financing.

The aviation industry is one characterized by its constant search for new methods to finance and acquire new equipment as international markets develop. In this search, multiple legal and financial frameworks have been created resulting in economic flexibility for carriers, through very complex transactions. Inside this trend of financial arrangements the most frequently used method is to lease the equipment they need. / The main concern related to these transactions is that aircrafts are highly movable assets that can travel to various jurisdictions. This faculty supposes a threat to lessors and owners' property interests over the aircraft because property law is encompassed into national laws and are not easily recognized in other countries in cases of controversies centered in a movable good. / Chapter I of this thesis will focus on the different types of financing methods used by carriers to procure new equipment. Chapter II discusses the current international conventions in force regulating international leases. Finally, Chapter III purports to analyze the Draft UNIDROIT Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the Protocol related to Aircraft Equipment.

In the inter-war period Great Britain lost its pre-eminence in aviation. The new industries centered on civil aviation were not appropriately nurtured. The roots of this decline were in policies struck for military considerations in the pre 1914 period. The emergent institution of the war, the Air Ministry, continued the military priority. Civil Aviation was controlled by an essentially military institution. In the immediate post-war period airline development was inadequately subsidized. The government's chosen instrument, Imperial Airways, failed to nurture civil aviation development. Emergent national aspirations within the Empire and hostile and indifferent governments without frustrated airline route growth. Equally hampered by poor government stewardship was the manufacturing aspect of aviation.

International air transport has grown at a staggering rate over the last 50 years and the industry which supports it, now bears little resemblance to that which existed even twenty-five years ago. As the number of operators and the size of their respective fleets have increased, so too have the pressures on the infrastructure which support them. Particularly affected are the major airports where runway, apron and terminal capacity are limited. Unlike other elements of the aviation infrastructure, airport capacity is physically constrained and therefore capacity increases can only be obtained through further development or through more efficient uses of existing resources. As the first option is politically controversial and the latter only provides for incremental increases, the air transport industry, through IATA, has developed an allocation mechanism to distribute available capacity based on historic precedence. This thesis reviews the main issues surrounding the current regime. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

On 28 May 1999, ICAO successfully adopted a new Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, otherwise known as the Montreal Convention of 1999, which modernizes and consolidates the "Warsaw System". ICAO viewed the merger of several international instruments of private international air law into one legal instrument as a milestone in the history of international law making. However, the rules presented in the Montreal Convention represent principles not unique to the international airline community as they have been tested in the industry for nearly a decade. This thesis analyzes two such provisions, liability and jurisdiction. Chapter One presents the history of the "Warsaw System" and the individual and collective State and private air carrier actions which have given these two principles "face-lifts" throughout the years in order to update their antiquated and unjust effects. Additionally, Chapter One concludes with the drafting history of the Montreal Convention, specifically focusing on the liability and jurisdiction rules. Chapter Two analyzes the liability provisions and the effects that the new two-tier system with its strict liability up to $135,000 U.S. in the first tier and presumed fault---unlimited liability in the second tier will have on the States, carriers, and insurance premiums. Chapter Three explores the consequence of the inclusion of the fifth jurisdiction in the Montreal Convention, a concept which invoked much criticism, yet is not unique to most legal systems of the world. Chapter Three also examines the effects that the fifth jurisdiction coupled with the unlimited liability regime will have on States and carriers alike.