HC Deb 24 June 1997 vol 296 c491W
Mr. Dismore

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which airlines flying into and out of the United Kingdom have(a) fully waived, (b) partially waived and (c) not waived their right under the Warsaw convention to limit compensation payable in respect of passengers injured or killed whilst travelling with them. [5122]

Ms Glenda Jackson

I have placed a copy of the information required in the Library.

Mr. Dismore

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the Warsaw convention limits on compensation for death or personal injury. [5121]

Ms Jackson

The United Kingdom has long recognised that the limit of liability for death or personal injury to passengers contained in the 1929 Warsaw convention was inadequate, and has adopted for the purposes of national law the higher limits set out in the Hague and Montreal protocols. Consequently, airlines registered in the UK are currently required to accept a liability limit of not less than 100,000 special drawing rights—approximately £85,000.

Earlier this year the UK supported the European Commission's proposals for a regulation on air carrier liability in case of accidents. This will require airlines to accept strict liability for passenger death or injury up to the ECU equivalent of 100,000 SDRs, with a fault-based regime for higher claims, subject to no upper limit. The new regulation, which also places obligations on both EU and non-EU carriers to make more prominent disclosure of their liability arrangements, is expected to come into force during 1998.

An United Nations specialised agency, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which has responsibility for these matters, is currently preparing a new convention which will replace the 1929 Warsaw convention and introduce much more realistic limits of liability which will not be restricted to passenger death or injury. The UK participated fully in the recent meeting of the Legal Committee and a diplomatic conference is expected to take place next year during which ICAO members will vote to adopt the new convention.