Applicability of the Montréal Convention in Israel

By Adv. Moshe Abady and Adv. Deror Lin 

A significant new amendment was recently made to The Carriage by Air Law - 1980. Until recently, the Law applied the Warsaw Convention of 1929 (as well as the Hague Protocol - 1955) for international and domestic air carriage. The Law has now been amended to apply the Montreal Convention to international and domestic carriage, and this amendment will come into force subject to an official notice which should be given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the new amendment the Montreal Convention will apply to air carriage in which the  place of departure and the place of destination, according to the terms of agreement between the parties, are situated either within the territories of two States which are parties to the Montreal Convention, or are situated within the territory of a single State party to the Montreal Convention and there is an agreed stopping place within the territory of another State.

The Law provides that if a country of origin or destination is a party to several Conventions, one of which is the Montréal Convention, the Montreal Convention will govern.

The Montreal Convention will apply also to domestic flights i.e. air carriage in which the departure and destination are within the State of Israel (and there is no stopping point outside of Israel).

The main implication of this new amendment will be the higher limits of liability which are imposed on a carrier under the Montreal Convention in the event of death or injury of passengers, and also in the event of a delay or damage to passenger's baggage.

Another implication relates to the duty of a carrier to maintain adequate insurance covering its liability under the Montreal Convention.

This amendment will not come into force until the Foreign Ministry has published a notice in the Official Gazette stating that the Montreal Convention has come into force in Israel. For the time being, such notice has not yet been published.