The transport law in legal frameworks involves all aspects of
travel methods where the carriage of passengers by road, sea or air. The legal
framework applies to the agreement between a carrier and the passengers. There
is a contract of carriers formed from the moment the passenger agrees to use
the selected carrier.
A carrier is a person who operates a selected method of
transport which can be by road, sea or air. In order to use carriers such as
taxies and coaches that operate on the roads the passenger is required to book
the service in order to use the transport. Once the booking has been made for a
coach carrier the passenger will be provided with a ticket which is issued by
the carrier, tour operators or someone that is authorised to sell tickets. A
contract between the carrier and the passenger is then formed in an agreement
to confirm the use of the selected carrier.
Contract of carriage
The contract of carriage links to the common law which
impose special obligations on common carriers. The common law states that once
a person who wishes to use the service of a selected carrier will be allowed to
do so as long as they have paid the applicable fare. As long as the passenger is willing to pay the
applicable fare of the carrier services and is fit to travel it means that the
carriers cannot refuse to take the passenger on board. If however the passenger
is unfit to travel, unwilling to pay the applicable fares fee or aggressive they
can and will be denied the right to use the carrier services. This law applies
to all transport methods and must be followed.
Carriage by Air
The air carriage transport law is interesting as it expands
into various subsectors. Not all countries share the same law regulations for
Air transport carriers. The carrier which in this case would be an aircraft
must be in safe to be used as a carrier. This means that regular tests must be
undertaken to ensure that the fleet is problem free before allowing the
aircraft to be used as a passenger carrier.
Air travel EC denied boarding regulation 1991:
The EC denied boarding regulation 1991 is a law that is
followed by air travel carriers in all the European Union countries. The law
(regulation) states the benefits a passenger should receive if they have been
dined boarding onto a flight. If a passenger has paid for the Air carrier
services but the carrier is overbooked it means that some passengers may be
denied boarding for their scheduled flight.
The regulation states that if a passenger has been denied boarding due
to overbooking they are entitles to a reimbursement for the cost of the ticket
for the missed journey.
The passenger should also be offered alternatives which
include re-routing to the final destination on another flight or at the
earliest convenience. If the passenger is not happy with the alternative flight
that they have been offered they can be re-routed at a later date that suits the
passenger.
The same regulation states that air carriers also hold
liabilities in the case of a passenger being denied bordering due to
overbooking. The liabilities include a minimum compensation which is set by the
regulation, meals and refreshments and the cost of contacting the point of
destination to which the passenger was scheduled to fly to. In some cases the
airline will also need to provide accommodation if the passenger is scheduled
to fly at a later date.
This regulation must be followed by all air carriers in the
European Union. It shows how the legal frameworks are put into place for both
the carriers and the passengers. The
legal framework works in advantage of both the carrier and the passenger as
they work together to ensure safe travel at all times which requires different measures
of action for all types of carriers.
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