MODERN TYPES OF ECONOMIC CONTRACTS IN THE FIELD OF AVIATION

Abstract

Purpose: of the article is to make a comprehensive study of the legal essence of certain types of contracts which carriers enter into with other participants of transport services. Research methods: the dialectical method of cognition, general scientific and special methods are used in the work. In particular, structuralfunctional and deductive methods. Results: it is concluded that the attention of legal science and practice is most often focused on air carriage agreements, and many agreements concluded between participants to aviation relations remain insufficiently elaborated, and some aspects of air carriage agreements require further scientific research. The authors establishes the importance of scientific substantiation of contracts on the basis of which air carriers acquire the status of members of aviation alliances, since such alliances enable carriers to maintain legal independence and are also economically viable, and this, in turn, helps to achieve high efficiency of international cooperation in air transportation. The research paper lists the most famous international aviation alliances and analyses the matter of cooperation with public authorities of individual states and their associations and their specific features. The article considers the issue of joint operation of a flight by two or more airlines and its peculiarities. The authors analyses codeshare contracts under which airlines enter into a commercial partnership with each other, as a result of which transport services are considered as a single product that is effectively advertised and sold in the market. The importance of a scientific approach to the conclusion of contracts on airport ground handling and airport services between air carriers and relevant organisations providing these services is emphasised. Particular attention is paid to the contracts governing the relations between tour operators and air carriers. The authors identifies cases of concluding contracts for determining the quota of seats on scheduled flights. The key terms of interline contracts and related pro-rater contracts that establish the basis for commercial cooperation between air carriers are listed. Discussion: the importance of close cooperation between the states, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in order to implement international legal norms governing the conclusion of contracts in the aviation industry in national legislation, as well as to expand the terminology through the adoption of the provisions of IATA acts.