Discussion and Decision
- The main driver of the relationship between a passenger and a "flight operator" with regard to flights to and from the State of Israel is the Aviation Services Law, which came into effect on August 16, 2012. The law regulates the benefits to which a passenger will be entitled according to the duration of the flight delay and its circumstances. The issue of compensation to the customer, inter alia, due to flight delay or cancellation, was regulated in the Montreal Convention, which was signed in Montreal on May 28, 1999 and ratified by the State of Israel in 2011 as part of an amendment to the Air Transport Law (prior to that it was regulated in the Warsaw Convention (the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Concerning International Carriage by Air, signed in Warsaw on October 12, 1929)). The convention adopted in the Air Transport Law, which enshrined in the principle of the uniqueness of the cause, which exempts the air carrier from liability under other laws, are relevant to the issue of the entitlement of passengers to monetary compensation caused by non-receipt of baggage or delay in its delivery. Yes, claims relating to flight delays or cancellations in the period prior to the date of entry into force of the Aviation Services Law will be subject to the provisions of the Montreal Convention. The Aviation Services Law, which was later enacted, specifically (Lex Specialis) regarding the arrangement of compensation for flight delay or cancellation, was knowingly enacted because there are existing arrangements in the Montreal Convention enshrined in the Air Transport Law and despite what is stated there (see, for example, the explanatory notes to the Aviation Services Bill (Compensation and Assistance Due to Flight Cancellation or Change in its Conditions), 5772-2011 (Search Order / Knesset Entry Order 413, at p. 6).
Section 1 of the Aviation Services Law defines for its application "flight", inter alia, as "a flight taking off from or to the territory of the State of Israel". It also defines a "cancelled flight" as follows: