Gavin Magrath, Magrath’s International Legal Counsel, Toronto, Canada
Readers are reminded that the limitation on liability for damage to air cargo under the Montreal Convention is increasing from 22 SDRs to 26 SDRs as of 28 December 2024.
Limits on liability for lost or damaged luggage are also increasing, from 1,288 SDRs to 1,519 SDRs, as are limits on liability for delay and for injury to or death of passengers.
Unlike the 2 SDR per kg limitation on liability for damage to cargo set out in the Hague-Visby Rules for carriage of goods by sea, the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (the “Montreal Convention”, often “MC99”) contains provisions for the periodic review and updating of Convention limitations. The original cargo limitation of 17 SDRs/kg was increased in 2009 to 19 SDRs, and in 2019 to 22 SDRs.
The SDR or “Standard Drawing Right” is essentially a weighted index of international currencies created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), enabling transactions (or limitations) to be denominated in a “neutral” form that does not favor or fluctuate with on particular currency.
Today 1 SDR = USD$1.31 = CAD$1.85
The review process for MC99 is administered by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).