Aviation

Sharing your passion & working your way & in for the long haul & across the whole industry & crossing the globe & touching the metal & helping you to fly

Overview

We have practical, hands on experience of working within the aviation industry including advising airlines, lessors, financiers, aircraft manufacturers, groundhandlers, airports, MROs, freight forwarders, insurers, tour operators and travel agents around the world.

Strength in Breadth and Depth

Our mission is to combine our wide knowledge of the aviation sector and our legal expertise to develop commercial solutions that make business sense.

What unites our specialist team across our 28 offices worldwide is a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the industry.

We take pride in helping our clients to reach commercial, workable solutions across a wide range of transactions and ventures, at the cutting-edge of business and legal developments.

We provide advice on:

We can advise on just about every agreement, transaction, regulatory issue or type of dispute that the industry presents. Our aviation clients also turn to us for support on corporate transactions, employment, tax and intellectual property (IP) issues.

Contacts

Paul Briggs

Paul Briggs

Partner
UK

Call me on: +44 (0)20 7415 6000
vCard Location
Image of Leo Fattorini

Leo Fattorini

Partner
Singapore

Call me on: +65 6534 5266
vCard Location

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Recent highlights of work

  • Air Canada – patent dispute with seat manufacturer
  • Cargolux - purchase of 747-800F and a joint venture for financing
  • Jet2.com - airport agreements, purchase, financing and leasing of aircraft, employment and other regulatory and dispute resolution matters
  • Singapore Airlines - outsourcing, employment and data privacy issues
  • Virgin Atlantic - claim arising from the falsification by an aircraft seat manufacturer of key test results as well as on-going advice in relation to aircraft finance/leasing matters and employment issues
  • Willis Lease – West II engine securitisation

Accolades

  • Extensive experience handling a broad range of aviation law concerns, including aircraft financing, insurance, regulatory matters and competition.

    Chambers UK 2017

  • "I get the service level I would only expect if I were a big customer with a magic circle firm."

    Chambers UK

  • "Clients benefit from the team's impressive knowledge of the aviation industry, which is gained from years of experience in an in-house capacity."

    Chambers Europe

  • The ‘responsive and highly commercial’ team at Bird & Bird has ‘great aviation industry knowledge’, and is instructed by an expanding array of airlines.

    Legal 500

  • Bird & Bird has a ‘strong regulatory practice’ and ‘first-class technical knowledge.’

    The Legal 500

News & Events

  1. 2307-2018

    European Court of Justice delivers two recent judgments in relation to extraordinary circumstances under Regulation 261

    Under Article 5(3) EU Regulation 261/2004 ("Reg 261") an air carrier is not obliged to pay compensation if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided ...

  2. 2007-2018

    European Aviation Safety Agency updates basic regulation – Nearly

    Readers with long memories will recall the publication, in December 2015, of the European Commission's Aviation Strategy. Part of that announcement was a substantial revision of the Basic Regulation 216/2008 which ...

  3. 2007-2018

    When can a notice “in writing” be successfully made by telephone?

    This preliminary ruling of the ECJ, in a case between a Finnish airline and an insurance company concerning the liability of the airline for damages resulting from the loss of items from baggage, takes a novel approach ...

  1. 2703-2018

    Bird & Bird's Aviation Disputes team secures a US$90m payout for BOC Aviation in landmark case

    Bird & Bird's Aviation Disputes team in London has successfully represented Singapore-based BOC Aviation and BOC Aviation, Ireland, in a landmark case against the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines Limited, and its parent ...

  2. 0603-2018

    Bird & Bird wins the most awards by a single firm ever in the history of the China Business Law Awards

    Bird & Bird has won four individual Awards at the China Business Law Awards, the most by a single firm in the history of these awards.

  3. 0603-2018

    Bird & Bird appoints two new partners in Paris, expanding its Aviation, Space & Defence and Corporate capabilities

    International law firm Bird & Bird appoints two new partners in Paris, expanding its Aviation, Space & Defence and Corporate capabilities.

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