Chapter 1 General Rules
Section 1 Definitions
Article 1 Definitions
General Conditions of International Passenger and Baggage Transportation of Hainan Airlines Holdings Co. Ltd (hereinafter referred to as "General Conditions") serve as the text of the air transportation contract which is officially entered into between passengers and Hainan Airlines. It is a legal document that has established the legal relationship of the air transportation contract between the two parties and clarified the rights and obligations of both parties. The Hainan Airlines-issued ticket, air transport itinerary of electronic ticket, and other documents are all considered to be part of the air transportation contract and have the same legal force as the Conditions. The terms in the General Conditions have the meanings listed below, unless otherwise required by specific provisions or expressly provided otherwise:
1. "Convention" refers to the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules to International Air Carriage (Warsaw Convention), which was officially signed at Warsaw on October 12, 1929, the Protocol to Amend the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Air Carriage Signed at Warsaw on October 12, 1929 (The Hague Protocol), which was officially signed at the Hague on September 28, 1955, and the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules to International Air Carriage (Montreal Convention 1999), which was officially signed at Montreal on May 28, 1999.
2. "International Air Transportation", unless otherwise specified in the convention, refers to the transportation where, according to the air transportation contract signed by parties involved, the place of departure or the destination or agreed stopover place, despite a break or a need to transfer in the transportation, is not within the People's Republic of China.
3. "Carrier" refers to the public air transportation enterprise that transports passengers and baggage via civil aircraft for profit.
4. "Contracting Carrier" refers to the carrier that uses its ticket stock and ticket numbers to sign an air transportation contract with passengers.
5. "Actual Carrier" refers to the carrier that carries out related transportation businesses based on the authorization of the contracting carrier.
6. "Airport Management Authority" refers to the legal entity established in accordance with laws or entrusted with the responsibility for airport security and operation management.
7. "Ground Service Agent" refers to the enterprise which is established in accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China, signed a ground agency agreement with the carrier, and engages in the ground service agency business of the public air transportation in the airports of the People's Republic of China.
8. "Ground Service Agent of Hainan Airlines" refers to the ground service agent who has been appointed by Hainan Airlines to provide ground service for its flights.
9. "Airline Sales Agent" refers to an enterprise which is established in accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China, signed a sales agency agreement with the carrier, and engages in the passenger service sales of the public air transportation.
10. "Sales Agent of Hainan Airlines" refers to the agent who signed the sales agency agreement with Hainan Airlines and engages in the sales of Hainan Airlines' passenger services.
11. "Operator of Airline Sales Network Platform" refers to the enterprise formally established in accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China, which, in E-commerce, provides services for network business operation, transaction facilitation, and information distribution for carriers or airline sales agents and enables them to independently carry out sales activities for public air transport passenger services.
12. "Aviation Information Enterprise" refers to the enterprise that provides the passenger seat reservation, boarding registration, and other related systems in the field of public air transportation.
13. "Civil Aviation Administrative Organ" refers to the civil aviation administration and civil aviation regional administration.
14. "Public Air Transport Passenger Services" refers to the service provided by carriers to flight passengers from the airport of departure to the airport of destination, using civil aircraft.
15. "Code-share Flight" refers to the flight in which a carrier agrees to permit another carrier or carriers to use its flight code during operation. In a code-share flight, the party performing the flight operation is deemed as the actual carrier, while the other party deemed as the market partner.
16. "Hainan Airlines" is the abbreviation of Hainan Airlines Holding Co. Ltd; IATA two-character code: HU, ICAO specified code: CHH, International Air Transport Association IATA settlement code 880, website: www.hnair.com, www.hainanairlines.com).
17. "Hainan Airlines Regulations" refers to the rules developed and published by Hainan Airlines in accordance with relevant laws and regulations for the purpose of managing the transportation of passengers and their baggage. These rules are valid for both parties under the contract as of the date of ticket inssuance and include applicable fares and conditions.
18. "Passenger" refers to the individual who travels on a civil aircraft and has an air passenger transportation contract with the carrier.
19. "Children" refers to the individuals who are at least 2 weeks old but under 12 years old by the date the air travel begins.
20. "Infants" refer to the individuals who are less than two weeks old by the date the air travel begins. Hainan Airlines does not accept the boarding of newborns younger than 14 days old for medical and safety reasons.
21. "Unaccompanied Children" refers to the children who are at least 5 years old (inclusive) but under 12 years old and who are not accompanied by an adult at least 18 years old with civil capacity.
22. "Ticket" refers to a type of transportation certificate, including paper ticket and electronic ticket.
23. "Paper Ticket" refers to the certificate called as "Ticket" and baggage ticket voucher filled out by the carrier or on behalf of the carrier, including the conditions of the contract of transportation, declaration, notice, as well as passenger coupon and flight coupon.
24. "Passenger Coupon" refers to the part of the paper ticket marked as "Passenger Coupon" and is always held by passengers.
25. "Flight Coupon" refers to the part of the paper ticket marked as "Applicable to Transportation", which indicates that the flight coupon is applicable to transportation between two designated locations.
26. "Electronic Ticket" refers to a valid transportation certificate in the form of electronic data, which is sold by the carrier or sales agent with the right to transport. It is an electronic substitute for paper ticket.
27. "Air Transport Electronic Ticket Itinerary" refers to the evidence of payment or reimbursement voucher, which proves that passengers have purchased the carrier's electronic ticket for civil air transportation and reminds passengers of their Itineraries. "Date of Ticket Issuance" in the lower right corner of the "Air Transport Electronic Ticket Itinerary" refers to the date when passengers print their itinerary of electronic ticket. It is not associated with the validity of the ticket.
28. "Conjunction Ticket" refers to the ticket that is issued to a passenger in conjunction with another ticket and constitutes a single contract of transportation.
29. "Connected Ticket" refers to the ticket for 2 (or more) consecutive voyages connected by different flights under the single contract of transportation.
30. "Round-trip Ticket" refers to the ticket from the place of departure to destination and back to the original place of departure according to the original voyage under the single contract of transportation.
31. "Confirmed Date Ticket" refers to the ticket that specifies the flight, boarding date, and reserved seat.
31. "Open-date Ticket" refers to the ticket that does not specify the flight, boarding date, and reserved seat when it is sold for the first time.
33. "Ticket Purchased" refers to the state under which the air transportation contract is established according to the laws or the agreement of the parties involved.
34. "Change of Ticket" refers to the rescheduling, change of cabin class, and change of flight.
35. "Voluntary Refund" refers to the refund requested by passengers for their own reasons.
36. "Involuntary Refund" refers to passenger refund due to reasons that the flight has been cancelled, delayed or arrived ahead of schedule, or the flight voyage is changed, cabin class is changed, or the carrier is unable to operate the original flight.
37. "Voluntary Change of Ticket" refers to the change of ticket requested by passengers for their own reasons.
38. "Involuntary Change of Ticket" refers topassenger's request for the change of ticket due to reasons that the flight has been cancelled, delayed, or arrived ahead of schedule, or the flight voyage is changed, cabin class is changed, or the carrier is unable to operate the original flight.
39. "Carrier's Reasons" refers to the internal management reasons of the carrier, including aircraft maintenance, flight deployment, crew deployment, etc.
40. "Non-carrier Reasons" refers to other reasons not associated with the internal management of the carrier, including weather, emergencies, air traffic control, security check, and passengers.
41. "Day" refers to the calendar day, including the 7 days of a week. When sending a notice to passengers, the date of notice issuance is not counted; When determining the validity period of the ticket, the date of ticket issuance and date when a flight starts its journey are both not counted.
42. "Baggage" refers to the articles that the carrier agrees to transport and that the passengers carry during the trip, including checked baggage and non-checked baggage.
43. "Checked baggage" refers to the baggage which passengers hand over to the carrier for transportation with the baggage transportation certificate.
44. "Non-checked Baggage" refers to the baggage taken care of by passengers themselves, including: hand baggage, free carry-on baggage, cabin baggage, etc.
45."Hand Baggage" refers to the baggage that is agreed to be handed over to Hainan Airlines for weighting or counting, and is handled by passengers themselves throughout the trip, including the stopover.
46. "Free Carry-on Baggage" refers to the small items that passengers may bring on board the aircraft at no cost for the duration of the flight, including the stopover, as long as they meet Hainan Airlines' requirements for variety and quantity and have its permission to do so.
47. "Baggage Tag Identification Coupon" refers to the certificate issued by Hainan Airlines to passengers for the identification of checked baggage.
48. "Baggage Ticket" refers to the part of ticket related to the transportation of passengers' checked baggage.
49. "Stopover Location" refers to a spot where a passenger intends to stop along his or her travel path but is not the passenger's place of departure or destination.
50. "Stopover Place" refers to the trip interruption between the place of departure and destination, which is intentionally arranged by passengers with the prior consent of the carrier.
51. "Losses" refer to any harm sustained during or in connection with transportation or happening during the provision of other services by the carrier, such as death, harm, delay, loss, partial loss, or other damages.
52. "Transportation Fare" refers to the fares, charges and/or related conditions of use published by the airline. If necessary, the proper authorities' consent must be sought.
53. "Fares" refers to the price of air transportation services provided by the carrier using civil aircraft to transport passengers from the airport of departure to the airport of destination, excluding the taxes and fees collected in accordance with national laws and regulations.
54. "Ordinary Fares" refers to the highest fare offered during the validity period of fares for both business and economy cabin classes. The "ordinary fares" is based on the fare the carrier officially announces on the day of the start of passenger boarding.
55. "Preferential Fares" refers to the fare lower than ordinary fare and subject to the restrictions on use. The "preferential fares" is based on the fare the carrier officially announces on the day of the start of passenger boarding.
56. "Special Drawing Rights" refers to the special drawing right as defined by International Monetary Fund.
57. "Scheduled Departure Time" refers to the departure time authorized by the flight time management department.
58. "Scheduled Arrival Time" refers to the arrival time authorized by the flight time management department.
59. "Deadline for Completing the Check-in Procedures" refers to the deadline by which passengers can not check in for the flight. The deadline for completing the check-in procedures is determined in accordance with the regulations issued by each airport or by Hainan Airlines.
60. "Conditions For Using The Ticket" refers to the fare rules applicable to the designated seat class codes or types of fare.
61. "Ticket Rescheduling" refers to the change of flight time and flight date of the same carrier as specified in the ticket.
62. "Change of Flight" refers to the change of the carrier specified in the ticket.
63. "Connecting Flight" refers to 2 or more flights listed in a single contract of transportation.
64. "Missed Flight" refers to a circumstance in which a passenger fails boarding either because of identity document compliance issues or failure to finish the check-in process within the allotted time.
65. "Take a Wrong Flight" refers to a circumstance in which a passenger takes a flight other than the one specified in the ticket.
66. "Miss a Flight" refers to a circumstance in which a passenger fails to board the flight specified in the ticket after complete the check-in procedures or when make a transit at the stopover airport.
67. "Small Animals" refer to any tiny animals that a passenger consigns, such as cats, dogs, or other small household pets.
68. "Overbooking" refers to the situation where the carrier sells more seats than the number of seats available on a flight to reduce the number of seats that would otherwise go empty.
69. "Force Majeure" refers to the objective circumstances that cannot be foreseen, avoided, or overcome, including but not limited to natural disasters (fire, drought, earthquake, windstorm, snowstorm, landslide, flood, etc.), act of government (government intervention, ban, etc.), and social events (war, unrest, strike, epidemic, etc.).
Section 2 Scope of Application
Article 2
1. The Conditions shall apply to international air transportation in which Hainan Airlines obtains remuneration for transporting passengers and baggage by air, unless otherwise specified in 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Article.
2. The Conditions shall also apply to free and preferential fares for transportation unless otherwise specified in the conditions of use of free and preferential fares, contracts, and tickets. Special conditions and transportation fare rules shall prevail over the Conditions in the event of a conflict between the two.
3. Passengers and their baggage transported by chartered flights under the terms of the Hainan Airlines charter contract must abide by the terms of the charter contract, and the provisions of the Conditions shall take precedence over any terms not included in the charter contract.
4. Codeshare
The General Conditions of transportation of Hainan Airlines also apply to the code-share flights operated by other carriers. However, each actual carrier of a code-share flight has its own general conditions of transportation or transportation regulations with respect to the operation of its own flights, which may differ in part from Hainan Airlines' general conditions of transportation. These different rules and conditions of carriage established by the actual carrier will be considered part of Hainan Airlines' general conditions of transportation on code-share flights, and will take precedence over Hainan Airlines' general conditions of transportation on these code-share flights. For code-share flights, the differences between the regulations and conditions of Hainan Airlines and actual carrier could involve, but are not limited to:
(1) Deadline for completing the check-in procedures;
(2) Refusal and limitation of transportation;
(3) Baggage transportation, including but not limited to free checked baggage, allowance of carry-on items, charging standards for excess baggage, etc.;
(4) Guidelines for handling flight overbooking, passenger service, compensation for delayed flight departure, etc.;
(5) Passenger's behaviour on the flight;
(6) Liability for losses and indemnity.
5. Should a provision of the Conditions conflict with a provision of the international conventions, national laws, government regulations, orders, or requirements, the conflicting provision of the international conventions, national laws, government regulations, orders, or requirements in question shall take precedence, and the remainder of the Conditions shall remain in force.
6. The latest regulations issued by Hainan Airlines shall take precedence over any provisions of the Conditions that are in conflict with the latest regulations; The remainder of the Conditions, except the inconsistent provisions, shall remain in force.