Book excerpt: The Principles and Practice of International Aviation Law provides an introduction to, and demystification of, the private and public dimensions of international aviation law. Unlike other global sectors, the air transport industry is not governed by a discrete area of the law, but by disparate transnational regulatory instruments. Everything from the routes that an international air carrier can serve to the acquisition of its fleet and its liability to passengers and shippers for incidents arising from its operations can be the object of bilateral and multilateral treaties that represent diverse and often contradictory interests. Beneath this are hundreds of domestic regulatory regimes that also apply national and international rules in disparate ways. The result is an agglomeration of legal cultures that can leave even experienced lawyers and academics perplexed. By combining classical doctrinal analysis with insights from newer disciplines such as international relations and economics, the book maps international aviation law's complex terrain for new and veteran observers alike.