Convention on International Civil Aviation
Encyclopedia
The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations
charged with coordinating and regulating international air travel. The Convention establishes rules of airspace
, aircraft registration
and safety, and details the rights of the signatories in relation to air travel
. The Convention also exempts air fuels from tax.
The document was signed on December 7, 1944 in Chicago
, U.S.
, by 52 signatory states. It received the requisite 26th ratification on March 5, 1947 and went into effect on April 4, 1947, the same date that ICAO came into being. In October of the same year, ICAO became a specialized agency of the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC). The Convention has since been revised eight times (in 1959, 1963, 1969, 1975, 1980, 1997, 2000 and 2006).
Article 1: Every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over airspace above its territory.
Article 5: (Non-scheduled flights over State's Territory): The aircraft of states, other than scheduled international air services, have the right to make flights across state's territories and to make stops without obtaining prior permission. However, the state may require the aircraft to make a landing.
Article 6: (Scheduled air services) No scheduled international air service may be operated over or into the territory of a contracting State, except with the special permission or other authorization of that State.
Article 10: (Landing at customs airports): The state can require that landing to be at a designated customs airport and similarly departure from the territory can be required to be from a designated customs airport.
Article 12: Each state shall keep its own rules of the air as uniform as possible with those established under the convention, the duty to ensure compliance with these rules rests with the contracting state.
Article 13: (Entry and Clearance Regulations) A state's laws and regulations regarding the admission and departure of passengers, crew or cargo from aircraft shall be complied with on arrival, upon departure and whilst within the territory of that state.
Article 16: The authorities of each state shall have the right to search the aircraft of other states on landing or departure, without unreasonable delay...
Article 24: Aircraft flying to, from or across, the territory of a state shall be admitted temporarily free of duty. Fuel, Oil, spare parts, regular equipment and aircraft stores retained on board are also exempt custom duty, inspection fees or similar charges.
Article 29: Before an international flight, the pilot in command must ensure that the aircraft is airworthy, duly registered and that the relevant certificates are on board the aircraft. The required documents are:
Article 30: The aircraft of a state flying in or over the territory of another state shall only carry radios licensed and used in accordance with the regulations of the state in which the aircraft is registered. The radios may only be used by members of the flight crew suitably licenced by the state in which the aircraft is registered.
Article 32: the pilot and crew of every aircraft engaged in international aviation must have certificates of competency and licences issued or validated by the state in which the aircraft is registered.
Article 33: (Recognition of Certificates and Licences) Certificates of Airworthiness, certificates of competency and licences issued or validated by the state in which the aircraft is registered, shall be recognised as valid by other states. The requirements for issue of those Certificates or Airworthiness, certificates of competency or licences must be equal to or above the minimum standards established by the Convention.
Article 40: No aircraft or personnel with endorsed licenses or certificate will engage in international navigation except with the permission of the state or states whose territory is entered. Any license holder who does not satisfy international standard relating to that license or certificate shall have attached to or endorsed on that license information regarding the particulars in which he does not satisfy those standards".
s). The annexes are amended regularly by ICAO and are as follows:
Annex 5, Units
of Measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations, named in its Table 3-3 three "non-SI
alternative units permitted for temporary use with the SI": the foot (for vertical distance
= altitude
), the knot (for speed
), and the nautical mile
(for long distance).
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
(ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
charged with coordinating and regulating international air travel. The Convention establishes rules of airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
, aircraft registration
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
and safety, and details the rights of the signatories in relation to air travel
Air travel
Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliding, parachuting or anything else that can sustain flight.-Domestic and international flights:...
. The Convention also exempts air fuels from tax.
The document was signed on December 7, 1944 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, by 52 signatory states. It received the requisite 26th ratification on March 5, 1947 and went into effect on April 4, 1947, the same date that ICAO came into being. In October of the same year, ICAO became a specialized agency of the United Nations Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
(ECOSOC). The Convention has since been revised eight times (in 1959, 1963, 1969, 1975, 1980, 1997, 2000 and 2006).
Main Articles
Some important articles are:Article 1: Every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over airspace above its territory.
Article 5: (Non-scheduled flights over State's Territory): The aircraft of states, other than scheduled international air services, have the right to make flights across state's territories and to make stops without obtaining prior permission. However, the state may require the aircraft to make a landing.
Article 6: (Scheduled air services) No scheduled international air service may be operated over or into the territory of a contracting State, except with the special permission or other authorization of that State.
Article 10: (Landing at customs airports): The state can require that landing to be at a designated customs airport and similarly departure from the territory can be required to be from a designated customs airport.
Article 12: Each state shall keep its own rules of the air as uniform as possible with those established under the convention, the duty to ensure compliance with these rules rests with the contracting state.
Article 13: (Entry and Clearance Regulations) A state's laws and regulations regarding the admission and departure of passengers, crew or cargo from aircraft shall be complied with on arrival, upon departure and whilst within the territory of that state.
Article 16: The authorities of each state shall have the right to search the aircraft of other states on landing or departure, without unreasonable delay...
Article 24: Aircraft flying to, from or across, the territory of a state shall be admitted temporarily free of duty. Fuel, Oil, spare parts, regular equipment and aircraft stores retained on board are also exempt custom duty, inspection fees or similar charges.
Article 29: Before an international flight, the pilot in command must ensure that the aircraft is airworthy, duly registered and that the relevant certificates are on board the aircraft. The required documents are:
- Certificate of Registration
- Certificate of Airworthiness
- Passenger names, place of boarding and destination
- Crew licences
- Journey Logbook
- Radio Licence
- Cargo manifest
Article 30: The aircraft of a state flying in or over the territory of another state shall only carry radios licensed and used in accordance with the regulations of the state in which the aircraft is registered. The radios may only be used by members of the flight crew suitably licenced by the state in which the aircraft is registered.
Article 32: the pilot and crew of every aircraft engaged in international aviation must have certificates of competency and licences issued or validated by the state in which the aircraft is registered.
Article 33: (Recognition of Certificates and Licences) Certificates of Airworthiness, certificates of competency and licences issued or validated by the state in which the aircraft is registered, shall be recognised as valid by other states. The requirements for issue of those Certificates or Airworthiness, certificates of competency or licences must be equal to or above the minimum standards established by the Convention.
Article 40: No aircraft or personnel with endorsed licenses or certificate will engage in international navigation except with the permission of the state or states whose territory is entered. Any license holder who does not satisfy international standard relating to that license or certificate shall have attached to or endorsed on that license information regarding the particulars in which he does not satisfy those standards".
Annexes
The Convention is supported by eighteen annexes containing standards and recommended practices (SARPSARP
Standards And Recommended Practices are technical specifications adopted by the Council of ICAO in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation in order to achieve "the highest practicable degree of uniformity in regulations, standards, procedures and organization...
s). The annexes are amended regularly by ICAO and are as follows:
- Annex 1 – Personnel Licensing
- Annex 2 – Rules of the Air
- Annex 3 – Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation
- Vol I – Core SARPs
- Vol II – Appendices and Attachments
- Annex 4 – Aeronautical Charts
- Annex 5 – Units of Measurement to be used in Air and Ground Operations
- Annex 6 – Operation of Aircraft
- Part I – International Commercial Air Transport – Aeroplanes
- Part II – International General Aviation – Aeroplanes
- Part III – International Operations – Helicopters
- Annex 7 – Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks
- Annex 8 – Airworthiness of Aircraft
- Annex 9 – Facilitation
- Annex 10 – Aeronautical Telecommunications
- Vol I – Radio Navigation Aids
- Vol II – Communication Procedures including those with PANS status
- Vol III – Communication Systems
- Part I – Digital Data Communication Systems
- Part II – Voice Communication Systems
- Vol IV – Surveillance Radar and Collision Avoidance Systems
- Vol V – Aeronautical Radio Frequency Spectrum Utilization
- Annex 11 – Air Traffic Services – Air Traffic Control Service, Flight Information Service and Alerting Service
- Annex 12 – Search and Rescue
- Annex 13 – Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation
- Annex 14 – Aerodromes
- Vol I – Aerodrome Design and Operations
- Vol II – Heliports
- Annex 15 – Aeronautical Information ServiceAeronautical Information ServiceOne of the least known and most vital roles in support of international civil aviation is filled by the Aeronautical Information Service . The objective of the Aeronautical Information Service is to ensure the flow of information necessary for the safety, regularity and efficiency of international...
s - Annex 16 – Environmental Protection
- Annex 15 – Aeronautical Information Service
- Vol I – Aircraft Noise
- Vol II – Aircraft Engine Emissions
- Annex 17 – Security: Safeguarding International Civil Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference
- Annex 18 – The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air
Annex 5, Units
Units of measurement
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of...
of Measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations, named in its Table 3-3 three "non-SI
International System of Units
The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...
alternative units permitted for temporary use with the SI": the foot (for vertical distance
Distance
Distance is a numerical description of how far apart objects are. In physics or everyday discussion, distance may refer to a physical length, or an estimation based on other criteria . In mathematics, a distance function or metric is a generalization of the concept of physical distance...
= altitude
Altitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
), the knot (for speed
Speed
In kinematics, the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity ; it is thus a scalar quantity. The average speed of an object in an interval of time is the distance traveled by the object divided by the duration of the interval; the instantaneous speed is the limit of the average speed as...
), and the nautical mile
Nautical mile
The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
(for long distance).