International Air Carrier Operations

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International Air Carrier Operations
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International Operations

• Sovereignty of airspace
• International air law
• International airspace system

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Sovereignty of Airspace
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Sovereignty of Airspace

• No one owns the airspace (free-air)
• Promotes commerce
• Promotes peace
• Countries own airspace above
• National interest
• Security

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International Air Law
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International Air Law

• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
• Five freedoms
• Bilateral agreements
• International Air Transport Association (IATA)
• Open-sky and cabotage agreements

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ICAO

• Chicago Conference (1944)
• Simplify negotiations of international routes
• Complete and exclusive sovereignty over airspace
  above each countrys territory
• Standard customs regulations
• Standard procedures for air traffic control
• Uniform communication systems, navigation aids,
  airport marking and procedures

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Five Freedoms

• A carrier may fly over the territory of another
  nation without landing
• A carrier may land in another nation for
  nontraffic-related purposes
• A carrier may drop off passengers from its own
  country in another nation
• A carrier may pick up passengers in another
  nation and carry them back to its own country
• A carrier may pick up passengers from a country
  other than its own and deliver them to a third
  nation, also not its own

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Bilateral Agreements

• Agreement between two nations (3rd, 4th, 5th
  freedoms)
• Number of carriers
• Routes the carriers can serve
• Governments role in approving fares
• Some agreements limit capacity
• In the USA, DOT and State Department negotiate
  bilateral agreements
• USA has bilateral agreements with over 70
  countries

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IATA

• Created in 1945 to represent international
  carriers
• Establish fares for bilateral agreements
• Promote safety and standardization among carriers

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Open-Sky and Cabotage Agreements

• Open-sky agreement
• Carriers of both countries can fly any route they
  wish between those countries
• Can continue those flights into third countries
• Cabotage
• A foreign carrier can NOT fly passengers between
  two (or more) domestic points within another
  country
• Unlikely to be ever permitted

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International Airspace System
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International Airspace System

• Airspace classification
• Airport identifiers
• Atlantic Ocean Air Traffic Control

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Airspace Classification

• Every countrys airspace is a "flight information
  region" (FIR)
• Same alphabet "soup" airspace classes as in the
  U.S.
• Only exception is Class "F" airspace which does
  not exist in the U.S.
• In class "F" airspace (also known as controlled
  VFR or CVFR) ATC provides positive separation to
  VFR traffic

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Airport Identifiers

• Two formats ICAO (four-letter) and IATA (three
  letter)
• ICAO format used by ATC
• IATA format used by airlines (for scheduling and
  reservations)

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Atlantic Ocean Air Traffic Control

• North Atlantic Region (NAR) most congested
  international airspace (all eastbound flights at
  night, all westbound flights during the day)
• ICAO has delegated NAR control to 7 enroute
  centers (New York, San Juan, and five foreign
  centers from Greenland, Newfoundland, Great
  Britain, Iceland Azores)
• NAR airspace controlled (at or above 5,500) and
  uncontrolled (below 5,500)
• NAR airway systems low one-way airways and high
  altitude flexible "tracks"

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High Altitude Tracks
Westbound
Eastbound