DjVu Document

REPORT

Doc 7564 A9-P/2 27/4/55

OF THE COUNCIL TO THE ASSEMBLY

ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION

IN 1954

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

FOR THE 9th SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY

Montreal, June 1955

INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION

Letter of Transmittal (i)

TO THE ASSEMBLY OF THE

INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION

NINTH SESSION

I have the honour to transmit, at the direction ·of the Council, its Report for the ·year 1954, prepared in compliance with the terms of Article 54( a) of th'e Convention on International Civil Aviation. It constitutes documentation for Item 8 of the Provisional Agenda, and will be supplemented, at the opening of the Assembly, by a brief review of the work of the Organization during the first five months of 1955, These two documents will be sent in due course to the Economic and Social Council in pursuance of Article VI, paragraph 2(a), of the Agreement between the United Nations and ICAO.

The Report·has been prepared by the Secretariat and circulated in manuscript to the Member.s of the Council for their suggestions. The Council as a body has not formally examined or adopted the Report, but, as for several years past, has delegated to the President of the Council the authority to approve the final text after. considering all suggestions received,

During the period covered by this Report the Council has held three sessions - the Twenty-first from 2 February to 7 Apr~l, the Twenty-second from 18 May to 23 June, and the Twenty-third from 28 September to 15 December. It has delegated to the President ·of the Council authority to act on a variety of matters as necessary during Council recesses.

Edward Warner President of the Council

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ADR

AFI

AFTN

AGA

AIREP

ARB

ATC

ATS

BEA

CAA

COM

DF

DME

ECAFE

ECOSOC

EUM

FA!

FAL

FAO

FITAP

FOA

HAL

HF

lANG

lATA

ICAO

ICC

IFALPA

IFRB

IFTA

Explanation of Abbreviations

EXPLANATION OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT

Ah h affic advisoz y routes

African-Indian Ocean

Aeronautical Fixed Teleco.mmunication Network

Air Routes, aerodro.mes and ground aids

Position, operational and .meteorological report, in abbreviated pl<Lin language form, from an aircraft in flight

Air Research Bureau

Air Traffic Control

Air Traffic Services

British European Airways

Civil Aeronautics Administratio·n of the United States of America

Communications

Direction finding

Distance Measuring Equipment

Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (of the United Nations}

Economic and Social Council

European-Mediterranean

Federation Aeronautique lnternationale

Facilitation of International Air Transport

Food and Agriculture Organization

Federation lnternationale des Transports Aeriens Prives

Fureign Operations' Administration of the United States of America

Holding and approach to land

High Frequency

International Airline Navigators 1 Council

International Air Transport Association

International Civil Aviation Organization

International Chamber of Co.rnmerce

International Federahon of Atrhne P1Iots 1 Associations

International Frequl!ncy Registration Board

lnstitut fran~ais du Transport Aerien

(iii}

(iv)

IIUPL

ILA

ILO

ILS

IMCO

I RASA.

IRQ

ITU

KLM

LF

LORAN

MET

MF

MID

NAT

NOB

NOTAMS

OEEC

OPS

PANS

PiA

PO MAR

RAG

RAN

RTT

SAS

SUPPS

TAB

TAG

TWA

UN

UNECE

Unesco

UNICEF

UPU

Report of the Council

Intez national Institute for the Unification of Private Law

International Law Association

I:nternational Labour Organization

Instrument Landing System

International Maritime Consultative Organization

International Radio Air Safety Association

International Refugee Organization

International Telecommunications Union

Royal Dutch Airlines

Low frequency

Long range aid to navigation

Meteorological

Medium frequency

Middle East

North Atlantic

Non-directional Beacon

Notices to Airmen

Organization for European Econo.mic Co-operation

Operations

Procedures for Air Navigation Services

Pakistan International Airlines

Position, operational and .meteorological report, in figure code form, from an aircraft in flight

Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control

Regional air navigation

Radiote letype

Scandinavian Airlines System

Supplementary Procedures for Air Navigation Services

Technical Assistance Board

Technical Assistance Committee

Trans-World Airlines

United Nations

United Nations Econo.mic Commission for Europe

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

Universal Postal Union

USSR

VHF

VOLlVIET

VOR

WHO

WMO

Explanation of Abbreviations

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Very high frequency

Meteorological information broadcast from ground stations to aircraft in flight

VHF Omni-range

World Health Organization

World Meteorological Organization

(v)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I -CIVIL AVIATION IN 1954.

1. Introduction • • • 2. Traffic Trends . 3. Safety Record • 4. Financial Trends. 5. The Strasbourg Conference - Co-ordination of European

Aviation ...... , "' ... , .. , , , , . . .• , , . , 6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

Resumption of Aviation by Germany and Japan •• New Services. • . . . . . • •• ,' Helicopter Developments, • , . . . . . New Equipment. . . . . . . . • . . . , Other Developments in Air Navigation

CHAPTER II -AIR NAVIGATION •.....

1. International Standards, Recommended Practices and Procedure's ..•

2. Meetings ••........• , .. , 3. Implementation ..• , · ..... , . , 4. Special Projects and Other Matters .

CHAPTER III - AIR TRANSPORT ...•.•...••..

1. Charges for Airport~ and Air Navigation Facilities • , 2. Conference on the Co-ordina.tion of Air Transport in

Europe . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . · . . . . 3. Commercial Rights in International Air Transport .• 4. The Facilitation Programme , • 5. Air Transport Statistics •..•...••.••••• 6. International Air Mail • . . • • . • . . . • • • • • ,

CHAPTER IV- FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL AID THROUGH ICAO IN THE PROVISION OF AIR NAVIGATiON FACILITIES AND SERVICES

1. North Atlantic Ocean Stations Agreement, 1954 ••••• 2. Arrangements on Air Navigation Services in Iceland and.

in Greenland and the Faroes .••....•.•...• 3. Attempt to Arrange for the Joint Financing of an Upper

Air Station at Tegucigalpa, Honduras .• . • • • ; . • •

CHAPTER V - ICAO ACTIVITIES UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS EXPANDED PROGRAMME OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT • • • , • • •

1. Introduction. • . . ~ 2. · Programme Planning.. , • • • 3. Finance.· .. , . . . . , , .... 4. Country-by-Country Review of ICAO Technical Assistance

Activities , . , ..... , , , , . , .. , ..... , ...

vii

1

1 1 6 6

9 11 12 13 14 16

19

20 24 29 31

33

33

33 34 36 36 36

38

38

42

43

44

44 44 45

45

(viii} Report of the C.ouncil

Page

CHAPTER VI - CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL QUESTIONS. • 55

1. Status of the Chicago Acts • . . . . . • . 55 2. Amendment and Interpretation of the Convention on

International Civil Aviation . . . . . . . . • • . • • 55 3. Conventions on Private Air Law Concluded under the

Auspices of ICAO. : . • . . . . • . • • . . . 57 4. Work of the Legal Committee. , •.• , , • • • 58 5. Settlement of Differences between States. . . 59. 6. Privileges, Immunities and Facilities for the

Organization .• , . . . . . . . • . . . . . • . 59 7. Registration of Agreements and Arrangements.· 61 8. Collection of National" Aviation Laws and Regulations 61

CHAPTER VII- RELATIONS WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 62

CHAPTER VIII- ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE. 65

APPENDICES

1. 2. 3. 4. s. 6.

Organization Personnel .. Trainee Programme.· Languages and Publications . Premises Finance .......... .

65 67 67 67 67 69

1. Status of the Chicago Agreements, 31 December 1954 71 2. Membership of the Council, its Committees and the Air

Navigation Commission • . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . 73 3. ICAO Meeti~gs in 1954 .. . . . . . . • • . . . . . . • . . 76 4. ICAO Meetings Scheduled in 1955. , .•.... , . • . . 77 5. Participation of States and International Organizations in

ICAO Meetings in 1954. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 78 6. Scale of Contributions for 1955, with 1954 Scale for

Comparison. . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . • 79 7. Review of Action Taken on Resolutions and

Recommendations of the Assembly . • . . . • . • . 80

CHAPTER I

CIVIL AVIATION IN 1954

1. - Introduction

The state of civil air transport in 1954 can be dramatically displayed by a historical comparis.on directed at the scene of its beginnings. What was probably the first international civil pass~nger flight in the world took off from Toussus-le-Noble, southeast of Paris, on 8 February 1919 at 12 o'clock noon, and flew on a course over Versailles, Paris, Amiens, Boulogne and Folkestone to land at ·2:30p.m. at Kenley near London. The aircraft was a Farman Goliath, powered by two engines of 260 h. p. each, with an all-up weight of 4, 500 kilograms {10, 000 lbs.} and a speed of 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour. The pilot was Lucien Bossoutrot, and there was at least one other .member of the crew, a mechanic. Between 11 and 15 passengers were carried, and the lunch given the.m during the flight was probably the first such .meal served on a passenger air service. Six months later, on 25 August 1919, the world's first regular daily passenger service was begun between London and Paris by a British company, with a converted war-time single-,engine aircraft.

Thirty-five years later, in the month of August 1954, scheduled cross-Channel services by French and British airlines alone were approaching the figure of 1, 500 flights per week. Regular mixed services, carrying passengers, cargo and mail, accounted for 660 flights with an aggregate of some 23,650 seats. Of these, 234 were first-class and 426 were tourist-class flights (including 93 night tourist flights). Combined car-ferry and passenger services, not included in these totals, were advertised. at frequencies of as high.as once every 20, 30 and 60 minutes on various routes, but with the understanding that the flights would operate on these very high frequencies only if traffic was available. These services, if their maximum frequencies were attained, could account for as .many as 914 additional schedules per week, more than doubling the total of the regular airlines above referred to. Finally, there were 10 scheduled all-cargo cross-Channel flights. Several hundred additional flights per week were scheduled to and from the Channel Islands. ·

The cities served by the regular cross-Channel services included London, Paris, Nice, Marseille, Manchester, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Dinard, Deauville, Newcastle and Brighton, with most of the volume on the London-Paris route. The car-ferry services were operated .mostly between airports near the Channel. None of the operations r·eferred to include crossChannel flights between Engla~d and countries other than France, nor do they include flights extending beyond England or France.

2.- Traffic Trends* (~diagram "Development of Civil Air Transport" on page 2)

General

The continuous thirty-five year trend of increases in all categories of traffic on the world's international and domestic scheduled airlines was extended through 1954, but the overall rate of gain was somewhat less than for 1953, na.mely, about 10.4'1o as against 13.5% for the preceding year. In ter.ms of total tonne-kilometres perfor.med (which involves assigning a tonne-kilometre equivalent for the carriage of a passenger and his free baggage), the world total was esti.mated at approximately 6, 000 million (4, 110 million ton-miles) for 1954 as against 5, 430 million (~. 720 million ton-miles) in 1953. The increase over 1953 in passenger-kilometres was 12'1o;

*Worldwide figures given in this Chapter exclude in all cases the USSR and the People 1s Republic of China.

The expression "tonne-kilometre'' .means .metric tonne-kilo.metre, and the expression "tonmile" means short ton-statute .mile, this being the equivalent of 1. 46 tonne-kilo.metres.

- 1 -

2 Report of the Council

J:lEYE!..OPMENT OF Cll!:IL AIR TBA!!BPOBI Scheduled Services - International and Don1estic

19l9- 1954

Millions M.!.!.li2n!

64000 • • 64000

/ /

/

12000 e • 32000

/ v

/ /

........... 16000 • • 16000

I I/ 8000 •

I . 8000

I 4001) •

v / . 4000

v v /

v -~-

Kil:~::;;:e/ Passenger /'

tonne-kilometres,.,'

z.ooo • v . 2000

v -~~ 1--I--

--- -- l.--

/ v I v v

I /

1000 • I -- . 1000

I lj ' --/

/ ' )'

... OJ • . 500

/ Kilomet~)/ ' Cargo

/ Flown / lonne-kllom•r··

// / r--- /

/ --Z50 • --- . 250 v --r--/ I ,......-Mail

/ I --I -- I -- tonne-kilometres

........... I /

/-I I /

lZ5 • ... - ' . 125

/ ' /

. . 1929 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 J7 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 ,.

Kilometres P~ssen!Jer- pa;:~:es~r ;::~:- Mail Average Mile a Passenger Passenger Car.so M<til

Ton'ne- number of Ton- Ton- Ton-Year Flown Kilometres Kilometres Kilometres Kilometres passengers Flown Miles Miles Miles Miles Year

pe• mill·ions aircraft millions

1929 91 212 .. " .. 2. 3 57 13Z .. .. 19Z9 1930 118 Z90 .. .. .. z. 4 73 180 .. " "

1930

1931 l37 331 .. .. " z. 4 85 Z06

" .. " 1931

193Z 139 40.4 .. .. z. 9 86 Z51 .. " " 193Z

1933 155 543 .. .. " 3, 5 96 337

" .. " 1933

1934 16Z 65Z .. .. .. 4, 0 10 I 405 .. " " 1934

1935 zo l 976 .. .. .. 4. 9 125 606 .. .. .. 1935 1936 Z3Z I Z79

" .. .. 5. 5 144 795 .. " .. 1936 1937 Z66 l 410 .. .. 5. 3 165 880 .. " .. 1937 1938 300 I 686 .. .. .. 5, 6 186 I 048 .. .. .. 1938 1939 Z98 2 031 .. .. .. 6. 8 185 I Z6Z .. .. " 1939 1940 299 2. 530 .. .. .. 8, 5 186 I 572. .. .. 1940 1941 340 3 2.79 " .. .. 9. 6 Zll 2. 037 .. .. .. 1941 194Z 316 3513 .. .. .. II. I 196 2. t83 .. .. .. 194Z 1943 318 4 166 .. .. .. 13, I 198 2 589

" .. .. 1943 1944 414 5 491 .. .. .. 13.3 Z57 3 412. .. 1944 1945 600 8 200 738 113 132 13. 7 373 5 tOO 505 . 77 90 1945 1946 940 15 500 l 395 IZO 98 16, 5 584 9 630 955 8Z 67 1946 1947 1 140 18 900 l 701 Z73 128 16.6 708 ll 740 t 165 187 88 1947 1948 I 2.70 zo 900 I 881 417 166 16.5 789 lZ 990 I 2.88 Z86 114 1948 1949 l 345 Z3 300 z 097 569 187 17. 3 836 14 480 I 436 390 IZ8 1949 1950 I 432. l7 300 2. 457 757 Z09 19. l 890 16 960 I 683 518 143 1950 1951 I 570 34 400 3 096 905 Z34 2.1. 9 976 2.1 380 2. 12.0 6ZO 160 1951 195Z l 705 19 500 3 555 975 Z56 2.3. 2. I 059 Z4 540 2. 435 668 175 1952. 1953 l 860 46 000 4 i4D I 016 Z74 2.4. 7 I 156 2.8 580 2 835 696 188 1953 1954 I 940 51 500 4 635 l 045 317 Z6. 5 I Z06 32. 000 3 175 716 z 17 1954

NOTE: The graphs of this diagram are drawn to a lo8arithmic scale. Horlzontal lines have been inserted at regular intervals to facilitate reading the sraphs.

Each horizontal line represents a figure exactly double that {or the next tine below it. Two do~s ( .. )means "data not available".

~~lUsions: The People's Republic o{ China, USSR, ICAO ~STATISTICS BRANCH (December 1954)

Civil Aviation in 1954 3

in cargo tonne..;.kilometres, 3%; and in mail tonne-kilometres, 16%. These figures are notable for an unexpectedly large gain in the number of .mail tonne-kilo.metres and for the seventh consecutive drop in the rate of increase of cargo tonne-kilometres, which now stands at less than one-quarter -of the rate of increase for the other classes of traffic. If the present trend continues into 1955, the composition of traffic in tonne-kilo.metres will be on the order of 80% for passengers and 20% for cargo and .mail combined, as co.mpared to a relationship of 72% and 28% prevailing in 1950.

Load Factor - International and Domestic Traffic

Average load factors for the world's scheduled services (international and do.mestic together) experienced their- fourth successive drop, reaching an average of 59% as co.mpared with the high of 62. l% recorded in 1950. As has been the case during each of the last five years, the 1954 load factor for international services (61. 1 %) stood higher than for domestic services (57.9%).

Passengers

The number of passengers carried in 1954 is esti.mated at 57,800,000, an increase of 5. 8 million, or 11%, over 1953. The rate of increase was markedly lower than the 16% increase between 1952 and 1953, and less than half the average increase of 25% for the decade 1945-1954. A slight increase from 1953 to 1954 in the average length of journey from 887 to 891 kilo.metres (551 to 554 miles), however, brings the rate of increase in passenger-kilometres up to 12% (51, 500 million as against 46, 000 million).

A rate of increase of 12% in an industry that has reached the present size and .maturity of the air transport industry is substantial, so that the drop from 16% in the previous year gives no special occasion for comment. Indeed, it see.ms -noteworthy that the flattening off of the curve, if it is flattening off, has been so gradual.

Reduced-rate services. The increase in the number of routes on which tourist service is available, which was believed to have contributed to the 16% augmentation in passenger traffic during the preceding year, continued during 1954, with special impact on the long-distance servfces. Among the airlines adding tourist flights on heretofore exclusively first-class routes were: Trans Canada Air Lines, on its coast-to-coast do.mestic services (6, 241 kilo.metres -3, 878 miles); Pan American World Airways, across- the Pacific to Manila (12, 533 kilo.metres -7,788 miles) and Tokyo (10, 740 kilometres- 6, 674 miles). and Northwest Orient Airlines, on its shorter route via the Aleutians; Pan American World Airways, on its flights fro.m the United States to Johannesburg (15, 623 kilometres - 9, 708 .miles); TWA, New York to Lisbon and Madrid (6, 156 kilometres - 3, 825 miles). The in·crease in the proportion of trans-Atlantic tourist flights also continued, with TWA, for example, flying 60 of its 84 weekly trans-Atlantic su.mmer passenger schedules as tourist services. Do.mestic tourist services were also added for the first time in Australia, between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. On the other hand, so.me of the European relatively short-haul services were reported to be swinging back towards firstclass flights, following on demands for greater comfort. One .major do.mestic United States carrier dropped t;>ut of the tourist business altogether.

As a result of the additional tourist services mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it became possible for the first time by April 1954 for a passenger to .make a round-the-world flight entirely by tourist class at a fare of $1, 227, co.mpared with a first-class round-the-world fare of $1,532.*

Promotion and facilitation. The airlines are .making special efforts to attract passenger traffic. One notable innovation that became prevalent during 1954 and is still spreading is the "pay-later" travel plan under which an airline passenger can secure his. ticket in advance for

* The fares quoted are London to London. They vary throughout the world, and would be about $125 higher for a tourist-class passenger making his journey fro.m a point in North America.


only a small deposit, or no down-payment at all, and pay the balance in continuing installments extending over as .much as 24 months in so.me cases, Short-ter.m credit was already available under the Universal Air Travel Plan, sponsored by the International Air Transport Association and the Air Transport Association of America, which issues cards to its me.mbers per.mitting them to have airline tickets charged to their accounts under the plan. Nearly 57,000 persons joined this plan in 1954, bringing the total number of its outstanding credit cards to 652, 310. Of these, 457,881 were held by North American residents and the balance by residents of other regions.

Governments also have taken further step.s to .make air travel more convenient for. the public. An important development of the year in this field was the gradual extension of preclearance, i.e., one country permitting another country to station custo.ms or i.mmigration officers in its territory to examine aircraft loads prior to departure forthe second country. At the start of the year, both customs and im.migration preclearance was fully in effect at Toronto for traffic destined to the United States. Immigration preclearance was established during the year at Montreal and Ber.muda for United States traffic, and was in the course of being established for Havana and Mexico City traffic destined to the United States. Studies on preclearance were also under way at the end of the year covering certain intra-European and European-North American traffic, in order to deter.mine further cases where this procedure .might substantially facilitate clearance _of air traffic upon arrival.

Air transport continued to .make apparent inroads· on surface pas senge:o: traffic during 1954. For exa.mple, fro.m July to Septe.mber overseas air carriers serving the United States carried approxi.mately 50% .more passengers to and from that country than travelled by sea, the sea traffic indeed showing virtually no increase. On the trans-Atlantic route, however, where airlines compete with the fastest and .most luxurious surface liners, sea travel still exceeds air travel by a substantial .margin. There, 938,000 passenger crossings were effected by sea, an increase of 5% over 1953, as against 581,000 carried by the scheduled airlines, an increase of 11%. Of these, some 170,000 were first class (down 8.6%), 380,000 tourist class (up 18.6%) and 31, 000 {up 84%) on charter flights of the scheduled airlines:

The comparison between air and land surface transport within the United States is interesting. In 1953, for the first time, total inter-city passenger revenue of the airlines ($804, 847, 797) exceeded t~at of the railroads ($749, 094, 074)*. Airline passenger-kilometres, however, were still substal}tially below railway passenger-kilometres, although one airline, American Airlines Inc., reported a greater total of inter-city traffic than any railroad in the country, perfor.ming a total of 2, 810 million passenger-kilometres (1, 746 million passengermiles) in the first six months and taking fro.m the Pennsylvania Railroad its long-held leadership in inter-city passenger traffic.

The airlines of the United States also seem to be .making inroads on the inter-city bus traffic to approximately the same extent that they are taking from the railroads. The co.mparative figures for 1950 and 1954 are interesting:

1950

1954 (estimated).

Coach and Pullman Inter-City Rail

Inter-City Bus

Domestic Airlines

(millions of passenger-miles)

26,800 (48%)

23,700 (41 %)

21,254 (38%)

17,600 (30. 5 %)

7,954 (14%)

16,500 {28. 5%)

Total

56,008 (1 00 %)

57,800 (100%)

It will be noted that the railroads and buses show actual decreases in their volume of traffic, whereas the totals show increases which, however, are below the rate of increase of the population.

* "Inter-city" travel does not include regular railroad travel on .monthly reduced-rate tickets ("commuter" travel).


The slow growth of cargo traffic in the last few years has already been mentioned, but the reasons for it are not clear. Certainly the scheduled airlines have not penetrated the world.1s cargo potential to anything like the extent that they have penetrated its passenger traffic potential. For this reason, a flattening off .might be expected to take place sooner in the passenger than in the cargo field, but the reverse has proved to be the case. It remains .merely to .mention that such figures as are available do not indicate any i.mportant increase in the proportion of the total car.go traffic that .moves on non-scheduled air services.

The general proble.m of how to develop air cargo is now receiving the attention of a special Cargo Development Group formed by lATA some eighteen .months ago. A diversity of opinion within that Association as to what rates would best promote freight traffic resulted in a temporary 11open-rate 11 situation in the North Atlantic, where for a ti.me no lATA standard rates were in force because of inability of the carriers to reach agreement.

An effort to develop larger cargo ship.ments is indicated by the fact that there has for some time been in effect throughout the world a "break-point" of 45 kilogra.ms (99 lbs.) above which ship.rrients begin to enjoy a 25% discount from basic rates, In certain parts of Latin America, .moreover, there have recently been instituted further break-points at 500 and 1, 500 kilograms (1,100 and 3, 300 lbs.). On the North Atlantic, a second break-point at 200 kilograms (440 lbs. ). beyond which 30% discounts were in effect, is being done away with and replaced by a new· commodity rating syste.m, in the expectation that so.me of the new co.mmodity rates will· be substantially lower than present rates.

Mail

In the case o( .mail, on the other hand, there has been a sharp reversal of the downward trend in the rate of increase that had prevailed during the last six years, the weight increase of 16% being .more than double the increase for the previous year, as well as being considerably greater than the increase in any other category of traffic.

The United States, whose airlines perfor.m about 55% of the world's total air .mail tonnekilo.metres and which has hitherto adhered to a policy of a higher postage rate for air .mail than for surface .mail, made fairly extensive experiments during 1954 with do.mestic "all-up" m11il. between selected pairs of cities. At the sa.me ti.me, it began to transfer the carriage of its trans-oceanic .military mail fro.m its .military transport services to the co.mmercial airlines. The result has been an increase of 19% in the volu.me of air mail reported by United States carriers, which alone would account for about two-thirds of the total world increase.

In the discussion of the mail traffic trend in last year's report, it had been predicted that any further large increases in the volume of letter .mail moving by air would have to be secured by increasing the total amount of letters rather than by further diversion fro.m surface to air transport, since .most international letters already moved by air; and it had also been stated that diversions in the cheaper classes of .mail were still possible, especially in view of the lower rates of transportation charge recently fixed by the Universal Postal Union. Apparently both these factors liave been at work. The per capita use of .mail service on the part of the public has been rising steadily since the war and so has the world's population. Canada, which ranks fifth a.mong the countries of the world as a sender of international air .mail, has recently

. doubled the basic weight unit that can be sent by air without excess postage, with an attendant increase of 33% in the weight volume of its air mail.

An encouraging development in 1954 was the conclusion of a number of agree.ments under which the postal ad.ministrations concerned divide their .mail dispatches between their respective airlines, instead of each administratio.n placing as .much .mail as possible on its own aircraft. This formerly prevailing practice had resulted not only in occasionally delaying the mail but also in an unevenness between outbound and inbound .mail loads which had affected the airline's ability to handle other classes of traffic.


3.- Safety Record

Preliminary figures indicate that there were 26 accidents involving passenger fatalities on the sc~eduled air services of the world in 1954, three less than recorded for 1953. Notwithstanding the smFJ.ller number of accidents, more persons were killed than in 1953 (422 passenger fatalities as against 385). Although this represents an increase of 9. 6"/o, the 12"/o gain in world passenger-kilo.metres perfor.med has again per.mitted an i.rr..provement in the overall passenger fatality rate for international and do.mestic scheduled services (for the seventh successive year); the reduction was from 0. d4 fatalities per 100 million passenger-kilometres in 1953 to 0. 82 in 1954 (1. 35 to 1. 32 fatalities per 100 million passenger-miles). This is the best record yet achieved for world scheduled air services as a whole.

Hav•i.tiian Airlines, operating inter-island services in the Hawaiian group, and Colonial Airline:;, operating in the New York-Washing,ton-Montreal «.rea with a spur service to Bermuda, both completed 25 years of operation without a fatality to passenger or crew, each airline now having ovP.r 800 .million passenger-kilo.metres (500 .million passenger-miles) of such operation to its credit.

General

Si nee c.irline financial returns for 1954 are still inco.mplete, it is necessary to focus this brief survey on the year 1953, and to present for comparison merely preli.minary esti.mates of airline revenues and expenses for 1954, in .much the same way as was done in last year's report in respect of the corresponding years. It should be noted that, owing to additional information received in the past 12 .months, the figures for 1953 given herein differ slightly fro.m the esti.F-J.a'~.;;::; r:J.?.de :1 y::ar ... go, r<::sulting in a so.mewhat .more favourable earnings picture for 1953 than that presented in last year's report.

Opt~«ting :;.·evenues of the world's scheduled airlines for 1953 were US $2,428 .million (previous esti.mai:e: $2,383 .million). This amount, consisting of earnings from scheduled operations, charters, special flights and incidentals, represents an increase of some $308 millbn, or 14. 6"/o, over 1952, as co.mpared with an increase of 12. 5"/o for 1952 over 1951. Total operating expenses for 1953 were $2, 353 .million (previous esti.mate: $2, 356 million), an increase over 1952 of some $310 million, or 15. 2"/o, as against an increase of 14. 7"/o for 1952 over 1951.

REVENUES {US $ millions) 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953

Passengers 934 1' 058 1,343 1, 550 1,816 Mail 281 254 240 251 257 Cargo 143 174 208 229 247 Charter 18 28 54 43 44 Incidental 21 29 38 46 64

Total operating revenues 1,397 1,543 1,883 2, 119 2,428

EXPENSES (US $ millions) 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953

Flight operations 401 442 523 599 702 Maintenance & overhaul 276 299 344 403 455 Depreciation 128 135 142 160 197 Other 601 626 772 881 999

Total ope rating expenses l, 406 1,502 1,781 2,043 2,353

Operating Ratio (Revenues as a percentage of expenses) 99.4 102.7 105. 7 103.7 103.2


On the basis of preli.minary esti.mates, operating revenues of the scheduled airlines appear to have been approximately US $2, 629 million in 1954, as against esti.mates operating expenses of about $2,558 million, indicating an operating ratio of about 102. 8. The increases over 1953 in both revenues and expenses were on the order of $200 .million, with expenses rising slightly .more than the increase in revenues, as has been the case since 1951-1952.

If the esti.mates for 1954 are included, we have now a five-year period during which the airlines of the world, taken as a whole, have shown a net operating profit for the first ti.me in their history. Since the attainment of the .most favourable, but not very spectacular, operating· ratio of 105.7 in 1951, there has, however, been a steady decline caused .mainly by rising prices and the fact that the airlines have fairly well held the line as regards their rates. It will be noted that the estimated increases in operating receipts for 1954 and 1953 over the preceding years were only 8. 3 and 14. 6"/o which, for the two years co.mbined, are slightly less than the respective increases of 10. 4 and 13. 5 "/o in total tonne-kilometres perfor.med.

A word of caution .must also be added against taking the figures· in question as representative of any particular airline. The total apparent world net operating revenues of approxi.mately $75 million for 1953 is more than accounted for by the financial results of the United States airlines, which earned over $105 million*. This indicates a net operating loss of about $30 .million for the airlines of the rest of the world.

Percentage Distribution of Revenues and Expenses

Figures are now available which make it possible to trace the interrelationship of the various classes of traffic as revenue earners for the world's airlines over the last six years. The results are as follows:

Percentage of Revenues Earned by Each Type of Traffic

1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 (Est.)

Passengers 66.9 68.6 71. 3 73. 1 74.8 74.4 Mail 20. 1 16.4 12.7 11. 9 10. 6 11.4 Cargo 10.2 11. 3 11. 1 10.8 10. 2 9.6 Charter 1.3 1.8 2.9 2.0 1.8 1.9 Incidental 1.5 1.9 2.0 .Z.2 2. 6 2.7

Total operating revenues 100 100 100 100 100 100

These figures show that passengers, as well as constituting the bulk of the traffic carried, are almost as i.mportant as revenue earners**· They also show the growing independence of the industry from .mail revenue, the percentage figures for .mail revenue having dropped fairly consistently from over 20"/o in 1949 to about 11 "/o for 1953-1954. This drop is due to decreases in the .mail transportation rates adopted by successive Postal Congresses, and to the reductions of the subsidy element co.mprised in .mail pay.ments to airlines of certain countries, particularly the United States. The percentage represented by cargo revenue shows a slight downward trend although not as pronounced as the drop in the proportion of cargo to total tonne-kilo.metres, which fell from 22.1"/o in 1950 to 17.4"/o in 1954.

* This includes a considerable, but not precisely ascertainable, amount of public aid in the for.m of pay.ments for the carriage of .mail.

**In ter.ms of tonn.e-kilometres perfor.med, the distrib'ution of traffic for 1954 was: passengers 77. 3"/o, cargo 17. 4"/o, and mail 5. 3"/o.


On the expense side, the approxi.mate percentage of distribution is as follows:

Percentage of Expenses Incurred in Each. Category

Flight operations {flight crew salaries, fuel and oil, insurance, etc.)

Maintenance and Overhaul

Flight equip.ment depreciation

Other:

Station and other ground expenses {salaries of station personnel, landing and other airport charges, etc.)

Passenger service (salaries of cabin attendants, passenger meals, il).surance, etc.)

Ticketing, sales and pro.motion

General and Ad.ministrative

1949

28.5

19.6

9. l

57.2

16.0

5.7

12.8

8.3

42.8

1950

29.4

19.9

9.0

58. 3

15.4

5.6

12.7

8.0

41. 7

1951

29.4

19.3

8.0

56.7

15.3

6.6

13.3

8. l

43.3

1952

29.3

19.7

7.9

56.9

15.4

6.5

13. 6

7.6

43. l

1953

29.8

19.3

8.4

57.5

14.9

6.3

14. 1

7.2

42.5

The figures show little or no trend in the two largest ite.ms of "flight operations" and 0 maintenance and overhaul".

One notable feature of the general picture is that the percentage represented by flight equipment depreciation has not gone up during the period covered, in spite of the greatly increased cost of the larger, higher powered, .more co.mplicated and .more elaborately equipped aircraft that have been produced in the last few years. This can be explained in part by the .. consideration that the estimated total distance to be flown by these faster aircraft during their entire service lives increases in approxi.mately direct proportion to the cost of the aircraft per seat. One .must also consider that depreciation must have ceased to accrue on a number of the older aircraft still in service, such as the DC-3, of which some l, 600 are still flying although no doubt practically all of them are fully depreciated.

The proportion of ~xpenses attributable to "passenger service" and "ticketing, sales and pro.motion11 combined has shown a slight but fairly steady increase from 18. 5 to 20.4% of the total, this being. so.mewhat co.mmensurate with the increase in passengers as a percentage of ·total traffic. General and administrative expenses appear to be steadily declining. As a matter of interest, a check was .made of the extent to which this last ite.m varied as between the sixteen largest airlines for the year 1953; it was found that the figures ranged from 4. 2 to 10. 7% of the total.

Again we .must caution against taking the foregoing figures as representative of any particular airline.

Unit Revenues and Expenses

Per tonne-kilo.metre perfor.med, the average unit revenue amounted to about US 43. 6 cents (63. 6 cents per ton-mile), as compared to 43.2 cents for 1952 and 42.8 cents for 1951 (63.1 and


62. 5 cents per ton-mile). Average unit costs were about 42.2 cents per tonne-kilo.metre perform~d (61. 6 cents per ton-mile), as compared with 41. 6 cents for 1952 and 40. 5 cents for 1951 (60. 7 and 59.1 cents per ton-mile).

5.- The Strasbourg Conference - Co-ordination of European Aviation

The most important aviation event of 1954 from the political and economic standpoint was the convening of the Conference on the Co-ordination of Air Transport in Europe at the Maison de l'Europe in Strasbourg*. This was undertaken by ICAO, at the request of the· Council of Europe, and represents the first concerted effort since the Geneva meeting of 194 7** to deal with the problem o.f co.mmercial rights in international civil air transport and proble.ms in other related fields. It ~iffered fro.m the Geneva. Conference in that it was concerned not with the world at large but only with the European region. On the other hand, the scope of the problems attacked - extending into the fields of non-scheduled aviation, elimination of border for.malities, and air navigation-:- was broader than at the previous conference. A brief discussion of the background of the .meeting may be of interest.

,Geographic and Overall Economic Considerations

Western Europe (including the Mediterranean and French North Africa) co.mprises an area of about 9 million square kilometres (3. 5 million square miles) with a population of so.me 300 millions. The region is relatively densely populated. Land surface transportation facilities are highly developed, but there are water barriers that tend to .make aviation the .most convenient mode of transport between .many places. The area co.mprises some 85 cities with 250,000 or· more inhabitants, large cities being generally regarded as the primary generators of air traffic. The area, however·, is divided into .many countries with differing languages, and this restricts the freedo.m of corrtmercial relationships and 11 co.mmunity of interest" that are among the chief stimulants to air traffic.

When considering Western Europe as an air transport entity, one is tempted to cO.mpare territories of si.milar size where internal air networks have been developed. These include the United States, Canada, Australia and Brazil, certain pertinent characteristics of which for a representative recent year are listed in the following table**~':

Area Population National (millions (millions) Income

of sq.) Per Capita

km {mi.) (US $)

Western Europe 8. 9 (3. 4) 294 485

United States 7.8 (3.0) 154 1' 800

Canada 9.9 (3.8) 14 1,160

Australia 7.7 (3. 0) 9 820

Brazil 8.5 (3. 3) 53 125

* For details, ~Chapter III, Section 2 ~·

Revenue Passenger km {mi.) Per Capita Per $1, 000 lnco.me

km {mi.) km (mi.)

11 ( 7)**** 24 ( 15)

110 (68) 61 ( 38)

52 (32) 44 ( 27)

141 {88) 170 (1 06)

20 (12) 162 (1 01)

1st-Class Passenger Fares (US cents er km (mi.

5.6 (9. 0)

4.0 (6. 4)

4.7 (7. 6)

2.8 (4. 5)

5.8 (9. 3)

** That .meeting was convened, pursuant to Assembly Resolution Al-38, for the purpose of developing and submitting for consideration of ICAO .me.mber States an agree.ment respecting the -exchange of commercial rights in international £schedule,47 civil air transport. It met in Geneva on 4 Nove.mber 1947, and adjourned 27 November after deciding that, owing to the divergence of views on i.mportant issues, the sub.mission of an agree.ment in a for.m reco.mmended for signature would not be justified,

*~~*This material i's taken largely from the first general report of the Air Research Bureau mentioned on page 11. Though co.mpiled for 1951, the data are still reasonably current.

****Represents all passenger-kilo.metres developed within Europe, including stages travelled within the area 'by (1) inter-continental passengers and (2) do.mestic traffic,


Of these, the United States is the .most nearly comparable to Europe fro.m the point of view of

habitability and surface co.mmunications. Canada, Australia and Brazil share the characteristic

of having large areas that are very thinly populated and that result in serious gaps in the surface

transportation network. The status gained by aviation in those countries is largely attributable

to this cause and, in Canada and Australia at least, is encouraged by the high per capita income.

The United States, with only about half the population of Europe but with far larger per capita

wealth, is perhaps cniefly distinguished fro.m Europe by the absence of political subdivision.

Like Europe, it has in the neighbourhood of 80 .municipal areas with populations of 250,000 or

.more, and some of these are at distances fro.m each other that give rise to a relatively large

volume of passenger-kilo.metres, The distance, for instance, between Los Angeles and the

New York-Washington area is on the order of 4, 000 kilometres (2, 400 miles), whereas no

.European cities of .more than a .million population and having nor.mal co.mmunications are sepa

rated by more than about 1, 500 kilo.metres (900 miles).

Fares and costs. As will be seen from the table above, fares in Europe are well above

the figures for Canada and the United States, and al.most twice those for Australia.

On the cost side also, the European operators appear to be at a substantial disadvantage

as co.mpared with the operators of the other countries (except Brazil). shown in the table. Total

costs for operating various types of aircraft are about twice the corresponding figure for the

domestic services of these countries and well above the figures for their international services.

Part of the d·ifference can be assigned torthe high level of specific items of cost, such as fuel

and landing charges, but general conditions inherent in the nature of the operations are probably

.more important. For instance, short routes and infrequent service result in spreading items

like ter.minal costs, depreciation and general and administrative expense over relatively few

aircraft kilo.metres. Low frequency of service, .moreover, tends to restrict the development of

traffic. Finally, there is .much evidence to show that the .mere crossing of a boundary involves.

increased costs, so that the number of boundaries to be crossed in Europe is no doubt a con

tributing factor.

Routes, Services and Traffic Volume

Some 175 route segments linking about 50 cities constitute the .main intra-European net

work. Of course, not each of these cities is linked directly with every other city, but connecting

services .make access to each city possible. On only about one-third of these route segments

does total capacity offered exceed 10,000 seats a year (i.e., the equivalent of a return service every other day by a 30-,seat aircraft). Slightly more than half of the seat-kilometres offered over

the network are provided under conditions of competition with one or .more other airlines, whether

or not regulated by pooling or other co-operative arrange.ments. Approxi.mately 17% of the total.

intra-European carrier traffic was found to be pooled. There ·are about twenty-five European

carriers of substantial size operating scheduled or non-scheduled air services within the region.

Stated in absolute ter.ms, the traffic· volume on the intra-European network is not large,

hardly exceeding 2, 000 .million passenger-kilometres (1, 240 .million passenger-miles),. a figure

which is not .much more than the total (European plus inter-continental) traffic of several of the

larger individual European airlines. When we look at the traffic in relative ter.ms by comparing

Europe with other regions, the volu.me is found to be startlingly below what one might expect.

Among the most striking ano.malies disclosed by the table on page 9' is· that Western

Europe produces annually only 11 revenue passenger-kilometres for each inhabitant and only 24

passenger-kilo.metres per US $1,000 of national income -a s.mall fraction of what is produced

by the other areas compaz:ed. Even so, the European figures include a good deal of do.mestic

traffic and stages within Europe on inter-continental flights. The traffic that the Stra:sbourg

Conference is primarily concerned with, na.mely,ithe international traffic that originates a,nd has

its destination within Europe, represents only about half these figures. It is this abnormally

low utilization within the region that has been a major proble.m in the 'develop.ment of European

air transport.


Possibilities for Co-operative Action by Governments

Some parts of the factual situation disclosed by the foregoing analysis are beyond the range of government action; others are within that range, Among the facts adverse to aviation that can hardly be changed by the governments are that the per capita national income in Europe is much lower than ·in the United States, Canada or Australia; that European surface transport is good; and that the region is divided into relatively s.mall national areas.

The chief thing that might be changed by concerted or individual government action is the obstacle to international scheduled air transport caused by having to negotiate for traffic rights, and even the right to over-fly. It is not, however, an easy .matter. Although economic and cultural ties are strong within the region, there are nevertheless far too many co.mplications for a single theoretical solution to succeed. Indeed, at the Conference there see.med to be so.me difference of opinion among the delegations as to the relative priorities to be accorded, on the one hand to the "co-ordination'' of European air transport, i.e., the better functioning of the service under existing agree.ments and, on the other hand, to the "liberalizing" of the situation by the granting of additional operating rights.

It now see.ms that the limited rights already possessed by non-scheduled co.m.mercial services under Article 5 of the Convention will afford a basis on which it .may be possible to fra.me a .multilateral agree.ment that will give freedom of operation to certain types of non-scheduled operation, e. g., flights for emergency or humanitarian needs, flights of aircraft with limited seating capacity, single individual charters, operations confined to the carriage of freight, and isolated individual flights; and, indeed, the Strasbo.urg Conference its.elf recommended that States, pending the conclusion of such an agree.ment, accept the general policy that all intraEuropean non-scheduled flights that do not-affect the interests of the scheduled services could be freely ad.mitted to their territories.

As regards the scheduled services, the proble.m is .more difficult. Probably any multilateral scheme would have to be based on maximum flexibility of inter-government relations so as to accommodate to the greatest extent possible the efforts of the airlines the.mselves to work out their destinies vis-a-vis each other on a basis of mutual advantage. The last two years have witnessed the creation, by six leading European air carriers (Air France, British European Airways, KLM, Sabena (Belgium), SAS and Swissair), of a per.manent Air Research Bureau with headquarters in Brussels to investigate the various econo.mic factors involved. The results of its work have already begun to appear and, as they develop, a pattern for the practical solution of the problems may emerge.

Meanwhile, discussions may be expected to continue at the govern.mental level within the permanent European Civil Aviation Conference set up by the Strasbourg .meeting, working in close liaison with ICAO: Perhaps it .may be possible, this year or next, to crystallize the results of all this in a European multilateral agreement for commercial rights in scheduled international air transport, a draft of which, according to a resolution of the Strasbourg .meeting, is to be worked out by the Council of ICAO and the aforesaid European Civil Aviation Conference whose first meeting has been called for 29 November 1955.

6.- Resumption of Aviation by Germany and Japan

Germany

One of the i.mportant ele.ments to be fitted into any new .multilateral pattern for Europe is the effect of the resumption of commercial air transport by Ger.many which, before the war, was the leading country in European air transport with a fleet of some 12.5 aircraft, .mostly of German .manufacture. After a period of intensive preparation and progressive develop.ment of ground facilities, Germany is now resuming flight operations on a substantial scale, this time with a fleet of United States .manufactured aircraft consisting of four Convair 340 1s and eight· Lockheed Super Constellations. The operating company bears the sa.me name as its predecessor, "Deutsche Lufthansa". The revival of Lufthansa has taken place with co-operation from United Kingdom and United States interests, and German flying personnel have received training in both these countries. Several British European Airways pilots have been loaned to Lufthansa


to fly the aircraft with German co-pilots pending the complete restoration of Ger.many's rights in the air. The Allied High Commission in Germany has given Lufthansa permission to start commercial flights within Germany by l April 1955, internationally within Europe by 15 May, and overseas to New York by l June. Proving flights, of course, started even earlier.

Japan

As noted in last year's review, Japan has been ahead of Germany in re-entering the aviation field by reason of its earlier conclusion of a definitive peace treaty. Japanese Airlines 1

trans-Pacific operations have now achieved a thrice-weekly frequency to the United States. Bilateral agreements were concluded with eight other countries, two of them, with France and Canada, in 1954. Conversations were also inaugurated with India, Korea, Pakistan and Brazil, and in October 1954 one good-will flight was actually made to Brazil, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the city of Sao Paulo. ·

7.- New Services

Trans-polar route. The .most important new route inaugurated in 1954 was that of SAS (Scandinavian Airlines Syste.m) between Copenhagen and Los Angeles over the North Pole, with fueling stops at Winnipeg, Canada, and Sondre Stromfjord (B. W. 8). Greenland. The service

·was inaugurated on 15 November, with two flights in opposite directions between Copenhagen and Los Angeles. The scheduled times for the flights are 24 hours and 20 .minutes "eastbound", and 27 hours and 10 .minutes "westbound".

The great-circle distance for the flight, which passes within l, 500 kilometres (930 miles) of the North Pole, is so.me 9, 330 kilometres (5, 800 miles). which is more than 10% shorter than the routing via New York. The resulting reduction of US $18 in the first-class fare brings this to US $574 for a one-way ticket, as compared to US $592 for a ticket via New York. Scheduled frequency is two round trips per week, with satisfactory traffic reported and a third round trip per week in prospect. The DC 6-B equipment used has a .maximum capacity on this flight of 3.2 first-class passengers, but tourist services are also contemplated.

The flights over the polar regions create special problems both of navigation aloft and ground installation. While weather in the Arctic region is generally .more favourable than over the North Atlantic and there are enough emergency landing strips to have one always within two hours' flying time, certain special navigational proble.ms are encountered. A special type of non-.magnetic compass is required because of the flight's. proximity to the .magnetic pole, and headings have to be changed frequently on account of the sharp convergence of .meridians near the North Pole. Between Winnipeg and Copenhagen the crew complement is increased fro.m six to nine by taking on two navigators and an additional flight engineer. While considerable reliance can be placed on military navigational aids, SAS has found it necessary to install at its own expense three radio stations at Winnipeg, Churchill and Frobisher Bay, respectively, as well as to construct a special hotel-lounge in Greenland.

A complementary service is planned by SAS between Stockholm and Tokyo across the Pole. On 30 May, a round-trip charter flight over this route of 12,000 kilometres (7, 500 miles), via Fairbanks, Alaska, was co.mpleted.

Canadian Pacific Airlines also has plans to open a trans-polar service between Vancouver and Amsterdam, via Winnipeg and Sondre Stromfjord. Scheduled time is 18 hours and 30 .minutes with a Douglas DC 6-B arranged for first- and tourist-class passengers on a frequency of once a week.

With the completion of the foregoing arrangements, the Arctic will have beco.me another recognized thoroughfare for air transport.

Air service between Western Europe and the USSR. Following an agreement between France and the USSR signed on 29 June 1954, a daily week-day service was inaugurated between Paris and Moscow. The Russian airline, Aeroflot, now operates the route from Moscow to


Prague via Minsk, and Air France, between Paris and Prague with stops at Strasbourg on three of the six schedules per week, The service is thus operated on an interline basis involving a change of aircraft at Prague, Flying time for the 2, 500-kilometre (1, 550-.mile} route between the two capitals is about 11 hours.

SAS and Aeroflot have also signed an interline agreement by which the existing service between the Soviet Union and Scandinavia will continue to be provided on each week day, but with the new feature that each line is now authorized to sell tickets to all points on the other line 1s system. Here again the method of operation is for SAS and Aeroflot each to operate to Helsinki, where passengers are transferred fro.m one line to the other.

Pakistan International Airlines. In June 1954, the Government-owned Pakistan International Airlines il'\augurated its first commercial service with flights from Karachi to Dacca, capital of East Pakistan, 2, 350 kilometres (1, 460 miles) across India. A proving flight from Karachi to London via Cairo took place in January 1955. Scheduled service by PIA on these routes are being flown with Super Constellations.

Iberia 1s first trans-Atlantic service to New York. On 3 August 1954, the 462nd anniversary of Columbus's departure for the Western Hemisphere, an Iberia Super Constellation took off from Madrid "for the first commercial trans-Atlantic flight operated by Spain to North America. Present schedules provide for three round trips per week. The three Super Constellations used in this service are na.med 11Santa Maria 11 , 11Niiia 11 and "Pinta", after the three ships in which Columbus sailed for the New World five centuries ago.

8.- Helicopter Developments

With the growth of helicopter operations in different parts of the world, new heliports were constructed and many .more are in the planning stage. Apart fro.m carrying passengers and freight, the helicopter has made valuable contributions towards the de:velop.ment of postal services, for. instance in the United Kingdom, Sweden and the USSR.· As helicopters have proven to be of value in search and rescue operations, this type of equipment has beco.me .more and more in demand for this purpose. '

Belgium

The first year of Sabena 1s international helicopter operation was co.mpleted on 31 August 1954. During that period, a total of 12, 797 revenue passengers were carried on 3, 482 regular flights for 1, 727,409 passenger-kilo.metres (1, 073, 3.60 passenger-.miles) on the company's network of three routes, the average distance flown by each passenger being 135 kilo.metres (84 miles). An additional 5, 522 passengers carried on charter flights brought the grand total to 18,319. It had been found possible to achieve an average flying ti.me of 1, 774 hours per year for the aircraft, or a daily average of just under five hours, which is creditable utilization for the European region. Percentage of regularity was reported as 88. 7. Although the helicopter service separately considered showed the considerable loss of 20 cents per kilo.metre (32 cents per mile), the airline claimed that the first six months of operation de.monstrated that .many additional passengers had been brought from the localities served into its regular air routes, and that the additional revenue realized on these much longer routes .more than offset the loss on the helicopter service itself.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom became the second country to enter the international helicopter field when a licence was granted to Silver City Airways to use helicopters' on all its cross-Channel air ferry routes. An addition to the internal BEA helicopter service was .made on a route between London and Southampton with a Bristol-171 helicopter on a twice-daily round-trip initial frequency of five days per week.

United States

In this country, helicopter operations were concentrated mostly in the five urban areas of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and Miami, but with differing characteristics in some of these localities.


New York Airways, for instance, concentrates on the operation of a passenger, cargo and .mail service between the three .major airports in the New York metropolitan area, although service is also scheduled to Princeton and Trenton in New Jersey. The fare between Idlewild or La Guardia ,and Newark is $8. 64, or about 29 cents per kilometre (46 cents per mile}. New York Airways has become the first helicopter airline to join lATA. This carrier also, in August 1954, inaugurated .the world 1s first night helicopter service on scheduled passenger routes, after extensive experiments and test operations after dusk. Total helicopter .move.ments at the New York airports in 1954 were 33,464. Mail handled amounted to 1, 782 kilograms {3, 929 lbs.} and passengers to 14,098 individuals.

Los AngelesAirways conducts a somewhat different type of service, in that it specializes in picking up passengers at the central Los Angeles international airport and delivering them to various points on its 560-kilometre (350-.mile} route network. For instance, one route is between the Los Angeles international airport and the heliport in downtown Los Angeles, some 27 kilometres (17 miles) away. The one-way fare of $6.00 is said to be cheaper than a taxi fare over the sa.me distance. The basic fare structure is $3.85 for a one-way ticket between Los Angeles. international airport and heliports within a 16-kilometre (10-mile) radius; $6.00 for a 32-kilometre {20-mile) radius; $7.00 for a 64-kilometre (40-mile} radius; and $8.00 for a 105-kilo.metre (65-mile) radius. The fares per kilo.metre· decrease with increase of distance, from. a high of 23.9 cents per kilo.metre {38. 5 cents per .mile) for 16 kilometres to the low of 7.6 cents per kilometre {12. 3 cents per mile} for 105 kilometres.

9.- New Equipment

Piston-Engined Aircraft

Although 1954 showed a marked increase in the interest for turbine-powered transport aircraft, neither operators nor manufacturers appeared to have turned away from planning fleet replace.ments equipped with piston or co.mpound engines. Iri particular, new and somewhat larger and faster versions of the Lockheed Super Constellation and the Douglas DC-7 equipped with compound engines neared co.mpletion and many orders were placed.

Turbo-Propeller Aircraft

Viscounts. The successful introduction of turbo-propeller a~rcraft into co.mmercial services by European operators established a world-wide interest in this application of the gas turbine. Air France has now replaced its DC-4 aircraft by Vickers Viscounts on practically all its European services, and BEA has 21 Viscounts in operation.

A four-engined turbo-prop aircraft of 27, 200 kilograms (60, 000 lbs.} gross weight, .medium range (up to about 1, 100 kilo.metres, or 700 miles) and satisfactory speed (about 500 kilo.metres, or 315 .miles, per hour), the Viscount has now accumulated close to 50,000 hours of operational flying in various parts of the world. Orders totalling approxi.mately 200 have bee~ placed by airlines of every continent. Most notable is that it has been ordered in greatest quantity by airlines located in North America, Trans Canada Air Lines having purchased 22 and Capital Airlines 60. This will be the first use in North America, at least in the last 25 years, of transport aircraft of other than North American design.

Britannia. Although the Viscount is the only turbo-propeller aircraft so far actually used in co.mmercial operation, the first production .model of the Bristol Britannia Mark 100 has recently flown from England to Johannesburg and has re.mained in Africa for tropical trials. It can carry 92 tourist-class passengers over ranges up to 6, 600 kilo.metres {4, 100 .miles} at an economical cruising speed of 550 kilo.metres {340 .miles} per hour. The Bristol Mark 300, which is ·the Mark 100 with a lengthened fuselage and more powerful engine, is designed to carry over 100 passengers at a cruising speed of over 565 kilometres {350 miles) per hour. The first Mark 300 is due to fly at the end of 1955.

Turbo-Jet Aircraft

Comets. At the ti.me that last year 1s review was written, the first .models of the de Havilland Comet, the Comet I, had been reinstated in service after te.mporary grounding resulting


fro.m accidents at Calcutta and Elba, .the latter being unexplained. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter; a further unexplained accidtmt.near Naples on 8 Aprill954 caused the loss of still another aircraft with all on board, and the type was definitely removed fro.m service, The project of investigating the last two accidents was given first priority at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Earnsborough under the personal direction of its chief, Sir Arnold Hall. The Navy was directed to intensify its efforts to recover as much as possible of the wreckage of the Elba crash, the aircraft lost near Naples being in water too deep to per.mit of salvage, In the Elba salvage operations, the Navy divers descended to unprecedented depths, someti.mes going down as .much as 180 metres (600 feet}.

The accidents were suspected to be the result of pressure-cabin blowout, with the initial failure probably in the upper portion of the fuselage. The .most painstaking investigation was .made of every clue. In an attempt to duplicate the conditions of the accidents, tests were .made with scale models that were subjected to si.mulated pressure-cabin blowout. It was found that, where the roof failed first, it fell in a certain relation to the other pieces, and it was not until this had been communicated to the Navy that it was able to find that part of the wre'ckage. Eventually about 80% of the aircraft 1s structure, 80% of the power units and SO% of the equipment were recovered, i.e., 70% -of the recoverable weight of the aircraft. ·

A further aircraft was turned into a flying laboratory and put through a series of strenuous test flights, and ano.ther used for general experiments on the ground. Still a third was subjected to a series of pressurization and depressurization tests in a tank of water designed to prevent an explosion if the aircraft failed under the tests as a result of metal fatigue. The last .mentioned tests finally resulted in a structural failure near an escape hatch, a similar failure having been suspected as the ca~se of the Elba and Naples accidents.

On the basis of these investigations, the conclusion was reached that fatigue failure of the pressure-cabin near a plastic window in the roof housing a direction-finder aerial had caused the Elba accident. The results will guide the development of. new .models of Co.met aircraft and their reintroduction into service, and also advance the. state of knowledge concerning fatigue in pressure-cabins and fatigue testing techniques.

The prototype Co.met III, the outco.me of several years of extensive service and develop.ment testing with the series I and II, flew for the first ti.me on 19 July 1954. It will not, however, be put into production,· as the outcome of tests with the previous .models now permits it to be superseded with a still more advanced aircraft, the Co.met IV, 20 of which are being ordered by BOAC. They are designed to carry 58 first-class passengers on a stage length of 4, 600 kilometres (2, 870 miles} against an SO-kilometre (50:-mile} per hour headwind, thus per.mitting operations over the North Atlantic via Gander, Newfoundland.

Boeing 707 On 15 .Tune, the first United States turbo jet transport, the Boejng model 707, .made its successful .maiden flight. While a development of this aircraft has been ordered as a .military tanker transport, the prototype model 707 will be used for tests and de.monstrations. As a slightly enlarge.d version of the prototype, the envisaged co.mmercial .model would be able to carry 80 to 100 passengers at speeds of about 850 kilo.metres (530 .miles) per hour on .medium and long non-stop stages.

Rotor craft

In the rotorcraft field, design studies for large twin-engined transport helicopters for inter-city services were continued. One of the most unconventional projects in this field is the Fairey Aviation Co.mpany 1s Rotodyne, which will be powered by tw_o turbine engines each driving normal tractor propellers, but the engines will also be used to drive special co.mpressors delivering, for take-off and cli.mb, co.mpressed air to tip.mounted pressure jets in a four-bladed rotor, In cruising flight, the rotor will be unpowered and provide lift solely through autorotation.

Vertical Take-Off

1954 witnessed the first examples of vertical take-off by several different types of aircraft, Although the feat was acco.mplished by both propeller and jet aircraft, only the latter are


of importance to commercial aviation, Lift is furnished by the downward thrust of vertically .mounted jets. A second set of horizontally .. mounted jets can then ,give horizontal speed, or the jets can be so mounted that they swivel for vertical or horizontal thrust as required. A wing may be used to supply part or all of the lift once altitude and horizqntal velocity have been attained,

·A variant of the vertical take-off which may well precede it in practice is the downward deflection of the jet thrust of a normal aircraft so as to increase lift by a vertical component of the thrust, thus reducing take-off and landing speeds with consequent reduction of the runway length required.

DC -3 Replacement

Although the DC-3 remains the .most co.mmon type of airplane used by the air-transport industry, compns1ng some I, 600 out of a total of approx1mately 4, 500 au craft esh.mated to co.mprise the transport fleet of the world 1s scheduled airlines at the close of 1954, its numerical dominance is gradually receding. Sensing a need for modern aircraft designed to perform transportation similar to that for which the DC-3 is used on the world's short-haul and feeder-line services, several aircraft .manufacturers have announced specifications, based on world-wide surveys, for the design of DC-3 replace.ments, and several projects were approaching the prototype stage in 1954. The common features aimed at in these projects are simplicity, robustness, .modern co.mfort, low maintenance costs, ability to take off from relatively sm·all airports, and easy convertibility to various proportions of .mixed load.

The Hurel-Dubois 32, an aircraft of exceptionally large span and high aspect ratio, had been extensively tested and production had been started.

At least three contenders for the DC-3 replacement market have chosen turbo-propeller propulsion, attracting particularly the interest of operators of short-haul services. Near to co.mpletion ca.me the twin-engined, .medium-size turbo-propeller airliner, Fokker Friendship, which is expected to fly early in 1955.

Operators have also beco.me interested in the Handley Page H. P.R. 3 Herald, which is expected to fly in 1955. Probably the .most conventional and largest of all DC -3 replace.ment projects, the H. P.R. 3 is a highwing .monoplane equipped with four simple piston engines and a capacity for 44 passengers.

10.- Other Developments in Air Navigation

Air Traffic Services

The continuing increase of air traffic at the .main ter.minals of the world and on airways converging on such ter.minals has called for further development of radar as an adjunct to those aids nor.mally used in the directing and controlling of traffic. Auto.matic devices are being actively studied which will relieve controllers of a number of operations, thus facilitating the issuance of clearances. Improvements are actively pursued in co.mmunication aids for the purpose of maintaining a close and reliable liaison between aircraft and controllers.

For the evaluation of air traffic control problems at specific locations, and the research for ideal air traffic services plans, the use of the "si.mulator" technique has been extended to the air traffic services field. This technique per.mits problems to be staged and experimental solutions to be tested without incurring the enor.mous expense of actual full-scale flight trials.

Navigational aids are being considered in a close relationship with air traffic control requirements, as the accuracy of such aids affects greatly the required amount of lateral and longitudinal separation. It is interesting to note the extension of air traffic services towards and including the North Pole through the establishment of the Narssarssuaq, Nord, Thule and T.roms~ Oceanic Flight Information Regions, to cover the new great-circle routes through the polar region,


As last year, i.mple.mentation of the airways network has continued steadily in the European region, particularly in its eastern part. Where density of traffic is relatively low, air traffic advisory service is furnished along routes on which a.ircraft under instrument flight rules are required to report their position and progress to designated air traffic service units. Such routes are called air traffic advisory routes (abbreviation - ADR}. The air traffic service units with the knowledge at their disposal are in a position to advise aircraft of other traffic and, when necessary, suggest to the.m changes of course or altitude to avert risk of collision. This has been particularly helpful in the Eastern Mediterranean, where the use of such a system has eased the problems raised by the lack of direct communications between the two centres that have been .most active in providing air. traffic services within the Flight Information Region. In the African-Indian Ocean (AFI} region, the advisory routes system is also gradually being introduced and is expected to be fully i.mple.mented in the course of 1955.

Further progress has also been .made in the establishment of Flight Infor.mation Regions, especially in the AFI region .

. In general, the airways network has alleviated the difficulties that arose fro.m the increasing .military require.ments for restricted airspace. Not all proble.ms concerned with that aspect of the utilization of airspace have as yet been solved, but their solution is being actively pursued.

The increasing speed of aircraft has focused attention on the possibility of revising the visual flight rules, as a step towards r·educing the hazard of .midair collisions. These proble.ms have become of major i.mportance and will be studied by the Second ICAO Air Navigation Conference in 1955.

Search and Rescue

The improve.ment of communications between surface vessels and aircraft on over-water flights is to so.me extent handicapped by the fact that the Inter-Governmental Mariti.me Consultative Organization (IMCO) reco.mmended by the United Nations Mariti.me Conference (FebruaryMarch 1948) has not yet been established.

A point of interest to note is that a Swedish and Russian agreement has been concluded for co-operation in Search and Rescue Operations in the Baltic area.

Co.m.munications

1954 was marked by co.mpletion of i.mple.mentation of extensive plans for replacing HF radio frequencies used for en-route co.mmunications in. all·ICAO regions by those conforming with the agreements reached at the International Teleco.mmunications Union Conference held in

1954 was also .marked by the e.mergence of new trends in co.mmunication techniques and practices based on a strong .move towards radio-telephony co.mmunications for all purposes. One trend has been towards the use of a special radio trans.mission technique in respect of flights over o-ceans. This technique takes advantage of the favourable properties of over-ocean .trans.mission so as to .maintain good and reliable co.mmunications over wide areas when using HF frequencies which, without the use of this technique, would be subject to fading and rapid weakening with distance fro.m the transmitter. Another technique with the sa.me objective but using very high frequencies is being intensively studied. Another trend has been towards a .more detailed international organization of communication stations for.ming part of a radio-telephone network serving defined air routes so as to gain the benefits of closer co-operation. These trends point towards the need for considerable international development of facilities and practices in this field.

In respect of radio navigational aids, .many more facilities have been provided, particularly in areas where the lack of these facilities was felt. In the AFI region, for instance, some 185 non-directional beacons have been provided and very high frequency direction finders at 53 locations.


Meteorology

Prospective improvements in .meteorological service to international air navigation in

1954 were indicated primarily in the field of airborne observations, Simplified observation and

reporting procedures for aircrew, introduced on 1 September 1954 and providing significant

weather data to .meteorological services, showed at the end of the year a certa~n measure of

success. The installation on board transport aircraft of radar equipment for the detection of

severe weather com.menced and is expected to result in improved flight safety, reduction in

structural da.mage fro.m turbulence and hail, and a reduction in detours due to stor.m areas, thus improving flight schedules,

The need for reliable turbulence detection and forecasting was again de.monstrated by a

number of .mishaps in which severe gustiness could be recognized as a significant factor.

Three further significant tendencies warrant attention, Firstly, recent ICAO .meetings

have recognized the i.mportance of giving, in greater detail, the technical justification for recom

mendations for additional .meteorological observations, and in consequence there has been a ,

.more realistic approach to the develop.ment of progra.ms for such observation facilities. Sec

ondly, the development of .meteorological services for aviation in general is showing an increas

ing spread in quality: in so.me areas the efficiency of .meteorological services is steadily i.mprov

ing through the use of .more refined and .more costly methods, not only of .making observations

(e. g. , ground and airborne radar), but also for exchanging them (e. g. , radio-teletype and facsi.mile transmissions), while in other areas there is virtual stagnation in the further. develop

.ment of observation and associated communication facilities, largely because of financial limi

tations or shortages of trained personnel. Thirdly, recognition is growing that the meteorologi

cal service to be provided should aim at meeting the needs of operators 1 ground personnel con

cerned with fl{ghts rather than of aircrews only; improved economy in the co.mpanies 1 operational

planning, disposition of aircraft and schedules is expected to result.

CHAP-TER II

AIR NAVIGATION

In the air navigation field the keynote of the year was the implementation of the relevant resolutions adopted by the Assembly at its Seventh Session.

In pursuance of Resolution A7-7, the Air Navigation Commission gave considerable thought to the Organization 1s working methods in the technical field. It was agreed that greater use should be made of panels of experts, nominated byContracting States, .for preliminary studies of technical problems, the members of the panels to employ correspondence to the greatest practicable extent in their work. A procedure for the establishment of panels was

· approved by the Council and has already been put into effect in constituting the Panels on Airworthiness and on Vertical Separation mentioned in Sections 2 and 4. The establishment of at least one more in the near future is planned

Believing that the time had come for an over-all look at the work to be done by the Organization in the air navigation field, the Commission made a critical review of the items included in its own work. programme and the work programmes or subject lists of its specialized technical bodies (such as Divisions) and, eliminating items that had become obsolete through the passage of time, prepared a document entitled 11 The Technical Work Programme of the Organization as of 21 September 195411 • The items in it are divided into three categories:

A- 11 active11 items, i.e. items likely to require action by ICAO in the foreseeable future,

B - items not requiring action in the foreseeable future .but which should be kept on record, as developments in international aviation may eventually make it necessary for the Organization to take action on them,

C- 11 service 11 items of a periodic routine nature, requ1r1ng action by the Secretariat as a result of decisions of the Council or of' the Air Navigation Commission.

Council approval of this Programme on November 25th superseded. previous Council action with respect to the establishment and maintenance on a continuing basis of Divisional work programmes. The Technical Work Programme will, of course, be constantly changing as items on it are disposed of and· new ones, derived from submissions to ICAO by Contracting States, deliberative bodies or the Secretariat, are add~d by the Air Navigation Commission, to which the Council has delegated authority to amend the Programme. The Commission intends to review it as a whole at least once a year, and revised editions will be issued at about one year intervals. The Technical Work Programme should be a useful reference document for contracting States, for the Commission and its specialized bodies and for the Secretariat, as well as an aid in the selection of items for consideration at future technical meetings.

In implementation of ,Resolutions A7-10 and A 7-12 the Regional Offices have been strengthened, through a reorientation of the technical resources of the Air Navigation Bureau, to giv·e States more assistance with their implementation problems. The establishment of professional staff was increased from fifteen to nineteen, with a corresponding reduction from forty to thirtysix at Headquarters. Recruiting and tran§.fers w~r_e_ini,iia.t~J! t2.,_p...E,~~,_~~~~!...£!~!.~at~.P$~=== cialist i~ a commumcation specialist in Cairo, an air traffic services spec1alist in Lima ~eral duties officer in Bangkok. When all recruiting has been completed, the Regional Offices, with the exception of the North American and Caribbean Office, will be staffed to render increased assistance to the States to which they are respectively accredited.

The programme of technical meetings in 1954 comprised three sessions of the Air Navigation Commission of a total duration of twenty-eight· weeks, two Division meetings, one full- . scale regional air navigation meeting, two special meetings of limited scope, one meeting of a panel of experts and two ·informal meetings,.* As of 31 December 1954, three meetings (in addition to the usual sessions of the Air Navigation Commission) had been definitely scheddled for 1955- an air navigation conference to consider subjects lying principally in the RAC, ATC

* See Append1x 3.

- 19 -


and OPS fields, a full scale reg1onal au nav1gabon meehng (Pacif1c) and a meehng of medical

experts to review the visual and hearing requirem.ents for personnel licensing.*

1.- International Standards, Recommended Practices and Procedures

The status of the Annexes to the Convention at the end of the year was as indicated in the

accompanying table.

Annex No. and Subject Date of Effective Adoption

1 - Personnel Licensing 14/4/48 Amendments 1-123 22/3/50 Amendments 124-129 27/6/50 Amendments 130-151 25/11/52

2 - Rules of the Air 15/4/48 Amendment 1 27/11/51 Amendment 2 17/11/53

3 - Meteorological Codes 16/4/48 Amendments 1-21 17/9/48 Amendments 22-37 . 29/5/51 Amendment 3 8 15/12/53 Amendment 39 18/5/54 Amendment 40 28/9/54

4 - Aeronautical Charts 16/4/48 Amendment 1 6/12/48 Amendments 2-22 15/ll/49 Amendments 23-28 25/6/51 Amendment 29 19/6/52

5 - Dimensional Units to be Used in Air-Ground Communications 16/4/48 Amendments 1-11 11/12/51

6 - Operation ·of Aircraft, International Commercial Air Transport 10/12/48 Amendments 1-127 5/12/50 Amendments 128-131 4/12/51 Amendments 132-133 . 28/11/52 Amendment 134 2/12/52 Amendment 135 20/10/53

7 - Aircraft NatiQhality and 8/2/49 Registration Marks

* See Appendix 4.

1} With respect to aircraft being registered for the first time,

Z} With respect to all other aircraft,

Date

15/9/48 1/9/50

1/ll/50 1/4/53

15/9/48 1/4/52 1/4/54

15/9/48 23/12/48

1/10/51 1/8/54

20/8/54 1/1/55

1/11/48 1/3/49 1/6/50

1/11/51 1/12/52

15/9/48 1/5/52

15/7/49 1/6/51 1/5/52 1/4/53 1/5/53 1/3/54

1/7/49

Date of Applicability

1/5/49 1/10/51 1/10/51 1/4/55

1/1/49 1/9/52 1/9/54

1/1/49 1/1/49 1/1/52 1/9/54 1/9/54 1/1/55

1/3/49 15/3/49

1/9/50 1/1/52 1/4/53

1/1/49 1/9/52

1/1/50 1/10/51 1/9/52 1/6/53 1/7/53

1/11/54

1/10/49 1~ 1/1/51 2

Air Navigation

Annex No. and Subject Date of Effective Date of Adoption Date Applicability

o - .n.icwur~ninc"'"' OL .n.iL~craJ:~;

2x~~~~ 1~ '1~ '±'j 1~ iUf,4'J Amendments 1~-63 1 1 51 1 2/51 Amendments 64-83 13 11/51 15/4/52 15/5/52 Amendment 84 2/12/52 1/5/53 1/6/53

9 - Facilitation of International Air Transport i} 25/3/49 1/9/49 1/3/50 Amendment 1 7/11/52 1/3/53 1/7/53

10 -Aeronautical Telecommunications 30/5/49 1/3/50 1/4/50 Amendments 1-5 28/3/51 1/10/51 #1-3 on 1/1/52

1/4/52 4/7/52 #4-5 on 1/4/52

Amendment 6 1/9/52 Amendments 7:.-11 17/6/52 1/12/52 1/4/53 Amendment 1zi 28/11/52 1/3/53 1/4/53 Amendment 13 5/5/53 15/8/53 1/10/53 Amendment 14 11/12/53 1/5/54 1/6/54 Amendment 15.-16 2/11/54 1/3/55 1/4/55 Amendments 1"7-20 10/12/54 1/4/55 1/10/55

' 11- Air Traffic SeJ.ivices 18/5/50 1/10/50 1/6/51

Amendments l-6 27/11/51 1/4/52 1/9/52

12 -Search and Rescue 25/5/50 1/12/50 1/3/51 Amendment 1 · 31/3/52 1/9/52 1/1/53

13 - Aircraft Accident Inquiry 11/4/51 1/9/51 1/12/51

14 -Aerodromes 29/5/51 1/11/51 1/6/52 2! 1/1/54-3

Amendments 1-6 20/5/5~ 1/9/53 1/4/54 4

15 - Aeronautical Information Services . 15/5/53 1/9/53 1/4/54

1} Included to make the list complete; Annex 9 relates primarily to air transport matters,

2} In the case of aerodromes used as regular or alternate aerodromes by international air services.

21

3} In the case of all other aerodromes used or intended to be used for the operation of aircraft engaged in international air navigation.

4} Certain of these amendments are applicable on 1 April·l954; the remainder on 1 January 1955 except in the case of detailed specifications for approach and lead-in lighting systems (Part VI 2. 8 to 2. 12 inclusive} wheJ;e applicability is limited to installations begun on or after 1 April 1954.


Although the number of amendments actually adopted during 1954 was small, a considerable amount of work was done on the Annexes and complementary technical" documents, as will be seen from the immediately following paragraphs.

Annex 2 -Rules of the Air: An amendment proposed by the Air Navigation Commission to increase the minimum horizontal distance for separation from cloud under Visual Flight Rules from 600 metres (2, 000 feet} to 1. 5 km ( 1 mile) failed to receive the two-thirds vote of Council required by Article 90. The entire subject of Visual Flight Rules will be considered at the Second Air Navigation Conference scheduled for 30 August 1955.

Annex 3 - Meteorological Codes: Amendment 3'9 incorporates in the Annex the revised POMAR Code, which is the direct equivalent, in figure code form, of the AIREP Form for reporting position, operational and meteorological information from aircraft in flight. Part 3 of the Code (Meteorological Information) was cleared before adoption with the World Meteorological Organization, whose responsibility for the development and promulgation o( meteorological figure codes, including those for aviation purposes, is recognl.zed in paragraph 2. 3. 1 of the Working Arrangements between ICAO and WMO which came into force on 1 January 1954. Amendment 40 makes a number of changes consequential upon the introduction of new aeronautical meteorological figure codes by WMO as a result of Recommendation 26 of the ICAO MET Division, Third Session, and, in accordance with the aforementioned provision of the Working Arrangements, eliminates from the Annex proper the symbolic form and specifications of the codes for aerodrome reports, deterioration and improvement reports, aerodrome forecasts, route and flight forecasts. For convenience of reference, however, these codes, in· their new form, are retained within the covers of the Annex as an attachment. A new edition of the Annex (the Third}. incorporating these two Amendments and Amendment 38, was issued at the year's end.

At its.Fovrth Session in June and July, the MET Division prepared a considerably ex-panded text for Annex 3 which up to that time had been concerned only with meteorological codes, producing for the first time a consistent set of requirements for meteorological services for international air navigation, which covers the establishment of meteorological offices, administrative requirements, various phases of flight protection, and transmission of meteorological information ground/air. Significant among the principles proposed is the recognition of the operator's · need for information in support of operational control. The Air Navigation Commission's proposals for the amendment of the Annex, based on the Division's text, include a change of its name from "International Standards and Recommended Practices -Meteorological Codes" to "International Standards and Recommended Practices - Meteorology". They have been circulated to Contracting States for comment and should reach the Council early in 1955.

Annex 5 - Dimensional Units: Following a recommendation by the Third Session of the MET Division for the designation and international use of a single agreed term to denote the time reckoned from midnight on the meridian of Greenwich, consideration was given to the possibility of substituting "Universal Time" -the term used by the International Astronomical Union - for "Greenwich Mean Time" in the ICAO Table of Units. The Air Navigation Commission concluded, however, that the latter term was adequate and satisfactory for use in international civil aviation and that no change in ICAO usage was desirable. The Council accepted this conclusion.

Annex 6 - Operation of Aircraft: As a result of representations made to the Organization by the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations, the Air Navigation Commission early in December recommended an amendment to paragraph 4. 2. 7. l of Annex 6 to specify more clearly the authority of the pilot-in-command to discharge his responsibilities under the provisions of the Annex. After discussion in Council the amendment was referred back tci the Commission for further consideration.

Annex 8 - Airworthiness of Aircraft: In June the Air Navigation Commission presented its report to Council on the study of policy on international airworthiness begun in 1951 and endorsed by the Assembly- 1953 (Resolution A7-13}. In this report the Commission concluded that the present Annex 8 needed revision so as to make it only sufficiently detailed to. be suitable for the purpose of applying Article 33 of the Convention. The new Annex would define only the basic requirements for safety, in general leaving it to national aeronautical regulations to

Air Navigation 23

specify how these requ~rements were to be met, and would replace the concept of certification in an ICAO category by simple administrative specifications covering certification, by the appropriate authority of the State of manufacture or registration, that the aircraft complied with·the relevant international standards and with the appropriate national code. Endorsing the principles and objectives set out in the Commission' 5 report as a basis for the development of nevi standards, the Council aulhotized the Conunission to. establish a paz¥'!1 of airworthiness experts from Contracting States willing to contribute to the work, to prepare the first draftof a revision of Annex 8 and the complementary part of Annex 6. This panel held its first meeting in November and December {cf. Section 2).

Annex 10- Aeronautical Telecommunications: Amendments 15-20, ar1s1ng out.of recommendations of the COM Division, Fifth Session, affect all parts of the Annex. Among other things, they fill a gap in the Annex, pending standardization of a single long distance aid, by adding standards that give general preference to CONSOL as an interim aid but do not exclude LORAN or NDB if these aids appear preferable in the circumstances obtaining in the area where aids are to be installed; they lay down additional basic rules for the selection of frequencies. for radio navigation aids operating in frequency bands above 30 Me/ s; and they establish as standards or recommended practices the fundamental characteristics of VHF communication and teletypewriter systems. Associated with these amendments is a substantial amount of new material for the Attachments to the Annex, which are designed to give guidance to States on equipment and techniques not sufficiently nature, or riot appropriate, for standards and recommended practices. This material covers such subjects as flight and ground testing of the standard Instrument Landing System {ILS) and the VHF omnidirectional radio range (VOR) and the development of automatic teletypewriter systems.

At the time of writing, States were being consulted on proposals for the further amendment of the Annex, affecting Part III and concerning the reduction of the minimum period for retention of automatic telecommunication logs from 3.0 to 15 days, the substitution of "SOS" for "MAYDAY" as the distress signal in radiotelephony, and the procedures appertaining to the composition of messages in the aeronautical rnobile telecommunication service.

Procedures for Air Navigation Services: The Fifth Edition of the PANS-RAG, incorporating the extensive amendments described in last year's report {Doc 7456, A8-P/2, p. 23), was issued early in the year. Sound records of the phraseologies in these PANS have been made as a guide to correct pronunciation by non-English-speaking personnel who have to use them. The specification of separation minima for aircraft using radar is one of the subjects to be considered by the Second Air Navigation Conference.

Specifications for Meteorological Services for International Air Navigation: The proposed expansion of Annex 3, and the transfer to the Annex of much of the material that has heretofore appeared in the MET Specifications, made necessary a complete review of the way in which the remainder of their content was to be treated in future, In the time available to it the MET Division was unable to prepare an entire new text, but did draw up a table of contents and specify in detail the amendments to be made in the existing text, These amendments included arrangements for providing operators with the information needed for the discharge of operational control duties and certain provisions for forecasting for high level operations, The new MET Specifications will appear unde~ the title "Procedures for Air Navigation Servi.ces -Meteorology", bringing them back into the family of ICAO "PANS" publications, where they were before 1951. A text developed by the Secretariat in accordance with the recommendations of the Division and in close collaboration with the WMO was circulated to Contracting States for comment and should reach the Council early in 1955,

Abbreviations of Aeronautical Authorities, Services and Aircraft 0 eratin A encies: A new edition of the Abbreviations Doc 938- COM 534 2 was produced to provide an up-todate reference list of the telegraphy and/ or telephony abbreviations approved by ICAO for identification purposes in messages handled by the international aeronautical telecommunication service·, An additional section, listing the names of Government Civil Aviation Authorities with their postal and telegraphic addresses, should expedite correspondence between these Authorities. It reflects the considerable progress made, since the adoption of Recommendation 112 by the Fourth Session of the COM Division in 1951, towards a standardized form of address and signature in telegrams exchanged between Government Civil Aviation Authorities, using the abbreviation "AVA" in the Aeronautical Fixed Service, and "CIVILAIR" in the .commercial telecommunication service.


Communication Codes and Abbreviations: Pursuant to recommendations made by the

COM Division, Fifth Session, the Air Navigation Commission has propose'd that the Aero

nautical Q Code signals for use by units engaged in search and rescue operations, the Q Code

signal QTM for use in reporting the magnetic heading in distress messages, and the SINPO/

SINPFEMO signal r~porting codes for use in the preparation of communication messages per

taining to monitoring~ propagation disturbance and radio interference reports should be incor

porated in the Codes and Abbreviations {Doc 6100 COM/504/1) with the status of Procedures

for Air Navigation Services {PANS). This proposal is expected to come before the Council for

approval early in 1955.

Manual of Air Traffic Procedures for Pilots: Pending the preparation of chapters on

procedures under General and Visual Flight Rules, the Manual has been attached to the Regional

Supplementary Procedures as a Supplement instead of being issued as a separate document. It

has been amended to incorporate the new procedures for reporting position and has been rec

ommended for application in all regions.

2. - Meetings

COM Division, Fifth Session

The Fifth Session of the COM Division, held at Headquarters from March 9th to April 9th,

was attended by 121 delegates, advisers and observers representing twenty-seven Contracting

States, one non-contracting State (the USSR) and five international organizations.*

Prominent on the agenda, which covered a wide variety of problems in the communica

tions field, were the requirements for long range radio navigation aids, the determination of

radio frequencies for secondary radar, and the preparation of a draft agreement between ICAO

and the ITU on the handling of airline administrative {Class B) messages.

The Division found it impossible to recommend a single standardlong distance aid at this

time, but felt that three systems now under development- Navaglobe-Navarho, Dectra and

Delrac - showed promise of meeting existing and foreseeable future operational requirements

and recommended that Contracting States should be encouraged to continue the development and

evaluation of these and other potential long range aids. Noting that the failure of the Organiza

'tion to adopt as an interim standard presently available aids capable of satisfying some of the

requirements had discouraged States from making use of them to the extent desirable, it

recommended the introduction into Annex 10 of a standard providing that until such time as a

single long distance radio navigation aid is adopted by ICAO as a standard, CONSOL, LORAN

or Non-directional Beacons should be installed and maintained in operation wherever it is estab

lished that an interim long distance aid is required. As reported in Section 1, the interim

standard actually adopted by the Council, on the recommendation of the Air Navigation Com

mission, gives preference to CONSOL, though not excluding LORAN or NDB, as the over

whelming majority of States commenting on the Division 1s recommendation had been in favour

of going at least so far in the direction of standardization.

For secondary radar the Division selected the frequencies 1 030 and 1 090 Me/ s, and

proposed that they be included in Annex 10 as a recommended practice - a step which should

facilitate the developm~nt and implementation of the secondary radar system. In addition, it

provided guidance material on the elements of a secondary radar system on which standardi

zation seems necessary, for consideration by States with 9- view to the early establishment of

ICAO standards and/ or recommended practices.

Using as a basis drafts prepared by officials of ICAO and ITU under direction from their

respective Councils, the Division, despite the existence of widely divergent views, succeeded

in preparing a draft agreement on the handling of Class B messages. This agreement, in the

drafting of which the ITU representative at the Division played an active and helpful part, pro

vided, in brief, that the adequacy of the public telecommunication network serving any pair of

* For States and organizations represented at this and other ICAO meetings in 1954,

~Appendix 5.

Air Navigation 25

airline oper-ating agency offices should be appraised by the States concerned; that if this network was found to provide service of the requisite standard, Class B messages would normally be expected to be sent over it, but that they might be sent over the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network if the country of origin considered it in the public interest, at rates equivalent to those applicable to the use of the public network; that if the service rendered by the public network was fqund to be unsatisfactory for Class B messages, such messages-should be acceptable on the AFTN, and the charges and apportionment of revenue need not then conform to the practic-es in force in the public telecommunication service, but would be freely set by the States conce_rned. · Of necessity it represented a compromise, and a number. of delegations felt obliged to reserve· the position of their governments. Some considered that acceptance on the AFTN should be confined to cases where the public telecommunication network was unable to provide service of the standard required, while some took exactly the opposite stand, favouring general acceptance of Class B messages on the AFTN without regard to the adequacy of the public telecommunication system and to the ITU tariffs. (For subsequent action on the draft agreement see Chapter VII.)

The Division also discussed at some length those fields in which improvements and developments were required in order to keep pace with advances in civil aviation. They included communications in the mobile and fixed services, airborne and ground radar equipment for operational use, and means for ensuring adequate reliability in the operation of radio navigation aids. There was considerable discussion, too, of new communication techniques such as single side-band radiotelephony, over-ocean ground wave communications, ground to air teletypewriter broadcasts, the selective calling system, and the air traffic control signalling system. Guidance material was provided with the object of drp.wing the attention of States to these techniques, the use of which could materially improve existing communication services and which might ultimately require some degree of standardization.

In the field of frequency planning, the Division reviewed the results of action taken since its Fourth Session. and made recommendations relating to the methods to be followed in future. It found the results generally satisfactory, thanks to the constant co-operation of the International Frequency Registration Board of the ITU, and especially commended the work of the ICAO Secretariat in frequency planning.

Most of the Division 1s recommendations had been acted upon by the Council by the year 1s end, details of t}:le action taken being communicated to States in the form of amendments to Annex 10 and associated COM documents and of a Supplement to the Division 1 s Report {Doc 7480 COM/548).

Meteorology Division, Fourth Session

The Fourth Session of the MET Division- the first meeting of the Division since the Working Arrangements between ICAO and WMO became effective - was held at ICAO Headquarters from June 15th to July 14th, simultaneously with the First Session of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology of WMO, with 76 delegates, advisers and observers representing twenty-five Contracting States, one non-contracting State (the USSR) and four international organizations in attendance. .With the exception of two separate formal meetings of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology, all meetings held during the session were joint meetings, and the recommendations made were addressed to ICAO, WMO or both, as appropriate. Recommendations addressed to ICAO have been dealt with in the same manner as recommendations of other Divisional meetings; on recommendations addressed to both Organizations, the Council has indicated the· extent to which ICAO will participate in the ·action to be taken. {Details of Council action have been promulgated in the usual form of a Supplement to the Report of the :rpeeting -Doc 7520 MET7525.) ·

The principal task of the meeting was, of course, the preparation of a complete new text for Annex 3, broadening it to cover all aspects of meteorological service that were considered suitable for Annex. treatment, and the development of "Procedures for Air Navigation Services -Meteorology" to replace the present "Specifications for Meteorological Services for International Air Navi·gation11 , referred to earlier in this Chapter, A variety of other matters were also considered, including the density of observation networks, use of airborne and ground radar in weather detection, turbulence, aircraft icing, procedures for -providing meteorological information to aircraft in approach, landing and take-off, and meteorological services for flight at high altitudes,


For the guidance of ICAO Regional Meetings and WMO Regional Associations in planning the distribution of surface and upper air observing stations, the meeting prepared a set of principles based on synoptic, geographical and operational factors and on economic possibilities. It also made recommendations aimed at improving the accuracy of upper air observations and at encouraging the use, where appropriate, of electronic methods for detecting thunderstorms and of automatic (unmanned) weather stations in providing supplementary observational data.

Considerable attention was given to the potentialities of radar equipment, both ground and airborne, for weather detection, and it was recom.tnended that a panel of experts should be appointed to prepare guidance material on the interpretation of the weather echoes appearing on radar scopes.

Progress on the turbulence research programme was reviewed, and the need for more complete information on the occurrence of operationally significant turbulence at higher operating levels was emphasized. The progress made by States in research and development work on the difficult problems associated with aircraft icing was also 'reviewed, the meeting agreeing that the most urgent need, and one on which early action.might be practicable, was for the development and adoption, as standard equipment on all aircraft operating in icing regions, of a simple icing indicator. ICAO was asked to give urgent consideration to ways of meeting this need and at the same time to explore the possibility of classifying icing conditions on the basis of both rate of icing and shape of ice accretion.

The time available to it did not permit the meeting to prepare detailed provisions for supplying the atmospheric data required by aircraft in take-off, approach and landing. It therefore recommended the urgent development of the material presently available on the subject for future incorporation in the PANS-MET.

A study of the special meteorological requirements of high altitude operation !J. e. 8 km (25, 000 feet) and abo..;i}led to recommendations for the improvement of high-level forecasting techniques.

Third North Atlantic Regional Air Navigation Meeting

One hundred and fifty-three representatives from nineteen Contracting States and six international organizations took part in the Third North Atlantic Regional Air Navigation Meeting, held at ICAO Headquarters from October 5th to 29th.

The Meeting's principal task was the preparation of a revised regional plan, the existing one having become out-dated as a result of recent advances in aviation technology, the increase in international air operations across the North Atlantic, the introduction of transpolar flying, and the extensive modifications made by other regional meetings in the plans for adjoining regions. The Meeting did not consider any of the new facilities and services included in the revised plan to· be of such critical importance as to require absolute priority of implementation, but listed several whose implementation should be regarded as a matter of urgency.

That part of the regional plan relating to aerodromes and ground aids was in particular need of revision, as it dated back to the First North Atlantic Meeting in March 1946, there having been no AGA Committee at the Second Meeting in May 1948. A completely new aerodrome plan was developed, designed to meet both present and foreseeable operational requirements. Although great p;rogress had been made in recent years in improving aerodromes and providing aerodrome facilities, the Meeting found it necessary to recommend further improvements, particularly with respect to the installation of approach and lead-in lighting systems and the provision of other visual ground aids in accordance with the specifications in Annex 14.

One of the most important features of the communications portion of the plan was the extension of long-range navigational coverage recommended. Because of the inability of aircraft to supply sufficiently accurate position fixes, the separation requirements imposed by Air Traffic Control Services have doubled during the past few years, leading on numerous occasions either to the clearance of aircraft to fly at altitudes other than those preferred or to

Air Navigation 27

delays in departure - a situation that will become steadily worse as the volUme of traffic increases. unles~ steps are taken to provide better position.,-fixing facilities. To this end the meeting proposed the installation of new CONSOL stations in Iceland, southern Greenland, the Azores, eastern Newfoundland, Labrador and the United States (Nantucket Island and Atlantic City) to supplement existing long range aids Among the other features of the COM plan \•tere the establishment of additional circuits in the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN), a plan for meteorological broadcasts to aircraft in flight, and a plan for terminal area and en route communications. In the latter connection, it was considered that radiotelephony should be the primary means of communication en route, but that a requirement for radiotelegraphy at certain locations 'I,IVOuld continue until operation based solely on radiotelephony was accepted by States and airline operating agencies. Recommendations for improvements in the operation of existing AFTN circuits were made, directed towards meeting the transit time requirements established for the region. The establishment. of a southern communications route between Europe and North America as a protection against periods of poor propagation was considered, and the States concerned were asked to undertake tests to determine whether it was feasible.

The meteorological portion of the revised plan provided for additions to the basic synoptic observation networks, taking into account the needs of planned operations on polar routes andathigher altitudes, as well as those of existing services. The Meeting also made recommendations aimed at improving the arrangements for the dissemination of meteorological data, with particular reference to reports from aircraft and ocean vessels, the main exchanges between Europe and North America, and exchanges to Iceland, In revising the Regional Supplementary Procedures - MET, there was some difference .of opinion on the way in which the requirement of the operators for in-flight meteorological service was to be met. As a compromise, it was agreed to include in the SUPPS, as an alternative to the provision of in-flight service to individual aircraft by means of flight meteorological watch, the provision to the operator of meteorological information for in-flight operational planning, on the basis of which he would, in turn, supply the pilot-in-command with information or advice relative to the particular flight. Meteorological authorities and operators were asked to make a special effort to ensure that this system worked satisfactorily.

The new air traffic services plan extended the scheme of flight information regions to the North Pole to cover existing and planned airline operations over the polar regions. In view of the congestion of traffic over the North Atlantic, the Meeting agreed on new separation minima, taking 1nto account the accuracy and reliability of existing and recommended navigational· aids and of the navigational techniques being employed.

For the first time, a plan for search and rescue. areas was drawn up, and it was recomme~ded that States maintaining records of the position of merchant or other ships on the North Atlantic should disseminate the information to other States of the region requesting it, so that it could be made available to rescue co-ordination centres during search and rescue operations and to pilots wishing to know the positions of ships near to their routes.

The Council acted on recommendations of the Meeting in December, following review by the Air Navigation Commission. Details of its action have been communicated to States in a supplement to the Report of the Meeting {Doc 7 550 NAT /III).

Airworthiness Panel

A panel of twenty-one experts from nine Contracting States and two international organizations met at ICAO Headquarters from November 15th to December 16th, with the task of preparing a draft revision of Annex 8 and of the complementary part of Annex 6 (cf. Section 1). A tentative draft of standards was drawn up, but, as it represented a compromise between widely divergent views, the members of the Panel agreed to study it on their return home with a view to determining what modifications were needed to bring it into final shape. The Panel found that the only standards on which it could reach a desirable measure of agreement were broad, purely qualitative ones. As standards of that type were not considered adequate to define a level of airworthiness with enough precision for the purposes of Article 33 of the Convention, the Panel decided that they would have to be supplemented by more detailed specifications

2.8 Report of the Council

entitled "Acceptable Means of Compliance", which would define, by example, a basic level of airworthiness in respect of the corresponding standard, although they would not form part of the standards themselves. Together the standards and Acceptable Means of Compliance would be sufficient to establish. a level of airworthiness, but they would not provide adequate detail to be used in the direct certification of aircraft, and could only be applied to aircraft through the medium of comprehensive and detailed codes adopted by the State of Registry. The Acceptable Means of Compliance to be proposed for inclusion in the first edition of the revised Annexes 6 and 8 will be on Performance, Structures, and Engines and Propellers. The task of drafting them has been assigned to four members of the Panel, and the drafts will be considered at the second meeting of the Panel, recommended to be held in Europe in June 1955.

Special Middle East Communications Meeting

A special communications meeting for the. Middle East was held in Rhodes from May 11th to 29th, with representatives from sixteen Contracting States, one non-contracting State and two international organizations attending. It prepared a revised interim AFTN plan to be implemented in two stages, but in the absence of specific proposals was unable to develop arevised final plan. To take account of changes in operational requirements since the Second Middle East Regional Air Navigation Meeting (November 1950), it amended the plan for low and medium frequency (LF and MF) radio aids to navigation and recommended the installation of the ICAO standard short-range radio aid (the very high frequency omni-range) and of the standard aid to approach and landing {Instrument Landing System) at specified locations. .The meeting also prepared an aeronautical mobile plan, based on.the establishment of five radiotelephony networks in the Region, and suggested, for the guidance of States, the manner in which the communication duties should be allocated among the stations in these networks. The recommendations of the Meeting came before the Council early in October, and details of Council action on them appear in the Supplement to the Report of the Meeting {Doc 7486 COM/549).

Special European-Mediterranean Communications Meeting

Nineteen Contracting States, four non-contracting States and six international organizations were represented at this Meeting, held in Paris from November 16th to 27th to consider problems in connection with the high-frequency and very-high-frequency aeromobile services. The Meeting revised the existing plans for these services and developed detailed recommendations for their implementation. In preparing the revised plan for high frequencies, it took into account the necessity to accommodate the increasing volume of radiotelephony communication, and provided also for the eventual withdrawal of radiotelegraph facilities,_ The Meeting also studied, in conjunction with the HF en route plan, the effect of the current VOLMET broadcast organization and concluded that from the communications point of view the system was satisfactory. It did not consider that it had sufficient information to enable itto make any recommendations regarding the amendment or implementation of the tentative plan for radiotelephony VOLMET broadcasts developed by the Third European-Mediterranean Regional Air Navigation Meeting. Finally, the Meeting drew up a set of procedures designed to eliminate the difficulties currently being experienced on the European-Mediterranean HF radiotelephony networks, but in view of the late stage at which most of the supporting documentation was received and of the insufficient time for full consideration, several delegates found it impossible to agree to the changes in responsibilities proposed in the procedures without further study and practical evaluation. The Report of the Meeting (Doc 7523 COM/550) was expected to come before the Council early in 1955.

Informal Communications Meetings for the South American and South East Asia Regions

An informal meeting for the South American Region, held in Lima from July 6th to 13th, gave consideration to improving the operation of the circuits in the interim AFTN plan and to the implementation of the final plan, and reviewed the progress made in implementing the plans for very-high-frequency aeronautical mobile services and non-directional beacons.

Air Navigation 29

At an informal meeting for the South East Asia Region held in Bangkok from October 18th to 27th, attention was given to the implementation of the final AFTN plan and to means of improving HF radiotelephony operation throughout the Region. The need for improvement in the transfer of traffic between the fixed and mobile services was stressed, as was the need for be~ter training of radio operators on the ground and in the air. Several other implementation problems in the communications fields were discussed at the Meeting.

Both meetings expressed a desire for further meetings of the same informal character.

3. - Implementation

Standards, Recommended Practices and Procedures

In pursuance of Assembly Resolution A7-8, the Council, at the beginning of February, approved a plan proposed by the Air Navigation Commission which consisted essentially of establishing a common date of application in any one year for amendments to international standards, recommended pr'actiees and procedures adopted or approved by the C'ouncil dating a specified period.

This action was followed in March by approval of a simplified procedure for determining reportable differences in accordance with Assembly Resolution A7-9. Under this procedure, which, it is hoped, will enable ·the Organization to substitute real knowledge of the extent to which the provisions of the Annexes are being applied for what up to now has been largely supposition, the 11 Note on the notification of differences and form of notification11 , which for the past three years has been included with each letter notifying States of the adoption by Council of international standards and recommended practices or amendments thereto, has been replaced by a memorandum comprising

i) a statement of the general principles governing the notification of differences;

ii) an analysis of the types of differences to be reported with respect to the particular standards and recommended practices or amendments in question; and

iii) a statement of the form in which the notification of differences is desired,

It was recognized that the notification of differences relating to facilities raised a special problem, beaause a State may fully accept a standard but may be forced by circumstances to delay·its complete application to physical installations. It was agreed, therefore, that a State when reporting differences under Article 38 should notify its intention of compliance or noncompliance and additionally, where the intention was to comply, should indicate when for a certain period there would be cases where facilities would not be provided in accordance with the standard specifications. Details of differences at particular sites would be notified through the medium of aeronautical publications or NOTAMS.

The Council also directed that special attention should be given to the monitoring of differences, associating this task with the normal follow-up work done by the Regional Offices. A plan to give effect to this directive has been worked out,

To assist States to implement International Standards, Recommended Practices and Procedures, the Council decided that it should be helpful to issue a second explanatory memorandum which would analyse specific cases and discuss the steps to be taken by States to effect complete application. Preparation of such a memorandum in respect of Annex 10 began just before the end of the year.

Frorr1 the information now available it appears that most States have taken steps to introduce the amended personnel licensing standards in the Third Edition of Annex 1, which becomes applicable at the beginning of April 1955. Some difficulties have arisen in implementing the standards relating to the Aircraft Maintenance Mechanic's Licences, particularly in respect of the vesting of·the privileges associated with these licences in approved maintenance organizations, and these are under study by the Air Navigation Commission. Experience and medical progress has indicated a need for the completion and revision of the hearing requirements and some of the visual requirements, and the Council has approved the convening of a special meeting for this purpose in Europe in April 1955.


Implementation of the standards, recommended practices and procedures in the fields of air traffic services and search and rescue has been progressing satisfactorily, and detailed plans for the operation of search and rescue centres have been received from several States. The degree of acceptance of the procedures for holding and approachto land (PANS-HAL) has been encouraging; only four States have notified differences, while ten have indicated that the procedures will be fully implemented.

The new AIREP and POMAR forms of air report have been successfully introduced, and there has, as yet, been no sign of difficulty in the introduction of the new meteorological figure codes mentioned in Section 1.

Among the steps taken in 1954 to assist States in the application oi'ICAO standards, recommended practices and procedures have been the provision of training material and aids to the R egional'Offices and Technical Assistance Missions; the production of two sound motion pictures - "Fundamentals of Approach Control" and "Principles of Learning"; the preparation of sets of training records and tapes giving GCA and other standard phraseologies; assistance in the building of ICAO synthetic ATC7COM trainers, of which a total of eleven are in actual use or under construction; completion of Part 12 of the ICAO Training Manual giving information on suitable aviation training films and the distribution of such films, not only those produced by the Organization but also some produced by other authorities for which ICAO is the only alternative distributor. In this training work, the Organization, as in previous years, received a great deal of help from Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Actual training continued to be given only through the Technical Assistance Programme {see Chapter V), which is being increasingly integrated with the regular programme of the Organization.

This year the ICAO familiarization course (see Chapter VIII, Section 3 - Trainee Programme) was so planned as to ensure an understanding, by the participants, in the increased emphasis being given by the Organization to assisting States with their implementation problems.

Regional Plans for Air Navigation Facilities and Services

The programme for the isolation and elimination of serious deficiencies in air navigation facilities and services again occupied a prominent place among the Organization's activities in the air navigation field. The fourth review of deficiencies in the eight ICAO air navigation regions was completed by the Air Navigation Commission during the year and the fifth begun. The Secretary General's reports to the Commission on the progress made in eliminating the deficiencies showed that approximately lOo/o of them had been completely eliminated, and that more than half of the remainder were on the way to elimination. Little progress is apparently being made, however, in filling gaps in regional meteorological observation networks and chains of meteorological offices, pending the development of more satisfactory criteria for measuring the need for such facilities.·

Radio Frequency Planning

The interim frequency assignment plans for the Middle East, South East Asia, Caribbean, South American, South Atlantic, African-Indian Ocean and Pacific Regions were successfully implemented in 1954 except for a few frequencies that .could not be cleared before the year's end. The first stage in the transfer of the aeronautical mobile services to the new frequencies allotted by the ITU may therefore be regarded as completed.

The International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB) collaborated closely with ICAO throughout, making possible a high degree of co-ordination between the dates of implementation recommended by the Council as operationally desirable and the dates at which implementation was practicable because of the clearance of the new frequencies for aeronautical use. Noteworthy also was the excellent co-operation both ICAO and ITU received from States, a cooperation often involving a number of interests in addition to the aeronautical.

Air Navigation 31

4.- Special Projects and Other Matters

Aircraft Accident Reports

Aircraft Accident Digest No, 5, published towards the end of the year, covered 36 accidents {33 of them occurring in 1953 and 3 in 1952) on which Contracting States had provided the Organization with accident investigation reports. It contained, in addition to the kind of material presented in previous issues of the Digest, an analysis and classification of some of the characteristics of the 41 accidents occurring in 1953 on which ICAO had received reports, The analysis showed that 44% of these accidents took place during the 11 en-route" portion .of flights, 40% during approach and landing, and the remainder during take-of£ and climb, Collision with the ground or water continued to account for a very large proportion {nearly half) of the accidents reported upon, By attending, when practicable, aircraft accident inquiries of special interest, Secretariat officers have been able to keep abreast of new developments in investigation procedure and .to gather additional material, particularly with respect to the identification of bodies and the value of post mortem examination in ascertaining the circumstances of fatal accidents, for the Manual of Aircraft Accident Investigation,

Altimeter Setting Procedures

The ICAO standard-pressure altimeter setting procedures were introduced in the North Atlantic Region on 1 March 1954, but, as they had not been ful.ly implemented, the Third North Atlantic Regional Air Navigation Meeting found it necessary in October to recommend their implementation throughout the region on 1 March 1955. If this is done, it will mean that the procedures are being applied in all ICAO regions except the European-Mediterranean and the northern part of the Pacific.

On the recommendation of its Working Group on Altimetry, the Air Navigation Commission has established a panel of experts to advise the Commission on all aspects of vertical separation. lATA has continued to stress the urgency of finding solutions to the problems of vertical separation arising in operation, and has provided data for the work of the panel, which, so far, has been conducted by correspondence. ·

As an aid in crystallizing altimeter setting problems and in indoctrinating personnel in the. capabilities and limitations of altimeters, ICAO issued an altimeter setting poster in October.

Meteorological Procedures in support of Altimeter Setting Procedures

The development of meteorological procedures in support of altimeter setting procedures made considerable progress during 1954, thanks to the co-operation of a large number of Contracting States. The meteorological data provided to air traffic control units for altimeter setting purposes suffer from lack of uniformity, and it is expected that more attention will have to be given to this problem, including the development of standard procedures for the various parts of the world, subject to differentiation according to climate and topography.

Carriage by Air of Dangerous Goods

On instructions from the Economic and Social Council, a committee of experts on the transport of dangerous goods was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations. It met in August and September with an ICAO observer in attendance, pro.ducing a report that lfsted the principal dangerous goods moving in commerce and proposed uniform classification and labelling. The Air Navigation Commission will consider the committee's report as soon as it has been acted upon by the Transport and Communications Commission of ECOSOC. lV!eanwhile lATA has reported a large measure of acceptance by the States of Registry of its member airlines of the regulations relating to the carriage of restricted articles adopted by its Traffic Conference in November 1953.


Co-ordination of Civil and Military Air Traffic in Europe

This is a matter on which international airlines have expressed great concern, through a

.resoh.ition adopted at the Annual General Meeting of lATA in 1954 and otherwise, <Slose liaison

has been maintained .with the States immediately concerned on the air traffic problems raised

by the high concentration of military and civil air activity in Europe. By the end of the year there

was every reason to believe that action by these States would ameliorate conditions,

Helicopters

Although many technical and e-conomic difficulties remain to be solved before commercial

helicopter. operations can become a large element in international air transport, they can be

expected to pose international problems in the fairly near future. The Organization has therefore

begun collecting and distributing to interested States information on helicopter development and

operation, with emphasis on information that may be of value in developing such special regula

tions as become desirable.

ICAO Spelling Alphabet

On March 17th, during the Fifth Session of the COM Division, another meeting on the

Spelling Alphabet was held in Montreal to review the progress made. Representatives of groups

studying the question in the United Kingdom and the United States and a representative of the

International Federation of Airline Pilots• Associations (IFALPA) were present. The discus

sions revealed that substantial accord had beep. reached on the question, that the results of

tests and experiments conducted to date suggested that the principles upon which the alphabet

in Annex 10 is based are sound, and that with five or six changes this alphabet was likely to be

acceptable to all users. In the light of these findings, IFALPA, at its annual conference at the

end of March, withdrew the opposition to the Annex 10 alphabet expressed at its meeting in 1953.

The final conclusions of the States concerned with the matter had not been received at the end

of the year, but it i.s hoped that agreement on a revised alphabet will shortly be reached, per

mitting the next stage of development - operational trials -to be undertaken.

Operational Control

Some clarification of the operational control systems used by airlines was given by the

definition of "operational control" and by the standard assigning responsibility for it that were

incorporated in Annex 6 as a result of recommendations made by the OPS division at its Third

Session. The First Air Navigation Conference found, however, that certain points in connec

tion with the provision of meteorological information to operational control centres required

elucidation, and the Air Navigation Commission set up a working group for the purpose towards

the end of the year, following the presentation of a Secretariat study and an exposition by lATA.

VOLMET. Broadcasts

A plan for the co-ordination of existing VOLMET broadcasts, prepared by the ICAO

Secretariat, was circulated to States for study. From the evidence available to date it would

appear that the introduction of radiotelephony broadcasts of meteorological information is pro

ceeding very slowly and that, so far, aircraft operations in most parts of the world have been

satisfactorily served by radio replies to individual requests for information.

CHAPTER III

AIR TRANSPORT

The Organization's work in the air transport field during 1954 followed the lines envisaged, and fulfilled some of the plans laid down, by the Seventh Session of the Assembly. The study on airport charges was completed and circulated to Contracting States, accomplishing -- in accordance with Assembly Resolution A7-1B --the first part of a task given to the Council by the Second Session of the Assembly. On the vexed question of commercial rights in international air transport, the Strasbourg Conference on the co-ordination of European air transport laid the groundwork for future concerted action by the States of that region. The Conference also confirmed the possibility of regional advances in facilitation beyond what may be currently practicable on a world-wide scale. ·These and other developments are reviewed below.

l.- Charges for Airports and Air Navigation Facilities

In January the Air Transport Committee put into final form its study on airport charges and presented it to the Council for adoption and circulation to Contracting States as the objective study required by the first clause of Resolution A7-1B. The Council received the study with appreciation and noted its suggestions and conclusions, but decided that it should be circulated to States as a Committee study rather than as a Council study, as Resolution A7-1B had expressly asked for a study without Council recommendations. The study was accordingly circulated (in May) as Doc 7462 and, as suggested in the Assembly Resolution, States were asked for their views as to the desirability of holding, at a convenient early date, an international meeting on the subject of airport charges. From the responses, it seemed clear that it would be premature to hold a meeting of this kind in 1955. A number of States, however, felt strongly that a discussion of airport charges at an international meeting attended by experts would be ben·eficial. The Council therefore decided, on the recommendation of the Air Transport Committee, that a meeting on airport charges should be planned for as soon as possible after 21 March 1956, the exact date to be determined later.

Having completed the first phase of the work required by Assembly Resolution A2-14, the Air Transport Committee turned to the second- a study on charges for route air navigation facilities -,asking the Secretariat to prepare a draft, utilizing all available statistics and other information, for its consideration early in 1955. ·

2.- Conference on. the Co-ordination of Air Transport in Europe

The Conference on the Co-ordination of Air Transpo;rt in Europe, convened by the ICAO Council at the request of the Council of Europe, opened in Strasbourg on. 21 April and finished its work on B May.. Seventeen of the nineteen States invited to be members of the Conference sent delegations. Ten non-European States, members of ICAO, and eleven international organizations wei e I epi esented by observers. The techmcal secretartat and a substantial part of the preparatory documentation were provided by ICAO.

The main recommendations of the Conference in the economic field propose action in two stages. In the first, European Governments are urged to give their airlines greater freedom to plan European air services on a co-operative basis, to remove restrictions on "Fifth Freedom" traffic with respect to freight services, and to give substantial. freedom to non-scheduled operations not competing with scheduled air services. In the second, it is proposed that the European States develop multilateral agreements for both scheduled and non-scheduled air services, and ICAO is asked to prepare drafts for such agreements. The Conference also asked that ICAO consider whether there was a need for an international convention on the chartering and hiring of aircraft, a question that came up at Strasbourg in connection with the possibility of interchange of aircraft among operators.

- 33 -


Twelve of the twenty-nine recommendations of the Conference were concerned with the facilitation of air transport in the European region. Among the measures recommended to States members of the Conference were the abolition of visas for business or tourist travel between them; reduction of technical and administrative formalities at airports with a view to reducing ground-stop time; simplification of sanitary controls; reduction to a minimum of customs inspection of outbound baggage; elimination of mail entries on air cargo manifests; the establishment of as liberal a customs r·egime for non-scheduled commercial aircraft as for scheduled; the loan of spare parts and equipment between airlines without payment of customs duties and without any obligation to receive back the same spare parts and equipment; and the establishment of deadlines for complete European implementation of a number of recommendations of the meeting on facilitation held in Cannes in May 1953. By the end of the year, comments on these recommendations had been received from ten States, indicating, in the main, a desire to achieve a high degree of implementation.

ICAO, for its part, is asked to examine the possibility of amending Article 29 of the Convention by substituting for the list of documents to be carried by aircraft engaged in international air navigation a simple refe.rence to documents whose use may be prescribed by the Annexes to the Convention, and to place on the agenda of the Fourth Session of the FAL Division an item permitting consideration to be given to the amendment of paragraphs 3. 9(j) and 3.10 of Annex 9 so as to assure the holder of a licence or a crew member's certificate of the right of re-entry to the State issuing his licence or certificate. The latter request has been complied with and, as an interim answer to the former, the Council has adopted a resolution informing States members of the Conference that they may properly consider the use of other documentation - for example, a complete set of ticket coupons for passengers on board, a complete set of copies of the air waybills for the cargo carried, and the General Declaration as specified in Annex 9 - as simplified forms of the passenger list, cargo manifest and journey log books specified in Article 29.

In the air navigation field, the Conference urged States of the region to hasten the implementation of the ICAO regional plan, making particular reference to the desirability of accelerating the development of en-route radiotelephony services, and recommended that ICAO make a survey of the various briefing and de-briefing practices at the international aerodromes in the region and of their advantages and disadvantages.

. (-;

Finally, the Conference gave considerable attention to means of following up and carrying forward its work on a continuing basis. The .conclusion eventually reached was that a European Civil Aviation Conference should be established, meeting periodically and maintaining close liaison with other organizations concerned with European air transport, particularly ICAO. The Organization was asked, and has agreed, to convene the first meeting and to provide the necessary secretariat and services.

3.- Commercial Rights in Interna tiona! Air Transport

Scheduled Services

Assembly Resolution A7-15 directed the Council to keep under review the possibilities of partial solutions to the problem of multilateralism in the exchange of commercial rights for international air services, and to study any that seemed likely to produce results of practical value. Early in 1954 the Air Transport Committee decided that the study of various forms of multilateral agreement in the European region in connection with the Conference on Co-ordination of Air Transport in Europe, scheduled to be held at Strasbourg, provided, for the time being, the most fruitful line of action in carrying out this directive. The documentation for the Conference inclueled a proposal (from the Scandinavian States) for a multilateral agreement giving European scheduled services wide freedom on a five-year trial basis, and a number of suggestions for multilateral action of a less ambitious kind, such as airline co-operation on s.pecific routes and special treatment for freight services. These were proposals for "partial solutions" such as the Seventh Session of the Assembly had desired that the Council keep under review; and it seemed possible that it would be easier to reach agreement along such lines for a single area {Europe alone) than for the world at large. While no multilateral agreement was concluded at Strasbourg, there was considerable clarification of States' objectives, and general

Air Transport 35

dtrechons were gtven for the preparatton of a draft mulhlateral agreement tor later examtna tion. In October the Council decided that the work being done by the Organization, . in response to the request of the Strasbourg Conference, on the preparation of a draft multilateral agreement for Europe should be regarded as fulfilling in part and for the present the directive in Resolution A 7-15.

Assembly Resolution A7-15 also urged Contracting States 'to co-operate fully in supplying the data required in connection with the Council's studies in this field, while Resolution A7-17 suggested that governments review th~ir aeronautical agreements and arrangements to ensure that they were properly and completely filed with the Organization pursuant to Article 83 of the Convention. To assist Contracting States to comply with these requests, the Secretary General circulated lists showing, for each State, which agreements had been filed and which had not. A number of States responded immediately by supplying the missing agreements, and information concerning bilateral agreements and arrangements continued to flow into the Organization during 1954. It thus proved possible to begin the preparation of a more complete analysis of the provisions of bilateral agreements, the standardization of which was recognized, both at the Seventh Session of the Assembly and at the Strasbourg Conference, as a possible approach to partial multilateralism.

Non-scheduled Services

Resolution A7-16 asked the Council to consider the desirability of two possible forms of action affecting non-scheduled inter.national air services: first, whether anything should be done to improve the definition of a "scheduled international air service" adopted in March 1952 (cf. Doc 7278-C/841), as a means of distinguishing between scheduled and non-scheduled international air services; and, second, whether there were any practical steps that could be taken to facilitate the operation of international non-scheduled air transport. The Resolution also requested Contracting States to inform the Organization·.of their views on these matters.

The Air Transport Committee devoted a considerable part of the autumn session to the examination of these views, and concluded that no action should be taken in connection with Resolution A7-16 for the present. The definition, although not universally acceptable, was widely used by governments for reference in matters relating to the regulation of non-scheduled air services; and the Committee did not find sufficient evidence of dissatisfaction with any particular part of it to justify acceptance of any of the various suggestions for its modification. The Council, however, was not entirely satisfied that the possibilities of improvement advanced in two of the suggestions submitted by States had been exhausted, and at the close of the year referred these two suggestions back to the Committee for further consideration. A third suggestion- to introduce into the definition a phrase indicating that flights constituting a scheduled air service normally operate irrespective of payload -occasioned considerable debate in Council. The inclusion of the element "operation irrespective of payload" had been the subject of much discussion in both the Air Transport Committee and Council when the definition was originally developed and had ultimately been rejected; proposed again in the .Committee during the discussion on the comments submitted by States in response to Resolution A 7-16, it had been defeated on a tie vote. In the Council it received a majority of the votes cast (9 out of 17) but not the number required for approval under Article 52 -of the Convention (i.e. 11) and was therefore lost.

On the possibilities of facilitating the operation of international non-scheduled air transport, the Air Transport Committee concluded that, although an international meeting might later prove useful, it would be desirable to await the results of the regional approach to the problem in the first meeting of the European Civil Aviation Conference before launching any action on a world-wide plane. Although a draft for a multilateral agreement covering all types of European non-scheduled operations was presented at the Strasbourg Conference {by the Netherlands), indications of position by the States attending the Conference extended only to a substantial agreement that, within the European region at least, certain types of non-scheduled flight could and should be permitted without special prior permission. The Conference asked ICAO to prepare, in consultation with European Governments, a draft multilateral agreement with the object of achieving the maximum degree of liberalization of intra-European non-. scheduled services. The Air Transport Committee consequently felt that States would not wish to consider wider action until the practicability of the European proposals had been explored.


4.- The Facilitation Programme

By the end of the year twenty-two Contracting States had notified differen.ces from the

Second Edition of Annex 9 (International Standards and Recommended Practices - Facilitation).

Most of the differences are of a minor character, however, and do not vitiate any of the

fundamental concepts on which the Annex is based. They were published, together with such

differences from the First Edition as had not been withdrawn or superseded by later informa

tion, in a second Supplement to the Annex in September. Four States (India, Sweden, the

United Kingdom and the United States) have informed the Organization that they have decided

to withdraw some. of the differences previously filed, and it is hoped that this trend will continue.

Further Supplements will be published from time to time as they become necessary, and it is

expected that a general report on the status of implementation of Annex 9 will form part of the

documentation for the Fourth Session of the Facilitation Division, which is to be convened in

the Far East in the latter part of 1955 - tentatively on 4 October in Manila.

Twenty-two Contracting States have notified the Organization that they are complying in

many respects, if not in all, with the provisions of the three resolutions and the recommenda

tion on taxation of international air transport adopted by the Council on 13 April 1951. A few

are imposing certain limitations with respect to particular kinds of aircraft operations {for

example non-scheduled), and in two or three instances situations exist that may require further

clarification.

There appears to be little likelihood of multiple insurance requirements again becoming

a problem. No ca.ses have arisen since the Council's adoption of a resolution on the subject

in-December 1950, and further action on insurance matters as they affect international air

transport is envisaged only in connection with the development of international conventions

involving legal liability for damage caused by aircraft to persons or property.

5.- Air Transport Statistics

A marked improvement 1n the promptness of filing statistical information and in the

completeness .of the information filed has resulted from the intrriduction of the revised Air

Transport Reporting Forms at the beginning of 1953. The statistics also compare favourably

in accuracy with those obtained through the forms previously used. Basic traffic data reported

to ICAO now represent up to 90% of the estimated total for international and. domestic scheduled

operations by all 65 Contracting States. There are still some States, however, that have never

filed the information required by Article 67 of the Convention.

In their annual reports several airlines are now following the pattern of the ICAO Air

Transport Reporting Forms in publishing statistics. The increasing adoption of these Forms

by civil aviation administrations and airlines for their own statistical purposes is leading to a

greater measure of international standardization of air transport statistics.

A decision on the usefulness of origin-destination statistics and the practicability of

collecting them has been delayed by the incompleteness of the response to the questionnaire

requesting the views of Contracting States on the subject, several States with extensive aviation

and statistical experience being among those that had not replied by the end of the year. The

Air Transpo:r;-t Committee is, however, expected to give further consideration to the subject

early irt 1955 with a view to making recommendations to the Council.

.6.- International Air Mail

In March the Council authorized the Secretary General to continue to furnish to the

Universal Postal Union, on request, such information of a factu·al character as was readily

available. The Secretary General decided that the information requested by the Universal

Postal Union on (i) airline operating statistics, showing, among other things, operating costs

per tonne-kilometre available and performed, and (ii) comparative revenues per tonne-kilo

metre performed for passengers, cargo and mail respectively, was of that character and

Air Transport 37

should therefore be provtded. Annual compilation and publication of this material, which is kep~ up to date by the Secretariat as a matter of routine, was not considered to be .worthwhile, and, as a result of discussions with the UPU at the meeting of its Executive and Liaison Commission in May and subsequent correspondence, it was agreed that ICAO would furnish the UPU, in March 1955, with a compilation of the data covering a period of about eight years, The UPU intends to refer the material, with ICAO's comments on it, if any, to a sub-commission of the Executive and Liaison Commission for the purpose of formulating proposals concerning air mail transportation charges to the Universal Postal Congress of 1957. It is expe.cted that an ICAO representative will attend at least some of the meetings of the sub-commission. ·

CHAPTER IV

FINANCIAL AND TECHNICALAID THROUGH ICAO IN THE PROVISION OF AIR NAVIGATION FACILITIES AND SERVICES

In this field the most important development of the y·ear was the conclusion, at the

Fourth North Atlantic Ocean Stations Conference, of a new agreement on North Atlantic ocean

stations. Other activity in this field was concerned· mainly with the administration of the

joint financing arrangements with Denmark and Iceland. Efforts to arrange for the interna

tional financing of an upper air station at Tegucigalpa, Honduras, proved fruitless, and there

were no other formal requests for assistance under Chapter XV of the Convention.

1.- North Atlantic Ocean Stations Agreement, 1954

It will be recalled that the Third North Atlantic Ocean Stations Conference, held in

Brighton in July 1953, failed to reach its objective- the drawing up of a new agreement for

the maintenance of the network of ocean stations in the North Atlantic established pursuant to

the Agreement concluded in 1949 and expiring at the end of June 1954. Sufficient commitments,

either in cash or kind, to maintain the existing network were not forthcoming from the parti~i

pants, and the agenda, which was limited to administrative and financial questions, did not

permit the Conference to consider a reduced network.

The Fourth Conference, meeting in Paris from February 9th to 25th with an agenaa not

so restricted, was more successful. An agreement, substituting a 9-station, 21-ship network*

for the 10-station, 25-ship network established by the 1949 Agreement, was signed by repre

sentatives of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands,

Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Governments

of Iceland and Spain also were represented at the Confe'rence, but did not sign the Agreement

because the assessment of their theoretical responsibilities was not acceptable to them.

The success of the Conference was due in large part to the generosity of the United

States in offering to provide 10 ships, which represented considerably more than its theoretical

responsibility, and to waive, for a limited period, its claim to cash reimbursement for its

excess operations. The United States offer made possible a division of operating responsibilities

b~tween North American and European States under which the former will maintain four sta

tions (B, C, D ana E) with ll vessels (one of them Canadian), and the latter five stations (A,

I, J, K and M) with 10 vessels**, and an arrangement among European States under which the

operating States will be reimbursed by the non-operating States for operations in excess of

their theoretical responsibilities. The Table below gives the responsibilities of the thirteen

signatories~

* ·The new network differs from its predecessor only in the elimination of

Station H, lying off the eastern coast of the United States at 36°40'N,

69°35'W.

** The manning of the five stations with ten ships is to be achieved by a

systematic rotation of patrols and relief, worked out by maritime experts

at the Conference, which will ensure that the operational tasks will be

shared approximately equally by the operating States.

- 38 -

39

40

State

Belgium Canada Denmark France Ireland Israel Italy Nether lands Norway) Sweden) Switzerland United Kingdom l,Jnited States

Operation of ships

2

2

2

4 10


Total Cash Reimbursement (Annual)

£69, 168

5, 510

46,467

72,233

Cash Contributions (Annual)

£64,469

41,565

l, 000* 11,000 30,537

45,807

Any contributions received from the Governments of Spain and Iceland are to be divided among the European States (except Ireland) in specified proportions. Any contributions that may be made in future by other non-signatory governments acceding to the Agreement, as well as that of Ireland, are to be used to reimburse the Organization for its extraordinary expenses inci-

. dental to the Agreement, any balance to be allocated by the Council to the Contracting Governments.

Under the two previous Agreements, theoretical responsibilities were based solely on aeronautical benefits as measured by the number of North Atlantic crossings made by civil aircraft of the Contracting Governments in a given period. Under ~he new one, non-aeronautical benefits are also taken into account. By empirical methods and compromise, the Conference arrived at an agreement to distribute 80% of the cost of the network in proportion to aeronautical benefits, 20% ona non-aeronautical basis, and decided on a 75-25% division of non-aeronautical benefits between European States and North American States. Canada and the United States agreed to a 15-85% division of the North American non-aeronautical benefits, while the allocation among States on the European side ranged from 25% for the United Kingdom and 17"/o for France to zero for Israel, with most States in the 5-10% bracket. Although the Council had suggested that in assessing responsibilities the difference in benefits derived by aircraft flying the northern routes and those derived by aircraft flying the southern routes might be taken into account by using a judgment factor, the Conference by majority vote decided against any differentiation.

The new Agreement places upon the Council of ICAO an important responsibility which it did not have under the previous Agreements- that.of re-assessing the obligations of the States responsible for Stations A, I, J, K and M, which are to be maintained by a rather finely balanced mixture of contributions in ships and in cash by the European signatories. On or before l March 1955, each of the Contracting Governments is to fur!'lish to the Council full particulars of actual flights across the North Atlantic by its civil aircraft duringtheyear 1954, and each of the operating Governments full particulars of its costS of operation for that year. On receipt of this information, the Council is to review the relationship between the costs of operation of the· vessels used to man Stations A, I, J, K and M and the amount of cash that should be available from cash contributions in respect of the operation of these vessels, and, if it considers it necessary to establish an equitable distribution of responsibilities among the States concerned, to calculate a revision of the obligations to pay and rights to receive cash

* Ireland, though not conducting transatlantic operations and regarding the apportionment of non-aeronautical benefits as unrealistic in so far as non-operating States are concerned, agreed to make an annual cash contribution of £ l, 000, which will not be subject to increase under the terms of the Agreement as long as Irish aircraft do not operate across the North Atlantic.

Financial and Technical Aid 41

in accordance with the principles on which the Agreement is based. The results of this calculation are to be transmitted to the Contracting Governments not later than 1 May 1955, and unless the Agreement is terminated on 30 June 1956, the obligations of Contracting Governments to pay, and their rights to receive payments, will be, for the year beginning 1 July 1956, as thus revised. The same procedure is to be followed in determining assessments for subsequent years as long as the Agreement remains in force.

The other responsibilities of ICAO under the Agreement (some to be discharged by the Council and others by the Secretary General) are similar to those imposed by the earlier Agreements -- co-ordination of the general programme of operation of the stations with the States concerned and with such international organizations as the Council considers appropriate, collection and allocation of cash contributions, reporting on the operation, cost and utilization of the stations on the basis of reports furnished by the Contracting Governments, settlement of disputes between Contracting Governm.ents, and convening of a conference of interested Governments to consider any matter connected with the Agreement or for the purpose of concluding a new Agreement.

The Agreement is for a period of two years ending 30 June 1956, but there is provtston for automatic renewal unless notice of a desire to terminate it at that date has been given in .writing, before 1 June 1955, by one or more of the Contracting Governments responsible in the aggregate for the operation or financing of not less than two ships. The provision for reassessment becomes operative at the end of this two-year period if such notice has n9t been given, and affords a degree of flexibility that is essential if the Agreement is to run for a long term.

By the end of the year only three Governments, responsible in the aggregate for the operation of twelve vessels, had deposited with the Organization their instruments of acceptanceSweden on April 23, the United States on June 23, and Canada on July 13. The Agreement therefore has not yet come into force, as instruments of acceptance from Governments responsible for the operation of not less than fifteen vessels are required for that purpose. The new arrangements have, however, been implemented, vessels of the operating States having taken up their positions at the stations on July 1. Contributions for the second half of 1954 were · received from the Government of Belgium in October and from the Government of Denmark early in December, and were apportioned among the five European operating States. Additional acceptances and further remittances from cash-contributing States were. expected early in 1955.

The Conference recommended that the Council endeavour to obtain the accession to the Agreement of Iceland and Spain, and of several other States that were not represented at the Conference but were considered to derive aeronautical or non-aeronautical benefits from· the operation of the network. The President has been entrusted with the conduct of negotiations with these States.

At the Conference the Government of Iceland submitted that it could not meet its assessed theoretical responsibility, amounting to £6,' 474 annually, but offered to make a token contribution of £1,000 for the year 1954 and an annual contribution of £3,000 thereafter as long as the Agreement remained in force. The Icelandic authorities subsequently offered also to waive harbour dues, lighthouse dues, pilot fees and the like for ocean station vessels putting into Reykjavik for fuel, supplies or repairs, and to provide free of charge any medical assistance their crews might need in or from Iceland. The Government of Spain has expressed its desire to make a fair contribution, although taking exception to the decision of the Conference (which had a particularly adverse effect on Spain) that no distinction should be recognized between the benefits derived by aircraft flying the northern routes and those derived by aircraft flying the southern routes. So far, negotiations with the Governments of Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela have produced no results.

A recommendation by the Conference that the Council explore all possibilities of further improvements in the efficiency and economy of the ocean stations network, and of less expensive ways and means of obtaining a sufficiently high standard of meteorological information in the North Atlantic, was, as a first step, brought to the attention of the Third North Atlantic


Regional Air Navigation Meeting. While that Meeting was unable to suggest how economies in the operation of the stations could be effected or how a sufficiently high standard of meteoro-logtcal tnformahon could be obtatned at less expense, tt dtd recommend that greater use be made of the stations - for example, to relay· information between aircraft and aeronautical stations when normal direct communication is impossible because of poor propagation conditions or for some other reason, and to take and disseminate supplementary meteorological observations between synoptic hours. ·

An amended version of the Ocean Station Vessel Manual and a consolidated report on the Third and Fourth North Atlantic Ocean Stations Conferences have been distributed to the interested States, as Doc 6926, AN/B56/3 and Doc 7510,JS/559 respectively.

2.- Arrangements on Air Navigation Services in Iceland and on Air Navigation Services in·Greenland and the Faroes

The 1955 assessments made by the Council for the support of these services totalled

B, 9B9, 905 Icelandic Kronur ($552, 013 U.S.) for the ATC, COM and.MET services in Iceland

l, 311, 136 Icelandic Kronur ($BO, SOB U.S.) for the Loran services at Vik

5, 744, BBO Danish Kroner ($B3l, 731 U.S.) for the MET and COM services in Greenland, and

978, 236 Danish Kroner ( $141, 627 U.S.) for the Loran services at Frederiksdal (Greenland) and Skuvanes (the Faroes).

They were divided among contributing States in the. proportions indicated in the table below, the 1954 figures being given in parentheses for purposes of comparison.

Iceland Services Greenland Services Contributing

State ,, ATC, MET and COM Loran MET and COM Loran

Belgium 4. o6· {3. 12) 4.74 {3. 59) 4.25 ( 3. 25) 4.74 ( 3. 59) Canada 4.79 (6. 36) 5.58 {7. 31) 5.00 (6. 60) S.SB {7.31) Denmark 2.43 (2. 08) - - 10.00 (10.00) 5.00 ( 5. 00) France 6.36 (7.00) 7.41 {B. 04) 6. 65 (7. 26)* 7.41 (B. 04) Iceland 10. oo {to. oo) 5.00 (5. 00) 0. 95 (0. 91) - -Netherlands ll. 22 ( ll. 02) 13. OB (12. 67) 11.73 (11.45) l3.0B (12.67) Norway 2.43 {2. 15) - - - - - -Sweden 3.65 {3. 12) - - 3.B7 ( 3. 25) - -Switzerland 2.69 (2. 09) 3. 14 (2.40) 2.Bl ( 2. 17) 3. 14 (2.40) United Kingdom 14. 14 (12. 96) 16.49 {14.90) l4.79{13.4B) 16.49 ( 14. 90) United States 3B. 23 (40. 10) 44. Sb (4b. 09) 39.95 (41. b4) 44. !:>b (4b. 09)

Negotiations with the Governments of Israel and Italy - both o.f which are operating regular services across the North Atlantic - for participation in the joint financing arrangements with Iceland and Denmark continued during 1954. Israel has indicated that it is unable to make

* This figure will be slightly reduced if the French Government maintains its refusal to participate in indirect expenses arising from new capital expenditure on MET services at Prins Christians Sund. Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have reconsidered their initial position and have indicated their willingness to participate.

Financial and Technical ·Aid 43

any contnbutwn to the North Atlantlc fmanc1ng arrangements additional to what it has under taken under the North Atlantic Ocean Stations Agreement. Italy has expressed willingness to contribute under the Danish and Icelandic schemes, as well as under the Ocean Stations Agreement, but at the year's end legislative formalities remained to be completed before the actual payment of contributions could begin. In the circumstances, neither of these States was included in the 1955 assessment programme.

3.- Attempt to Arrange for the Joint Financing of an Upper Air Station at Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Early in April it became apparent that governments which, unde_r· a joint financing scheme, would have had to bear a total of approximately 70% of the cost of this station did not feel able to participate in such a scheme. The Council therefore regretfully accepted the conclusion of its Committee on Joint Support of Air Navigation Services that it was impracticable at this time to conclude a joint financing arrangement. The Government of Honduras, which had requested financial assistance from the Organization in establishing the station, was informed accordingly,

CHAPTER V

ICAO ACTIVITIES UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS EXPANDED PROGRAMME

OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. - Introduction

The most notable feature of the ICAO Technical Assistance Programme in 1954 was the sharp reduction in

activity brought about by the shortage of funds to which reference is made below. The momentum built up in

the preceding two years was lost and the Programme became largely a holding operation, directed towards

realizing the maximum benefit from the work already started in the countries where there were ICAO missions.

New requests· for technical assistance and applications for increased assistance generally had to be refused, and

the Organization was obliged to reduce the size of some of its missions and to withdraw one altogether. In this

connection there was one· important and enc.ouraging development - the decision of the Iranian Government to

make available the sum of $52, 000, which enabled the Organization not only to keep the mission in Iran at its

existing strength until the end of 1954 but even to provide additional assistance.

At the beginning of the year, seventy-five experts were in the field or about to leave for their duty stations;

at the· end, the number had been reduced to forty-six. A total of forty fellowship holders studied abroad during

1954, thirty of them under fellowships awarded in previous years and ten under fellowships awarded in 1954; all

but two had finished their studies at the year's end. Thirty-five scholarships for training at the Mexican Civil

Aviation Training Centre duririg the 1954-55 school year were granted to nationals of ten Central and South

American States (Chile 2, Colombia 3, Costa Rica 4, Ecuador 5, Guatemala 4, Nicaragua 5, Panama 3, Peru 1,

El Salvador 6 and Venezuela 2).

2.- Programme Planning

During 1954 an important change was made in the procedure for planning activities under the Expanded

Programme of Technical Assistance for Economic Developmel).t. Hitherto, the funds available for the Programme

have been allocated among the participating agencies on the basis of predetermined percentages (ICAO's being

4. 4U/o), and each agency has been negotiated with States requesting assistance for the expenditure of its share on

projects approved by the Technical Assistance Board (TAB). A feeling, quite widely held, that this procedure

left too little to the discretion of States receiving technical assistance led to a recommendation by the Technical

Assistance Committee (T AC), later approved by the Economic and Social Council and endorsed by the United

Nations General Assembly, that funds for 1956 and subsequent years should be distributed on the basis of the

priorities established by the requesting governments. Early in each year the TAB will prepare target figures for

each country for the ensuing year, .based on the funds likely to be available for technical assistance in that year

at this stage it will be assumed that the amount will be the same as in the current year - and on population,

national income, ability to absorb technical assistance, and similar factors. Taking these amounts as an indica

tion of ~hat will probably be available, but not limiting their requests to them, governments, in consultation with

the agencies participating· in the Programme and with the resident representatives of the TAB, will draw up their

requests for technical assistance listing them in order of priority, and will forward them, by about September, to

the· T A.B. The latter will then consider these requests and prepare the over-all programme for the year, including

estimates of administrative and indirect operational costs, which will be submitted for approval to the TAC.

-44-

Technical Assistance 45

This procedure was to some extent anticipated and followed in planning the programme for 1955, except

that States were not asked to list their requests .in order of priority as among agencies and the final programme

was not submitted to the TAC. Since the requests entailed the expenditure of considerably more than the sums available for technical assistance in 1955, an arbitrary decision had to be taken on the requests to be implemented,

For this purpose the TAB had recourse to the percentages previously used for allocating technical assistance funds

among the participating agencies, ICAO's sh,are in 1955 therefore will again be approximately 4. 4f1/o of the total funds. During discussions in the TAC it had been recognized that money might be wasted and technical difficul

ties might arise if considerable fluctuation in an agency's programme occurred, It was therefore agreed that the

amount allocated to each of the participating organizations for any year should not be less than 85 per cent of

th.e amount allocated to it in the previous year's programme, e~cept that, if the estimated net financial resources for the year fell below the total allocations made during the previous year, the amount allocated to each parti

cipating organization should not be less than 85 per cent of its proportion of ·the allocations for the latter year,

3.- Finance

In March the TAC approved the proposal of the TAB to establish a reserve fund large enough to tide the

Programme over the first half of any year, so that normal operations would not be delayed by belated payment of

pledged contributions. ·This fund is to be built up by setting aside $3, 000, 000 each year from contributions to the

Technical Assistance Fund until a total of $12,000, 000 has been accumulated, It will enable the participating agencies to meet their full contractual obligations at all times, even if the Programme should be terminated, b.ut

while it is being built up the amounts available for current allocation are reduced, All of the agencies had their

planned budgets for 1954 sharply reduced and had to cut their programmes accordingly. The funds made available

to ICAO dropped from approximately $1, 015, 000 in 1953 to about $750, 000 in 1954, a reduction which created particular difficulties for the Organization because all of its projects were in operation and nearly all of them were of a long-term nature. Strenuous efforts were made to economize, with the result that almost all new requests for

assistance had to be reftised, the. contracts of many experts had to be allowed to lapse, some fellowships had to be postponed, and some missions had to be denied necessary equipment. The Organization's expenditure for 1954

consequently approximated $750,000, but the $35,000 borrowed from the TAB against the 1954 allocation to meet commitments in 1953 cannot be completely repaid until 1955.

At the Pledging Conference held in December to provide funds for the 1955 Programme, pledges totalling $12,264,136 were made, Some countries pledged amounts c(>nsiderably higher than those pledged in earlier

years, but others that had previously contributed (including the United States, which had been a major contributor)

did not pledge at'the Conference. Hence 1955 opened with substantially less money available than expected, and much less than would be needed to carry -out the programme planned for the year. Having regard to the amount pledged and other funds on hand, including a carry-over from 1954, the TAB announced that the agencies should

embark initially upon a programme to cost $15, 000, 000. For ICAO this means a maximum commitment of

$626, 000, which, in tum, mearis deferring action on many of the requests that have already been approved. If the countries that have not yet pledged provide at least as much as they have in the past, the TAB will have at its

disposal a larger sum than before, and some of the projects currently being withheld by ICAO may be taken up.

4.- Country by Country Review of ICAO Technical Assistance Activities

Afghanistan

An aerodrome engineer visited Afghanistan in 1954 to make a survey of aerodrome sites, in particular one at Kandahar suitable for international operations and one at Kabul for feeder line services. Recommendations for

siting and construction were drawn up and preliminary cost estimates prepared, The Government approved these


recommendations in principle and at the year's end was engaged in negotiations to find the necessary funds, It

was also considering proposals by foreign airlines to initiate air services within the country and with neighbouring

States.

The radio expert appointed late in 1953 to advise on the country's needs for aeronautical communications

and radio aids prepared a plan for the gradual installation and operation of the necessary equipment for internal

and international services, beginning with daylight operation at a number of aerodromes. The plan recommends

the provision of basic navigational aids and the installation of radio equipment capable of handling both fixed and

mobile services, including an elementary weather service. After approving it, the Government, on the advice of

the mission, selected pupils to begin training in meteorology and radio operation at the Afghan Institute of Tech

nology, a technical school set up with the help of Unesco. It has been necessary to give these pupils preliminary instruction in mathematics, physics and other general subjects before beginning the technical instruction, An

instructor in radio operation was appointed during the latter part of 1954 and an instructor in meteorological

observations is to be appointed early in 1955. The civil aviation adviser appointed in 1952 continued his work throughout 1954 and his services will be required in 1955.

Burma

In accon:Iance with arrangements made in 1953, a Burmese lawyer was awan:led a six months' fellowship to enable him to study aviation law in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Sweden and to draft an aviation law for Burma under the supervision of an expert who had previously visited that country to advise the

Government on the kind of civil aviation legislation and regulations needed. After the Burmese authorities have

studied the draft, the expert will return to Burma to assist in its presentation to the legislative authority.

A fellowship for study of the administration and operation of aeronautical communications and radio aids

was awarded to the Chief of the Telecommunications and Radio Aids Branch of the Directorate of Civil Aviation.

After completing an eight months' course in the United Kingdom and visiting ICAO Headquarters, he went to the

United States in October for further studies and is expected to return to Burma. by the end of January 1955.

China (Taiwan)

A fellowship awarded in 19~2 for the study of modem aids to air navigation and their application to air

traffic services was taken up early in 1954. The holder took courses in airways control, II..S, VHF Omni

directional Range, Distance Measuring Equipment and radar aids at the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration's

aeronautical centre at Oklahoma City, and after acquiring some practical experience returned to Taiwan in

November.

With the assistance of the three-man mission which has been in Egypt since September 1952, the air traffic

system was re-organized and co-ordinated with the systems of neighbouring countries. New air traffic control

procedures, prepared in 1953, were put into force. A new message centre at Cairo was established and operating

instructions drawn up. Operating positions of fixed and mobile circuits were changed to bring them into closer

contact with the ATS and other units they serve. All radio equipment in use in the Cairo area was inspected; a

statement of deficiencies and of maintenance requirements was prepared; equipment held in store was checked; a

statement of equipment and spare parts needed was drawn up. A new radio maintenance workshop was established

and on the job instruction given in the maintenance of all equipment.


During the year the Government appointed assistant instructors to the Civil Aviation School to be trained

by the technical assistance experts to take over training duties when the mission leaves. Courses at the school have been opened to trainees from other States; two Saudi Arabians and six Sudanese completed ATS training in

1954 and nine others from the same two countries enrolled for the course that began late in the year.

El Salvador

The three year plan .for the improvement and development of air safety services at the main airport at San

Salvador, prepared in 1953 by the expert in this field, gave priority to the services needed for approach and aero

drome control, as other services depended on plans made in concert with other Central American countries which

would take time to mature. The necessary equipment for these services was purchased and installed in 1954. The presentation to Congress of the civil aviation statute prepared by the other member of the mission- an expert in

civil aviation administration and aviation law -,has been delayed by changes in the Government. The two experts have been consulted by the administration on most matters of importance concerning civil aviation, and both of

them, with the agreement of El Salvador, have spent a good deal of time outside the country, advising other Central American States, on request, on their specialties.

E1 Salvador is one of the countries that have taken advantage of the facilities of the Mexican Aviation

Training Centre. So far, six scholarships for training at the Centre have been awarded to nationals of this State.

Ethiopia

During 1954 the mission was occupied primarily with the training of ground personnel -.meteorological

observers and forecasters, aircraft maintenance mechanics, radio operators and air traffic controllers. The Foreign Operations Administration of the United States (FOA) has granted eight fellowships to gradu&tes of the Civil Aviation School, two of them to aircraft maintenance mechanics for two years advanced training in the United States

to fit them to act as instructors in the School, four for specialized training in meteorology, and two in radio maintenance. Another graduate has been granted a fellowship in radio engineering by the British Council. All

but two of the twelve MET observing stations established outside Addis Ababa are now manned by personnel trained under the supervision of the technical assistance mission. Although the operation of the meteorological netWork cannot yet be described as entirely satisfactory, a check on eight stations made in July showed that more than 8(J1/o of the messages sent out by seven of them, and 7(J1/o of those sent out by the eighth, were received. The

Meteorological Service is now adequately housed at the central airport of Addis Ababa in a building where there is space for a radiosonde station. In October a radio station with. stand-by equipment and an auxiliary power plant, providing all communications services required at the airport, was put into commission. An internal teleprinter

network between various services and airline offices was established.

During the year it was learned that a former ICAO fellowship holder had become Chief of Air Traffic Services in the Department of Civil Aviation, and that the five pilots who had received advanced flying training

under fellowships were now employed as First Pilots in the Ethiopian Airlines.

Greece

Two holders of fellowships in meteorology, who began their studies in 1953, returned to Greece in 1954.

One did post-graduate study in meteorology at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in the United Kingdom and afterwards had an opportunity to make observations at meteorological stations in the country. The other, a technician, studied the maintenance of radiosonde equipment and the operation and maintenance of tele

type equipment in France and Italy.


Four fellowship holders completed early in 1954 studies begun during the previous year. One studied air

transport economics in Australia for seven months, another aircraft engine maintenance in the United States and

United Kingdom, and the third aircraft engine maintenance in the same two countries. The fourth, an official

of the· Indian Airlines Corporation, studied flight operations in the United States, where he was given demonstra

tions of testing aircraft performance and of procedures for the control of flight Operations, including observations

in flight on DC-4 aircraft. He passed technic.al examinations on aircraft engines and equipment on this type of

plane. The recipient of a short-term fellowship, awarded early in 1954, spent five weeks in the Netherlands.

studying airline statistics and traffic analysis in the Traffic Department of Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM). All have

returned to their former employment. Word bas been received that the fellow ·.vho studied flight testing of ail'

line pilots in the United Kingdom and United States in 1953 has been appointed Inspector of Flying of the Indian

Airlines Corporation.

Indonesia

Shortage of funds made it necessary to reduce the number of experts assigned to Indonesia, and, as the

planning stage· of its work had been to a large eXtent completed in 1953, the mission in 1954 concentrated on

assisting the Indonesian Government with implementation and on training. Aerodrome control was established

and the necessary equipment installed at thirty of the forty-nine aerodromes proposed in the plan prepared by the

mission. Equipment for radio communications and radio aids to navigation, including forty non-directional

beacons, was bought and installation begun; twenty aeronautical fixed service stations were set up, and RTT

equipment for an international channel was installed. Improvements were made ii:t the national point-to-point

fix.ed services. A plan for the organization of a national radio maintenance service was accepted by the Govern

ment and a start made on its implementation.

The first series of two-year courses in radio operation, air traffic cdntrol, aerodrome management and .

ground instruction for pupil pilots, begun in 1952, 'ended in the latter part of 1954. Others, started later at six

month or yearly intervals, and the two-and-a-half year courses· in radio and aircraft maintenance, were still in

progress at the year's end. In mid-1954 the experts who had been instructing in radio operation and air traffic

services turned over their duties to Indonesians who had been trained by the mission. Technical assistance experts

will, however, be necessary for some time to come to give training in radio and aircraft maintenance and ground

instruction to pilots, as well as to supervise the installation and operation of radio equipment and aerodrome

constl'Uction. The gradual transfer of the aviation school from temporary quarters at Kemajoran Airport to Tjurug

Aerodrome near Djakarta as accommodation became available continued during 1954 and is not yet completed.

No new fellowships were awarded to Indonesian nationals in 1954. One holder of a fellowship granted in

1953 completed his studies in Australia on aerodrome conStruction and returned in September to a post in the

Department of Civil Aviation.

Iran

The provision of $52, 000 by the Government of Iran, mentioned earlier, not only averted the necessity of

reducing the size of the mission but made it possible to add to it an aeronautical engineer in October, following

the visit to Iran oi a member of a mission in an adjoining country to make a survey of airworthiness problems. The

members of the mission divided their time between assisting the Department of Civil Aviation with the installation

of equipment and the improvement of air navigation services and continuing the programme of ab ~ and on

the-job training which has from the beginning been one of its major activities.


Communications, air traffic, meteorological and aeronautical information services were reorganized and grouped together for better co-ordination. Communications facilities at Mehrabad Airport were improved by moving the entire aerial array to a better site and completely rearranging it, by establishing new receiving and transmitting stations and overhauling the transmitters, and by installing a new power supply. Existing medium and low-powered beacons were overhauled and resited whenever necessary, and some new ones were installed. Two radio maintenance workshops were set up at Mehrabad, the first to be part of the aviation training school and the second a centralized workshop for the Iranian Radio Service. In the field of air traffic services, advice was given on the layout of the new control tower at 'Mehrabad, and air traffic rules 2.nd rules of the air in accordance with ICAO standards were put into effect.

Meteorological services for the Air Force, Department of Agriculture and Department of Civil Aviation, hitherto separately controlled, were all placed under the Director of Civil Aviation, who was made responsible

,for the provision of weather information for all purposes. At Mehrabad Airport a climatological section was opened, the forecasting office reorganized, and a radiosonde station set up with radiosonde operators trained by the mission. A pilot balloon station was established at Kermanshah and new observation stations at Shahrkord, Takestan, Sabsevar, and Birjand. Instruments in all stations were inspected, repaired a:qd calibrated. A plan was prepared for the eventual establishment of a national institute of meteorology to co-ordinate meteorological activities in Iran.

The mission also gave advice on personnel licensing and training problems and on accident investigation, including, in the latter case, assistance in the conduct of actual investigations.

Many of the improvements detailed above were made possible by the training programme, which is progressively turning out trained personnel to man meteorological, communications and air traffic control facilities, and by the co-operation of the Foreign Operations Administration of the United States (FOA) which has supplied funds for equipment and for local services beyond the reach of ICAO and of the Iranian Government, on condition that all work on them would be done under the supervision of the ICAO mission and in accordance with plans prepared by it.

Implementation of the three-year plan for the installation of radio communications and radio aids to navigation, prepared by the radio expert of the mission, made substantial progress in 1954, airlines flying into Iraq reporting a recognizable improvement in services as a result. New equipment arrived and was installed under the expert•s supervision. The first landline teleprinter circuit between Baghdad and Habbaniya was put into operation .. Two workshops were organized and equipped with modem tools. Systematic maintenance and inspection .of receivers, transmitters and teleprinters began. Projects not finished but well advanced at the year 's end included the installation of a twin-channel, high-power MET broadcast transmitter, installation of high-power threechannelHF RT, and the installation of new tower equipment comprising one HF and two VHF channels.

The plan for the development of a national MET service drawn up·by the MET expert of the mission involves the training of Iraqis as observers and forecasters, the use of foreign personnel to maintain an efficient service in the meantime, the purchase of equipment to ·extend the surface observation network, the development of two forecasting centres and the creation of a headquarters unit to control the service, and is necessarily a longterm one. The plan has been accepted by the Government, training begun, foreign forecasters engaged, and equipment ordered.


Training in radio maintenance and air traffic control, as well as in meteorology, continued during 1954 in

Basra and Baghdad. The installation of equipment provided. an opportunity to give some on-the-job training.

Information received during the year on the work now being done by Iraqis who have studied under ICAO

fellowships reveals that one is Chief Air Traffic Control Officer at Baghdad Airport, another is Airport Com

mandant at Basra Airport, and a tllird is Senior Meteorological Observer at this airport.

Israel

The two-man mission gave advice and assistance on a variety of subjects -the co-ordination of air traffic

control procedures in the Eastern Mediterranean Flight Information Region; the drafting of regulations on personnel

licensing, airworthiness, rules of the air and air traffic services; the preparation, after a survey conducted with the

assistance of a productivity expert from the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration Mission, of plans

for improving the operations of the national airline by progressive training of air crew and the establishment of

proper rules for familiarization with air routes and equipment; the conduct of examinations for various licences;

and the organization and duties of the various branches of the Civil Aviation Department, with particular attention

to the establishment of an Airworthiness Authority and of a technical services division. In addition, the mission

gave a considerable amount of training of one kind and another, although formal classroom instruction was

limited to air traffic services.

One fellowship for the study of methods of aircraft certification in other States was awarded in 1954 to the

engineer appointed by the Israeli Government in 1953 as a supervisor in the Airworthiness Branch of the Civil

Aviation Department. A second eJ?.gineer was appointed as a supervisor in 1954, and it is planned to give him a

similar opportunity for training abroad when the first returns to Israel. Three holders of fellowships granted in

1953 for the study of aeronautical meteorology, civil aviation administration and installation of radio aids com

pleted their training early.in 1954.

Lebanon

During the greater part of 1954 three experts (in air traffic services, meteorology and radio communica

tions and aids) constitUted the ICAO mission to Lebanon, the airport management expert leaving the country

early in the year after completing his assignment to assist in the organization of services at Beirut International

Airport and give on-the-job training in airport management.

A scheme for the reorganization of the Air Traffic Services Branch of the Civil Aviation Department was

approved by the Government and is being implemented as trained personnel become available. Early in the year

a new area control centre was established and the ATS expert· devoted some weeks to supervising its operation.

An Aeronautical Information Publication for air traffic services was prepared and published. Measures for the co

ordination of Lebanese and Syrian air traffic services were drafted and approved by the two Governments.

An upper air observation station was established and began to make regular observations. A work programme

for the Meteorological Branch of the Civil Aviation Department was drawn up, and the Government made the

necessary staff appointments and issued rules and regulations. A climatological section was established early in

the year.


A direct radiotelephony circuit between Beirut and Damascus went into operation in January following approval by the Lebanese and Syrian Governments of a plan prepared by the mission in collaboration with the ICAO mission in Syria. A central radio communications section was organized and began operating on a twentyfour hour basis. A plan for the regular maintenance of radio equipment, including technical instmctlons for maintenance, was drawn up and accepted.

Throughout the year regular classroom instruction was given in air traffic services and there was a good deal of on-the-job tralning in radio operation and maintenance and in the operation of airport services.

A legal adviser was sent to Libya in January to help the Government to draw up aviation legislation and ,relevant regulations. :He prepared draft laws on civil aviation and meteorology which, with certain modifications suggested by the Legal Bureau of the Qrganh:ation, were submitted to the Libyan Government in the middle of the year. They are now going through the necessary legislative processes.

Mexico

The Civil Aviation Training Centre in Mexico City, opened in June 1953, _continued its activities throughout 1954. One of the six ICAO experts on the staff of the Centre was replaced in September by a Mexican who had been acting as assistant instructor. Another expert is to be withdrawn in April1955 under a similar arrangement, and eventually the other posts filled by members of the mission will be taken over by Mexicans now acting as their assistants. A total of about 150 pupils - 49 of them scholarship holders from other Latin American countries - were studying at the Centre when the year ended.

Pakistan

The three instructors provided by ICAO in 1951 under an agreement with International Aeradio Ltd., to give ab initio training and refresher courses in air traffic control, radio operation and radio engineering were withdrawn at the end of May when their contracts expired. The ATS expert appointed late in 1953 under a supplementary technical assistance agreement assisted with instruction, prepared a manual of air traffic services with supplementary procedures for all aerodromes in the country which was brought into effect at the beginriing of October, drew up an Aeronautical Information Publication, and advised on the co-ordination of Karachi's air traffic services with those of adjoining States. A second expert appointed under the same agreement arrived early in 1954 and spent nine months in Pakistan, advising the Govemm~nt and the national airline on air transport statistics, preparingreports on cost accounting, nomenclature and reporting forms for general accounts, and the practical application of standard costing for the purpose of reporting to the management (permanent budgetary control), and advising on the reorganization of.the engineering and stores departments, on the establishment of a job costing section, and on the decentralization of the accounts department.

In May an experienced communications officer, awarded a fellowship in 1952, completed nearly a year's study of··the organization and operation of communications services in the United Kingdom with excellent reports, and on his way home visited communications centres in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.


The Philippines

Financial stringency made it impossible to implement the agreement signed with the Philippine Govern

ment under which ICAO had undertaken .to provide an expert in air traffic services to act as consultant to the

Civil Aeronautics Administration, to supervise the establishment of a tra:Ining school and to train air traffic con

trollers, and an expert in airline statistics and traffic analysis to advise on statistical requirements.

The fellowship programme did, however, enable some senior offiCials to gain a broader outlook and up-to

date technical knowledge. Three of the five holders of fellowships awarded in previous years completed in May

studies in the United States begun late in 1953. One studied airport management and is now airport manager at

Manila Airport. Another studied air safety inspection. The third, who is now an enforcement officer in the

Philippine Administration, studied aviation law and enforcement litigation. The other two fellowship holders

began six month courses in the latter part of 1954, one in airport design, constructio~ and maintenance in the

United States, and the other in the facilitation of air transport m the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and

Sweden.

A request for expert advice could not be met for financial reasons, and technical assistance to Spain in

1954 was confined to continuation of studies on radio aids to navigation by a radio engineer under a fellowship

awarded in 1952. Between October 1953 and June 1954 he attended courses at the CAA aeronautical centre in

Oklahoma City in the operation of the Federal Airways and in the use and mabitenance of VOR, DME and other

navigational aids. 1-Ie also had an opportunity to gain practical experience with these aids and to visit ICAO Head

quarters.

A mission of five experts arrived in Syria late in 1953 to advise on the organization of the Civil Aviation

Department and to set up a training programme in air traffic services, radio installation, operation and mainte

nance, and aeronautical meteorology. The first few months were spent in drawing up plans for the Government's

approval, estimating the extent of the services required, helping operating personnel to improve existing services,

and making preparations for the Qpening of a training school. Lack of funds made it necessary to withdraw the

civil aviation adviser in April after he had completed the first part of his a8.signment, but it is hoped that the post

can be re-established in 1955.

On the advice of the mission, a Department of Meteorology was established, combining the previously

separate services of the Air Force and Department of Civil Aviation. A new meteorological office was set up at

Damascus Airport. A number of steps were taken to improve existing meteorological services,

Mobile and iixed services were reorganiZed and, as mentioned earlier, a radiotelephony circuit between

Damascus and Beirut was opened. Sites for a VHF/ DF station and locator beacon at Damascus Airport were

recommended by the mission and approved, Teleprinter circuits were set. up between services at the airport. A

radio maintenance workshop was established there, and equipment ovemauled,· repaired and adjusted.

In collaboration with the mission ln Lebanon and with the concurrence of the two Governments, air traffic

services in Syria and Lebanon were co-ordinated, eliminating the special difficulties resulting from the very small

distance between the ATS centres of Damasciis and Beirut. A NOTAM service was established, and the mission

Technical Assistance

assisted in the preparation of an Aeronautical Information Publication and of instructions for an Aeronautical Information Service.

53

At the Government's request, an aerodrome expert was sent to Syria for a short time and, with the assistance of other members of the mission, made a preliminary survey of a new site for the Damascus Airport. Advice was also given on the design and layout of an approach lighting system at Damascus and on the improvement of Aleppo Airport.

Training began in April with an initial enrolment of seventy-one pupils for classes in air traffic services, radio maintenance and operation, and meteorological observing and forecasting. A considerable amount of onthe-job training was given to staff in existing services, resulting in more efficient operation which has been commented on favourably by the airlines. Because of financial considerations and the fact that a number of Syrians had already gone abroad for advanced training under other arrangements, no action has yet been taken on the Government's request for fellowships.

Thailand

During 1954 three of the five members of the mission were withdrawn, the two remaining being an instructor in aircraft maintenance and an expert on aircraft instrument overhaul and repair. The Chief of Mission, who gave flying training to Thai Airways pilots and advised the airline on operational techniques, completed his assignment in April. The important parts of the airline's operations manual were prepared and published with his help, and arrangements were made for the continued training and testing of pilots. The ATS expert, who left in the latter part of the.year, gave advice on the co-ordination of military and civil air traffic services at the airport of Bangkok,. made recommendations for the improvement of civil air traffic services, and advised on aeronautical biformation services. Through the work of the two instructors in aircraft maintenance, one of whom left in the latter part of 1954, aircraft utilization was increased by better scheduling of maintenance, the administration of airline stores was improved, and arrangements were made for the supply of spare parts. The expert on instrument repair and overhaul planned and supervised the fitting out of a new instrument overhaul and repair shop, made recommendations (which were accepted) for standardizing instruments in the aircraft of the national airline, and

. drafted maintenance instructions for instrument mechanics.

Ab initio training for aircraft mechanics and air traffic controllers continuea t.nroughout the year. A second course for aircraft mechanics began in June and the first one, which had started shortly after the middle of 1952 and included practical demonstrations and supervised work in the Thai Airways workshops as well as classroom instruction, ended late in 1954. In addition, refresher and advanced comses were given in air traffic services. Radio operators in the Government's employ were given a refresher course, and instrument repair mechanics received on-the-job instruction.

Three fellowship holders completed their studies in Australia and returned home to employment with Thai Airways. One obtained the Australian Flight Navigator's Licence and is now a regular navigator for Thai Airways. The other two obtained C and D licences in aircraft mechanics; both' are helping ICAO experts to train local personnel and, in addition, have been given the posts of Acting Chief, Planning and Inspection Department, and Chief of Work and Ovemaul Workshops, respectively.


Turkey

By the end of 1953 it had become clear that for really effective technical assistance to Turkey more

experts were needed, and as a shortage of funds was at that time forcing economies in all ICAO missions, it

was decided to hand over the work begun by the three ICAO experts to the FOA mission in Turkey. At the

special request of the Turkish Government the airline operations expert remained until July, but the civil

aviation adviser was withdrawn in February and the ATS expert in March.

The civil aviation adviser made recommendations on the reorganization of the government departments

with responsibilities in connection with civil aviation and gave advice on administration. The airline opera

tions expert worked with the staff of the airline in preparing an operations manual and advised on the training of

airline pilots and on flight and maintenance schedules. The ATS expert gave some advice on the organization

of air traffic services, but devoted most of his time to training.

Yugoslavia

Four experts provided by ICAO under the Technical Assistance Programme were in Yugoslavia for varying

periods during 1954. Two were sent in December 1953 onshort-term missions, one to determine the extent of

the need for training of radio and ATS personnel, the other to advise on the development of radio aids to naviga

tion. A third was in Yugoslavia from March to August,. advising on air traffic services and giving training. The

Chief of Mission, appointed in June 1952, remained in the country throughout the year.

A plan for the reorganization of the technical services of the Yugoslav airline, prepared by the Chief of

Mission and calling for the establishment of four main departments whose duties were specified in detail, was

accepted and implemented. A detailed plan for the organization of the air traffic services, telecommunications

and airport branches of the Civil Aviation Authority was also drawn up. Substantial progress was made in the

installation of radio aids and in the improvement of communications services. At Belgrade a VOR station began

operating in September and towards the end of the year work started on the installation of a VHF transmitter

centre for air traffic services and of a VHF receiving centre. Plans for the installation of a VHF I DF station and

VHF transmitters and receivers at three other airports were well advanced. Constant and detailed advice was

given to the Government and to the airline on the improvement and installation of ground and airborne equip

ment. Training was given throughout the year, mostly to personnel with some technical knowledge and experience.

From the beginning the Yugoslav Government has requested a comparatively large number of short-term

fellowships to enable its technicians to acquaint themselves with the latest developments in their particular fields.

Nine were awarded in 1954, five to radio engineers who took three and a half .months' training at the Ecole

nationale de !'aviation civile in Paris, and four to airport managers who studied in France for six weeks under the

supervision of the Director of the same school. Four holders of fellowships awarded in 1953 completed their study

of communications in Switzerland in February and returned home.

CHAPTER VI

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL QUESTIONS

l,- Status of the Chicago Acts*

The membership of the Organization stood at sixty-five on 31 December 1954, Its increase by four during the year resulted from the re-ratification of the Convention on International Civil Aviation by the Republic of China, effective 1 January; ratification by Uruguay and Ecuador, effective 13 February and 14 September respectively; and the adherence of VietNam, effective 18 November,

The Government of Yugoslavia signed the Convention on 6 January and deposited its instrument of ratification on 15 February with a reservation concerning Article 5, The Department of State of the United States of America, as depositary, has requested the views of Contracting States on the acceptability of this reservation, and pending a decision on this point Yugoslavia cannot be considered a Contracting State,

There was no change during the year in the number of ratifications of the Protocol dated 27 May 1947 concerning the amendment to the Convention designated "Article 93 bis". This Protocol has not yet come into force, having been ratified by only nineteen States** out of the required number of twenty-eight, representing two-thirds of the number of contracting States at the time the amendment was adopted.

The Protocol dated 14 June 1954 concerning the amendment to Article 45 of the Convention (~Section 2 below) had been ratified by three States up to the end of the year - Ethiopia (25 October), the Dominican Republic (28 December) a,nd Finland {30 December). These three States and Canada (4 November) had ratified the amendments to Articles 48(a), 49(e) and 61 contained in another Protocol of the same date. Each of these Protocols requires forty-two ratifications to bring it into force,

Israel accepted the International Air Services Transit Agreement on 16 June, bringing the number of States parties to it to forty-three. Eleven States remained parties to the International Air Transport Agreement throughout 1954, but on 3 Ju,ne the Government of Venezuela gave notice of withdrawal, effective 3 June 1955,

Carrying further the action taken in 1952, pursuant to Assembly Resolution A3-2, to provide French and Spanish texts of the Convention, the Council, on 7 April, adopted French and Spanish texts of the International Air Services Transit Agreement, to be used, in addition to the English text signed at Chicago, "for the internal purposes of the Organization, i, e. for the work of the Secretariat, the Assembly, the Council and other bodies of the Organization, and for any reference to be made by the Organization in communications to Contracting States", At the same time it recommended that Contracting States use only these three texts for reference purposes in their relations with ICAO or with other Contracting States, and directed the Secretary General to make arrangements for their publication (see Doc 7500).

2.- Amenc.lrPent and Interpretation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation

Amendment of Articles 48(a), 49(e) and 61

At the beginning of Febr11ary, the Council decided to recommend to the Assembly approval of the proposal of the Netherlands for amendments to Articles 48(a), 49(e) and 61 of the Convention designed to permit the Organization to arrange its progran1me of Assembly .sessions at less frequent intervals than annually, after a canvass of Contracting States had revealed overwhelming support for the proposal. The Assembly adopted these amendments on 14 June

* For a complete list of the States parties to these Acts §.!!~Appendix 1. ** Afghanistan, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Ceylon,. China, Czechoslovakia, the Dominican

Republic, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Mc:xico, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Syria and the United Kingdom,

- ')') ..


(Resolution AB-1) by a vote of ,•P to 0 with one abstention (Portugal) and specified 42 (two-thirds

of the 63 States Me.mbers of the Organization at that date) as the number of States upon whose

ratification they would come into force. _Certified c'opie!? of the Protocol of amendment were

transmitted to Contracting Stli.tes .early in J;uly, wi~ 'f!.'letter. dra,wing their attention to the

Assembly's recommendation that they take 'urgent action to ratify the amendments. As noted

above, four States had ratified by the year's end.

In complementary resolutions {AB-2 and AB-3) the Assembly decided that there should be

an Assembly session in 1955 - a "limited" one - regardless of whether the amendments had

come into force, and directed the Council to study the effects of the amendments and to pre

pare, for consideration bythe 1956 session of the Assembly, recommendations on the future

policy of the Organization in regard to frequency of Assembly sessions •.

Amendment of Article 45

Early in April the Council reviewed the situation arising from the fact that the Organiza

tion had not received from the Province of Quebec the privileges and immunities necessary for

its proper functioning in Montreal and, in particular, the problems raised by the passing of

the Provincial Income Tax Act, 1954. While reserving judgment on the position pending clari

fication, the Council decided that the Assembly should be able to take action if the permanent

transfer of the seat from Montreal should ever become desirable. This requir.ed an amend

ment to Article 45, which provides only for a temporary transfer by the Council. The Council

therefore proposed to the Eighth Session of the Assembly that Article 45 should be amended to

empower the Assembly to transfer the seat of the Organization permanentlyby the affirmative

vote of not less than half the total number of Contracting States.

The amendment provoked a great deal of discussion in the Assembly, much of it on the

question of what constituted a satisfactory guarantee of the stability of the Organization when

specifying the number of affirmative votes required for a permanent transfer of the seat. The

amendment finally adopted (Resolution AB-4), by 42 votes to 1 (the United States) with one ab

stention (China), provided that the seat of the Organization might be transferred otherwise than

temporarily by decision of the Assembly, such decision to be taken by the number of votes

specified by the Assembly and that number to be not less than three-fifths of the total number

of Contracting States. As a safeguard against precipitate action, the Assembly in a separate

resolution {AB-5) directed that no proposal to move the seat of the Organization should'be con

sidered by any future session of the Assembly unless notice of it and all pertinent documenta

tion had been sent to Contracting States at least one hundred and twenty days before the opening

of that session. Certified copies of the Protocol embodying the amendment to Article 45 were

dispatched to Contracting States on the same date as the Protocol containing the amendments

to Articles 48(a), 49(e) and 61, under cover of a letter directing attention to the Assembly's

recommendation that urgent .action be taken for its ratification. As previously noted, three

States had ratified itby the end of the year.· ·

Amendment of Article 29

Reference has already been made in Chapter Ill(cf. page34) to the recommendation of the

· Strasbourg Conference that ICAO examine the possibility of amending Article 29 of the Conven

tion by substituting for the list of documents to be carried by aircraft engaged in international

air navigation a simple reference to documents whose use may be prescribed by the Convention

a recommendation prompted by the belief that recent achievements in the facilitation field have

rendered the Article obsolescent and that it may become a deterr.ent to further progress in this

field unless-corrective-action is taken. The Council has agreed that the matter should be

studied, and that if this study indicates such an amendment to be practicable and desirable, the

views of all Contracting States will be sought on the ·desirability of proceeding with it and on the

form it should take.

Constitutional and Legal Questions

Study of Rule 54 of the Standing Rules of Procedure of the Assembly in relation to Articles 93 and 94 of the Convention

57

During Assembly discussion on the amendment of Article 45, attention was called to a possible misinterpretation, in Rll:le 54 of the Standing Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, of the four-fifths and two-thirds vote of the Assembly required under Articles 93 and 94(a) respectively. According to this Rule, States registered at the Assembly but absent at the time of voting and States abstaining are to be included in the total for the purpose of computing the four-fifths and two-thirds vote, whereas Article 48(c) of the Convention prescribes that, unless otherwise provided in the Convention, decisions of the Assembly should be taken by a majority of the votes cast, from which it could be argued that the four-fifths and two-thirds vote required by Article 93 and 94(a) mean four-fifths and two-thirds of the votes cast. In Resolution AB-6 the Assembly asked the Council to study Rule 54 in relation to Articles 93 and 94, having regard to all other relevant Articles; to circulate appropriate material on the subject to Contracting States with a request for their comments; and,. taking into consideration any comments received, to present its recommendation to the Assembly as soon as practicable.

The question was referred by the Council to the Legal Committee which, after careful study by a Subcommittee, advised that Rule 54 presented no conflict with Articles 93 and 94(a). Though accepting this conclusion as a prim~ facie indication that no change in the Rule was necessary, the Council decided, before making a recommendation to the Assembly, to circulate the Subcommittee's report (Doc 7521 LC/137, pp. 33-36) as the "appropriate material" mentioned in Resolution AB-6, with a request for comments by 31 January 1955.

3.- Conventions on Private Air Law Concluded under the Auspices of ICAO

Convention on Damage Caused by Foreign Aircraft to Third Parties on the Surface (opened for signature at Rome on 7 October 1952)

During 1954 four States - Canada {26 May), Libya ( 11 August), Sweden ( 11 August) and Norway ( 10 December) - signed the Convention, bringing the number of signatories to twenty-four.* The Convention will remain open for signature until it comes into force, i.e. ninety days after the deposit of the fifth instrument of. ratification. So far, only one instrument of ratification has been deposited, that of Egypt on 23 February 1954~

Convention on the International Reco nition of Rights in Aircraft (o ened for signature at Geneva on 19 June 1948

The number of signatories to this Convention remained unchanged at twenty-seven,** An instrument of ratification (without reservation) was deposited by the Government of Norway on 5 March,*** and, in accordance with Article XX of the Convention, took effect on the ninetieth day after deposit (3 June).

* Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, the Dominican Republic,. Egypt, France, Israel, •Italy, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

** Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Frcl.nce, Greece, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Venezuela.

*** Other instruments of ratification without reservation have been deposited by the Governments of the United States of America (6 September 1949}, Brazil (3 July 1953), Pakistan (19 June 1953). Instruments with reservations concerning the priority to be given to fiscal claims and other claims arising o~t of work contracts or salaries and wages of crew have been deposited by the Governments of Mexico (5 April 1950) and Chile (20 November 1951).


4.- Work of the Legal Committee

Work Programme

The draft Convention on Aerial Collisions and consideration of the legal status of aircraft,

negotiability of the air waybill, and Rule 54 of the Standing Rules of Procedure of the Assembly

made up the active part of the work programme of the Legal Committee during 1954, and, with

the exception of the last named which has been disposed of, will continue. to do so for the next

two years, unless some unforeseen question should arise requiring attention. A possible addi

tion is the item "Settlement of international private air law disputes arising in connection with

civil aviation, together with authority of judgments by competent tribunals on conventions in

force on air matters, and distribution and allocation of awards", which the Committee has

recommended should become a subject of current work, following the adoption, by the Confer

ence on Private International Air Law convened in Rome in September 1952, of a resolution

urging the study of a system of settlement, at the appeal stage, of international private air

law disputes. The Council, which under the revised Constitution of the Legal Committee must

approve the Committee's work programme, has deferred action on this recommendation, pend

ing a more complete response from States to a letter requesting their views on the desirability

and practicability of developing such a system.

No meeting of the Legal Committee is planned in 1955, but two subcommittees are sched

uled to meet in April.

Draft Protocol to Amend the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules. relating to

International Carriage by Air Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929

In view of the generally favourable nature of the comments of States on the draft Protocol

prepared by the Legal Committee at its Ninth Session (25 August- 12 September 1953), the

Council, on 18 May, decided to convene a conference for its consideration and approval on or

about 6 September 1955, and accepted with appreciation the invitation of the Netherlands Gov

ernment to hold this conference at The Hague. All Contracting States, and such non-contracting

States as are members of the United Nations or parties to the Warsaw Convention, will be

invited to participate with full voting rights. ·

During the Tenth Session of the Legal Committee, it was pointed out that there might be

some practical difficulties in proceeding with the revision of the Warsaw Convention by way of

a protocol rather than by drawing up a revised Convention. The Committee decided to appoint

a subcommittee of three members (from France, Spain and the United Kingdom) to consider

this question and prepare a report which would be placed before the Hague Conference. The

subcommittee will meet in the latter part of April to complete the work that it has sofar been

carrying on by correspondence.

Draft Convention on Aerial Collisions

Meeting in Paris in January, the Subcommittee on Aerial Collisions, appointed during the

Ninth Session of the Legal Committee, drew up a draft convention and a report on the subject

for consideration by the Committee at its Tenth Session. At this Session (September 7-24), the

Committee prep3.red a new draft, but did not consider it sufficiently developed for submission

to a diplomatic conference as a final text. With a view to preparing such a text, it recommended

that the draft be circulated to Contracting States with a request for their comments, andre

quested the advice of the Council on the method of limiting liability and on the amount or

amounts to which the liability of an aircraft operator should be limited in case of aerial colli

sions.

The draft currently being studied by Contracting States makes the provisions of the Con

vention applicable to collisions between two or more aircraft in movement {in the air or on the

surface), occurring either in the territory of a Contracting State or over the high seas and in

volving aircraft of different nationalities. Unless otherwise specified by a State at the time of

ratification or adherence, the Convention will apply to military~ customs or police aircraft as

well as to civil aircraft. Liability for damage attaches to the operator of the aircraft that caused it,

Constitutional and Legal Questions 59

provided it is proved that the damage was caused by his fault or by that of his servants or agents acting in the course of their employment, whether within the scope of their authority or not, Pending receipt and consideration of the Council's advice, the limits of liability have been left blank, They will not apply if it is proved that the damage is the consequence of a deliberate act or omission of the person liable, his servants or agents acting in the course of their employment, done either with intent to cause damage or recklessly, not caring whether or not damage was likely to result, or if the person liable has wrongfully taken and made use of the aircraft without the consent of a person entitled to permit its use,

Legal Status of Aircraft

The Subcommittee on Legal Status of Aircraft held two meetings during the Tenth Session of the Legal Committee to plan its future work, It decided that to consider occurrences on board aircraft raising problems concerning the legal status of aircraft,* and what law does or should apply to them under various conditions, would be a more useful approach than to study the status of aircraft in law and then to apply the conclusion reached to occurrences on board aircraft in order to determine the law governing them under the conditions in which they occurred, Members of the Subcommittee are individually working on different parts of the study but a meeting is unlikely to be held before late 1955 or early 1956,

Negotiability of the Air Waybill

Following Council approval in February of the inclusion of this subject in the active part of the Legal Committee's work programme, a Subcommittee on it was appointed by the Chairman of the Committee, ·The Subcommittee met briefly for organizational and planning purposes during the Tenth Session of the Committee, and, in view of the importance of negotiability of the air waybill in connection with the co-ordination of air transport in Europe and its relationship to the revision of the Warsaw Convention, agreed that it would be desirable to hold its next meeting, to consider the matter in substance, as soon as practicable after the circulation to members of a report to be prepared by the Rapporteur, The Council has authorized a meeting of the Subcommittee early in April 1955.

5,- Settlement of Differences between States

In December, the Council decided to refer the Rules for the Settlement of Differences (Doc 7392-C/862), provisionally adopted in May 1953, to a group of experts for finalization. These experts are to be nominated by the Chairman of the Legal Committee, in consultation with the President of the Council, from among the members of the Committee, but the group will report directly to the Council, not to the Committee, Arrangements for the appointment of the group were in process at the year's end,

6,- Privileges, Immunities and Facilities for the Organization

Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies

In 1954 Iraq deposited with the Secretary General of the· United Nations its instrument of accession to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies,

* e. g. crimes, torts, acts for which a licence is required by the laws of the State of Registry or State of Occurrence such as sale and service of food and alcoholic beverages, acts constituting the formation of contracts, acts constituting the execution, revocation or modification of wills, births, marriages and deaths,


undertaking at the same time to apply to ICAO the relevant clauses of the Convention and

Annex III, This b:dngs to eighteen the number of States that have undertaken to apply the

Convention to ICAO, * ' '

In October ICAO was informed by the United Nations that EgYP.t had withdrawn the two re

servations filed with its instrument of accession in January 1952, which imposed restrictions

on the transfer of gold by any specialized agency and stated that the provisions of the Conven

tion, particularly those dealing with the use of codes and diplomatic pouches and with entry and

departure from the national territory, did not in any way limit the authority of the Egyptian

Government to taRe all measures necessary for the protection and security of the country,

Privileges, Immunities and Facilities Granted by the Government of Canada

With a view to removing doubts as to the effective establishment of the privileges and

immunities accorded to ICAO under the Headquarters Agreement,** the Government of Canada,

by Order-in-Council P. C. 1954-1791 of 18 November 1954, declared that the foregoing

privileges and immunities should be deemed to have become effective on 1 May 1951.

In 1952 the Council reported to the Assembly that the Canadian Government, when ap

proached for franking or other postal privileges in pursuance of Assembly Resolution A5-13,

had indicated that it was unable either to extend franking privileges to the Organization or to.

enter into an agr.eernent with ICAO similar to those made by the Government of Switzerland

with the speCialized agencies having their headquarters in that country,*** When consultations

were renewed upon the initiative of the Secretary General in .the latter part of 1953, the Deputy

Postmaster General stated that the Post Office Department would be prepared to arrange for

the overprinting of regular issues of Canadian postage stamps, but could not make any special

arrangements regarding philatelic sales, Th~ overprinted stamps would be sold to ICAO ex

clusively, at their normal face value plus a nominal charge for the cost of overprinting, and

the Organization would be free to sell them to philatelists and stamp dealers, setting the selling

price above face value if it desired to derive financial benefit. Considering that the financial

benefit from such an arrangement. was conjectural and that the arrangement could not in any

case achieve the objective of Resolution A5-13 - the reduction of ICAO' s postal costs - the

Council, in May, decided not to accept the proposal for overprinting regular stamps, but to

accept with appreciation an offer of the Canadian Government to issue in 1955 a stamp

* The Netherlands (2 December 1948), India (10 February 1949), the United Kingdom

(16 August 1949), Denmark (25 January 1950), Norway {25 January 1950), the Philippines

{20 March 1950), 'Austria {21 July 1950), L'uxernbourg (20 September 1950), the Hashemite

Kingdom of the Jordan {12 December 1950), Guatemala {30 June 1951), Sweden (12 Sep

tember 1951), Chile {21 September 1951};" Egypt {11 January 1952), Haiti (16 April 1952),

Italy (29 April 1952), Belgium (1 May 1953), Ecuador (7 July 1953) and Iraq (9 July 1954),

The following States have undertaken to apply the Convention to certain other specialized

agencies but not to ICAO: Pakistan(23 July 1951), Yugoslavia (23 November 1951),

Cambodia (15 October 1953), Nepal {23 February 1954) and the Federal Republic of

Germany {17 November 1954), ·

** The Agreement between the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Government

of Canada regarding the Headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization

(Headquarters Agreement) was signed in Montreal on 14 April 1951 and carne into force on

1 May 1951 in accordance with an exchange of notes between the President of the Council,

representing ICAO, and the Hon, L, B. Pearson, Secretary of State for External Affairs,

representing the Government of Canada,

*** The agreements concluded by the Government of Switzerland provide for the use of national

stamps with an overprint corresponding to the organization concerned, for the sale of such

stamps, used or unused, to philatelists for their collections but not for franking purposes,

and for the equal division of the net proceeds of the sale between the Swiss Post Office

Department and the organization concerned,

Constitutional and Legal Questions 61

commemorating the Organization's tenth anniversary. This issue will not involve ICAO finapcially in any way. In reaching this decision, the Council also recognized that it appeared that no further action could be taken along the lines indicated in Resolution A5-l3.

Privileges, Immunities and Facilities within the Grant of the Province of Quebec

In June the Secretary General recommended that staff members should be reimbursed by the Organization for income tax paid on their ICAO emoluments to the Province of Quebec. As a considerable proportion of its members were strongly opposed on principle to reimbursement, the Council took no action on this recommendation, deciding instead that an attempt should be made, at the highest level, to reach an arrangement with the Provincial Government in regard to the provincial income tax analogous in effect to that arrived at with the Federal Government in regard to federal income tax,* and, if possible, to obtain other long sought privileges and immunities necessary for the proper functioning of the Organization that were within the grant of the Province. It accordingly directed the President to approach the Government of the Province of Quebec, on its behalf, with respect to the levying of provincial income tax on emoluments received from ICAO by Canadian members of the Secretariat and, so far as he might find it appropriate, with respect to other significant matters arising out of relations between the Organization and the Provincial Government; and to propose that these matters be discussed with the Premier of the Province by the President of the Council, the Secretary General, and a small group of Council Members to be named by the President and to serve in this capacity as representatives of the whole Council. The President deferred action under this directive, pending developments from discussions between the Canadian {Federal) and Quebec Governments on problems arising out of the imposition of the provincial income ta~ •.

Privileges, Immunities and Facilities for ICAO Regional Offices

The agreement for the grant of privileges, immunities and facilities to ICAO in Egyptian territory, signed on 27 August 1953, came into force in May after ratification by the Government of Egypt and formal adoption by the Council.

At the year 1 s end negotiations were being conducted with the Government of Thailand for an agreement on privileges and immunities for the ICAO Far East and Pacific Office, which was then in the process of moving to Bangkok from Melbourne, Australia.

7.- Registration of Agreements and Arrangements

One hundred and eight agreements and arrangements were registered with the Organization during 1954, bringing the total number registered to 1151. Sixty-three of them were bilateral agreements (or amendments to bilateral agreements) between States on air transport. Monthly lists of the agreem·ents registered were published throughout the year. The seventh edition of the publication "Aeronautical Agreements and Arrangements Registered with ICAO" (Doc 7460 LGB/78), covering the years 1946-1953, was issued in January, and the eighth was in preparation at the year's end.

8.- Collection of National Aviation Laws and Regulations

Four hundred and nineteen texts of national aviation laws and regulations were added to the Organization's files .during 1954.

* In December 1949 the Federal Government passed an amendment to the Canadian Income Tax Act under which Canadian nationals employed by the Organization may deduct from their national income tax the amount of their ICAO assessment, thereby eliminating the possibility of double taxation on their salaries.

CHAPTER VII

RELATIONS WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

1. - United Nations

The organs of the United Nations with which ICAO maintained the closest relations were, as usual, the Economic and Social Council and its ~mbordinate bodies and the Secretariat. The work programme of the Organization, approved by the Council in December as a basis for the preparation of the budget estimates for 1956, was, as in the two previous years, in a form adopted in response to the requests of ECOSOC to the specialized agencies to establish priorities in their work programmes. An effort has also been made in preparing this report to comply with suggestions made during the discussion, at the 18th Session of ECOSOC, of ICAO•s report on its activities in 1953.

Consultation has taken place on a number of subjects such as the United Nations proposal to convene a regional cartographic conference for Asia and the Far East, the study on coordination of air transport in that region which is being undertaken by the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East,* the development of uniform regulations for the carriage of dangerous goods by all forms of transport (see p. 31}, the report of the As!_Hoc Committee on Restrictive Business Practices established by ECOSOC, and statistical matters. The Economic Commission for Europe was represented by observers at the Conference on Co-ordination of Air Transport in Europe convened by ICAO in Strasbourg.

In the administrative field two noteworthy steps towards closer co-ordination were taken in 1954 -- in June the Assembly approved certain amendments to the ICAO Financial Regulations designed to assimilate these Regulations more clo'sely to those of the United Nations, and in November the Council authorized the Secretary General to negotiate and sign a special agreement accepting the jurisdiction of the United Nations Administrative· Tribunal for Pension Fund disputes arising in ICAO. The United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, in its review of ICAO's 1955 budget, noted with appreciation the relative stability of the budget, the clear and concise nature of the budget document, the continuous review of individual project priorities carried on by the ICAO Council in consultation with its subsidiary bodies and the Secretary General, and the fact that ICAO was the only organization other than the United Nations itself that was budgeting for a smaller establishment in 1955.

In 1954, as in previous years, the United Nations made available to ICAO the facilities of its Film and Radio-TV Divisions for the production of ICAO films, and assisted in the dissemination of ICAO public information material. The United Nations Postal Administration prepared a design for a stamp featuring ICAO, scheduled for issue on 9 February 1955, as one in a series that already includes stamps featuring UNICEF, IRQ, FAO and ILO. The close co-operation between ICAO and the United Nations and other specialized agencies through.the Technical Assistance Board is described in Chapter V of this report,

2.- Specialized Agencies

International Labour Organization (ILO)

Relations with the ILO during 1954 have centered on the proposal to establish, under the aegis of the ILO, a body charged with examining social problems arising from employment in civil aviation.** The trend of discussion in the ILO Governing Body favoured the convening of an ad hoc· meeting to discuss employment problems in civil aviation, rather than the creation of a per:rila:ilent committee as originally proposed by the International Transport Workers' Federation, and at its 127th Session, which was attended by an ICAO observer, that Body decided to convene such a meeting not earlier than 1 January 1956. Civil aviation employers and workers

* The ICAO Far East and Pacific Office is to be accommodated in the building occupied by

ECAFE in Bangkok.

** See the Council's previous report to the Assembly- Do<:: 7456,A8-P/2, pp. 56 and 57,

- 6 2 -

Relations with International Organizations 63

a1 e to be 1 ep1 esented, and ICAO and a numbe1 of othe1 01 ganizations will be invited to send obse.rvers, The International Labour Office will consult the ICAO Secretariat in the preparation of documentation for the meeting.

World Health Organization (WHO)

ICAO was represented by observers at the second meeting of the Committee on International Quarantine (25 October - 2 November), convened at the request of the Seventh World Health Assembly to revise the yellow fever provisions of the International Sanitary R_egulations. The new regulations developed by the Committee for submission to the Eighth World Health Assembly abandon the concept of yellow fever endemic zones, the delineation of which had been .found impracticable, in favour of yellow fever infected areas, where human cases of the disease exist, and of areas of potential hazard (primarily jungle areas), where there is adequate biological evidence of the presence of yellow fever virus .in man or other vertebrate or arthropod hosts. They provide for the application of control measures to traffic leaving infected areas upon notification of the first human case. There was some difference of opinion as to whether these measures should also be applied to persons and aircraft arriving from areas of potential hazard during the incubating period of the disease. It was suggested by the ICAO observers, and finally agreed by the Committee, that wherever measures against traffic from areas of potential hazard were maintained or introduced, they would 'be limited in their extent by the facilitation provisions of the existing Regulations (inserted at the instance of ICAO in 1950). While it is difficult to assess the possible implications of the proposed new regulations on international flights, it is not considered that they are likely to result in major changes in current practices affecting aircraft. .

Consultations continued between the Secretariats of WHO and ICAO on the preparation of a Manual on the Hygiene and Sanitation of Airports.

International Telecommunications Union ( ITU)

During the year under review the transmission of airline administrative {Class B) messages, and radio frequency planning, continued to be the principal· matters of .mutual interest to ICAO and the ITU. ·

In May the draft agreement on the handling of Class B messages prepared by ICAO's COM Division (see p.24), modified only by the introduction of an article, drafted by ICAO and ITU officials, covering the steps to be taken by the two organizations to implement the agreement if it proved sufficiently acceptable to States, was submitted to the ICAO Council and the ITU Administrative Council. Both decided to send it to Member States for comment, accompanied by a summary of the history of the subject and of the views expressed in the respective. Councils. In the request for comments emphasis was placed on the need for co-ordination between the views of the aeronautical and telecommunications authorities. Replies were due at the beginning of December, and a report on them will be included in the Supplementary Report covering the first five months of 1955, which will be issued at the opening of the Ninth Session of the· Assembly.

The successful implementation of ICAO's interim frequency assignment pla.ns for the aeronautical mobile services owed much to the active co-operation of the International Frequency Registration Board of the ITU. ICAO, in turn, assisted the ITU in its preparation of recommendations on requirements for telecommunication circuits in Europe, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and southern Asia, by making known the aeronautical needs.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

The working arrangements between ICAO and WMO (ICAO Doc 7475, WMO-No. 25) became effective on 1 January 1954 and have proved satisfactory during their first year of application. As reported in Chapter II (p.25), the Meteorological Division of ICAO and the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology of the WMO held a successful joint meeting in Montreal in June. The two Organizations have been represented by observers' at each other's regional meetings, and close touch has been maintained by correspondence on all matters of joint interest. The WMO


Observer at the Fourth ICAO Conference on North Atlantic Ocean Stations, reporting on the study, undertaken by a panel of WMO experts at ICA0 1s request, on the extent to which nonaeronautical benefits are ·or may be derived from the operation of the stations, stated that while reports from the stations were of substantial". benefit to synoptic mete~rology and meteorological research, his Organization had found it impossible to develop any rational and exact formula for quantitatively evaluating it.

Universal Postal Union (UPU)

As reported in Chapter III (p.36), consultations continued with the UPU on the statistical material on airline operating costs and revenues to be furnished by ICAO to the Union f.or its study on variations in air· mail transportation charges.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)

At the year's end negotiations were being conducted ~ith Unesco for the construction of premises for the European-African Office of ICAO within the precincts of the projected Unesco headquarters building in Paris. Such an arrangement would be in line with the policy of the United Nations and its specializ~d agencies favouring the establishment and use of joint accommodation and common services whenever practicable and appropriate.

3.- Other International Organizations

During 1954 the International Radio Air Safety Associa~ion was added to the list of international organizations, other than specialized agencies of the United Nations, that may be invited to send observers to ICAO meetings of interest to them. This brings the number of organizations on the list to twenty-eight. Of these organizations, the International Air Transport Association and the International Federation of Airline Pilots• Associations have worked most closely with ICAO in 1954, sending representatives to a large proportion of its meetings. The International Chamber of Commerce, though not represented at any ICAO meetings during the year, has shown a lively interest in the Organization's work in the legal and economic fields. ICAO has been represented at meetings ·of these three organizations in 1954 and, in addition, at meetings of the Aero-Medical Association, Comite International Radio-Maritime, Conference of Civil Aviation Directors of Central America and Panama, Federation aeronautique internationale, International Criminal Police Commission, and Organisation .scientifique et technique internationale du Vol a Voile.

CHAPTER VIII

ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

1.- Organization

Representative Bodies

a) The Assembly

The Assembly heid its 8th Session from June lst to 14th at ICAO Headquarters, with representatives of forty-six contracting States and two international organizations (the United Nations and the International Labour Organization) attending. In accordance with the policy established by Assembly Resolution A4-6, it was a "limited11 session, with administrative an,d financial items predominating on the agenda, There were .only three plenary meetings, the detailed work of the session being done in the Executive Committee and the Administrative Commission, on which each delegation had the right to be represented, The Executive Committee, consisting of the heads of delegations, met under the chatrmanshtp of the Prestdent of the Assembly, Mr._ Walter J. Binaghi (Argentina), and dealt with constitutional and general policy questions, The Administrative Commission, under the chairmanship of Mr. C. W. Evans (United Kingdom), dealt with administrative and financial questions, There was one committee of limited membership - the Credentials Committee :- whose five members examined and reported on the credentials of members of delegations.

b) The Council*

The Council held three sessions during the year, of a total duration of nearly six months. Nineteen of the twenty-one Council Member States were renr-~sented continuously at these sessions, Venezuela was not represented at the 21st Session (2 February to 7 April), nor the Philippines at the 23rd (28 September to 15 December),

A resolution (AS-10) having its origin in a proposal by the United States Delegation was adopted by the Assembly, directing the Council to continue to consider· and adopt all practicable steps to improve the efficiency of its working methods and those of its subordinate bodies, giving particular attention to the possibility of reducing the total number of weeks each year during which they met and of scheduling meetings of the Air Navigation Commission, Air Transport Committee and Council in sequence to the extent that this might prove practicable, instead of running them concurrently (i.e. holding several weeks of Committee meetings followed by several weeks of Council meetings, instead of having both types 9f meeting within each week as in the past),

After a full exchange of views on the subject during its autumn session, the Council established a working group to frame a specific project for its consideration early in 1955.

* For the membership of the Council and its subordinate bodies see Appendix 4,

- 65 -


c) Other Representative Bodies

The oniy change in the Organization• s machinery for deali~g with technical problems - the Air· Navigation Commission, Divisions, Air Navigation Conferences, Regional Air Naviga.tion Meetings, special meetings of limited scope - was the addition to it of the panels of experts already referred to in Chapter II. The Commission continued to function with a membership of nine.

The Air Transport Committee gained three new members, Egypt, India and Italy taking advantage of the continued suspension of the limitation on membership to name their Council representatives to it. Brazil, France, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States were again the only States providing a special representative either as member or alternate. In March, in compliance with paragraph 5 of Assembly Resolution A 7-14, the Committee reviewed its own working methods and those of the Air Transport Bureau, with special attention to their respective responsibilities in preparing documentation for economic studies. In a report accepted by the Council early in April, it indicated that it had found no need for any change; and, in particular, advised against the substitution of working groups for the Secretariat in the preparation of documentation, except in extraordinary cases.

The number of members of the Committee on Joint Support of Air Navigation Services and the Finance Committee remained unchanged at nine and seven respectively.

Secretariat

In connection with the budget estimates for 1955 the Council considered and approved proposals for strengthening the regional offices pursuant to Assembly Resolution A 7-12. The effect will be to add one technical expert and one person in the General Service Category to the staff of each Office and to upgrade the posts of Representative and Deputy Representative in the Middle East, Pacific and Far East, and South American Offices. This increase in the regional establishment is to be offset by a reduction in the headquarters establishment, made possible by the elimination of the Aeronautical Information Branch of the Air Navigation Bureau and the taking over of its duties by the Flight Branch and by the amalgamation, in the interests of better utilization of staff and improved efficiency, of the Facilitation and Joint Financing Branches of the Air Transport Bureau, both of which have work that is subject to considerable fluctuation.

The authorized establishment for 1954 was 422 (151'! internationally recruited and 268 locally recruited}, exclusive of Technical Assistance, for which there was a Headquarters establishment of 20 (7 internationally recruited ans 13 locally recruited}.

In the light of the Secretary General's report·on his inquiries concerning the availability of persons qualified to carry out an investigation into the establishment, organization and methods of t:ne Secretariat in pursuance of Assembly Resolution A 7-19, the Council in February directed him to ask the Government of Canada to permit Mr. C.J. Gardner, Chief of the Organization and Methods Service of the Canadian Civil Service Commission, to conduct a preliminary survey to determine which parts of the Secretariat would repay detailed investigation. The Canadian Govermnent acceded to this request, and Mr. Gardner began the fact-finding part of the sur;vey ion 6_April, finishing it a month later •. He submitted his final report in October and at the year• s end the Council had not completed consideration of it. Action had, however, been taken on the principal recommendation, in which Mr. Gardner proposed that ICAO employ as a regular member of its staff an Organization and Methods Officer, working directly under the Secretary General, to study and advise on the more important organizational and methods problems in the Secretariat and to make an independent annual review of the Secretariat on which. he would report to both the Secretary General and the Council (through the President). Mr. Gardner considered that such an arrangement would be much better for all concerned than the engagement of an outside expert or experts for a few months (as envisaged in the Council 1 s original plan for the investigation) to make the detailed «;!Xamination which neither his terms of reference nor the time available to him had allowed him to make, especially as he had found considerable scope for management and methods analysis in the Secretariat. The Council approved his recommendation with two important modifications - the

Organization, Administration and Finance 67

appointment of the Organization and Methods Office.r is to 'be for a period of not more than two years, and his annual report is to be submitted only to the Secretary General, who will in turn report to Council.

_At the close of the year the Secreta.ry General was engaged in recruiting the 0 and M Ofhcer. A report on the further acbon taken by the Counctl and by the Secretary General on the Gardner Report in the first four months of 1955 'will be issued shortly before the Ninth Session of the Assembly, which opens in Montreal on.31 May.

2.- Personnel

Appointments

During 1954 regular appoinbnents wer-e accepted by nationals of Burma and the United Kingdom. Thirty States were represented in the Professional 'Category (internationally recruited staff) at the year 1 s end.*

Pension Scheme

As already noted in Chapter VII, the Council, accepting the financial terms offered by the United Nations for the use of its Administrative Tribunal by the Organization in Pension Fund disputes, authorized the Secretary General, in November, to negotiate and sign a special. agreement extending the jurisdiction of the Tribunal ·to ICAO. · The Secretary General was also authorized to explore, in these negotiations, the possibility of having appeals from decisions of _the ICAO Staff Pension .Committee lie in the first instance with the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board or a Committee of the Board -an .arrangement that appeared likely to be acceptable to the United Nations and that would reduce the m:li!lber of appeals to the Administrative Tribunal and hence the expense to the Organization.

3.- Trainee Programme

The- Eighth Trainee Course was of two and a half months 1 duration (1 Septembe-r to 15 November). Provision had been made for six participants, but so many States nominated good candidates that eight, all occupying important positions in their national administrations, were accepted, from China (Taiwan)., Egypt, .France., Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom (Trinidad).

4.- Languag.es and Publications

The volume -of publications printed within the Organization and the volume of translation work in 1954 were slightly lower than in 1953 (1'953: 31,000,000 impressions and 6,000,000 words; 1954: 30,000,000 impressions and 5, 80.0, 000 words). The proceeds ~rom -the sale of publications ($47, 022) were 30'}"o higher than in 1953 ($ 36', 115), while expenditure on supplies for internal reproduction and for distribution m'aterials continued to d-ecline- ( $45, 332, as compared with $50, 119 in 1953 and $:60,.077 in 1952).

-5.- Premises

The transfer of the F.ar East and 'Pacific Office fro·m Melbourne to Bangkok was effected at the end of the year. The Government of Thailand has provided accommodation rent free in a new building constructed by it to h<iluse .all United Nations .agencies in Bangkok, but ICAO is bearing the cost of alterations in the for.m of partitioning and the installation of additional elec-trical fittings. - ·

* A table showing the nationa1 distribution of Professional Category staff at 1 Marc,h 1955 appears on pages 31 and 32 of the Budget Estimates for 1956 (Doc 7565, A9-AD/l). The States represented in the Professional Category at that date were the same as at 31 December 1954 except for Greece, which was added to the list early in 1955.

68 Report of the Council.

Since the expiration on 1 April 1949 of the lease transferred to the Organization upon the

liquidation of the Intfi!rnational Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN), the ICAO European and

African Office in Paris has continued in somewhat precarious occupancy of the premises at

60 his, Avenue d 1Iena, under the protection afforded by French legislation to tenants holding

over on expi:J:"ed leases. Because of the uncertainty of its tenancy, the Organization has not

undertaken the repairs and alterations needed to make the building functional, while the land

lord is anxious that ICAO either vacate or purchase tpe premises. On being informed of the

o#er of the French Government to guarantee and pay the interest on loans to ICAO up to a .

rpaximum of 90, 000, 000 francs ($ 250, 000 Canadian) for the purpose of acquiring a building in

Paristo house its European services, the Council, at the beginning of April, decided to recom

mend to the Assembly that it be authorized to accept this offer, Agreeing that the European

African Office should remain in Paris but unwilling to commit the Organization to purchasing .

and renovating the present premises unless there was no alternative, the Council also directed

the Secretary General to investigate the possibilities of renting; buying or constructing other

premises and report to it,

By Resolution AS-13 the Assembly gave the Council authority to borrow money on accept

able terms and to accept the offer of the French Government, During th·e summer the Secretary

General made extensive investigations in Paris, and on the basis of a working group 1 s review

of his findings, the Council, in October, agreed that neither the purchase nor the continued rental of the present premises offered an acceptable solution; that there was little or no prospect of finding suitable premises for rental in Paris or the vicinity; and that the purchase of

suitable premises, or the. purchase of land and construction of premises, would be costlier than

construction of special offices within the projected new Unesco Headquarters and would not

secure the ·use of conference accommodation by ICAO. It therefore decided, in principle, to

proceed on the basis that ICAO is prepared to construct, in conjunction with Unesco and on the

land leased to that Organization by the French Government, accommodation designed to meet'

the space requirements of its Paris Office, initially estimated at about 900 squa;re metres,

including some 300 square metres of second-class (basement) space. The figure of 900 square

metres was to be taken as a working indication for guidance in proceeding with the preparation

of plans, without prejudice to subsequent detailed approval of expected requirements and floor

plans; and the proposed arrangement was to be conditional upon the conclusion of a satisfactory

agreement with Unesco reg·arding the respective rights and obligations of ICAO and Unesco and

the allocation of common service costs, including major and current maintenance, The Secre

tary General communicated this decision to Unesco, with a number of detailed observations

relating to construction costs, to arrangements designed to safeguard ~CA0 1 s rights in the event

that the Organization ceased to occupy the premises, and to the use of common services, He

also informed_ the French Government that it appeared likely that the Organization would wish

to avail itself of their offer and that, while no precise figure could yet be given, preliminary

estimates indicated that the amount required would not exceed the maximum of 90,000, 000

francs. He has been advised that repayment of the loan would be spread over 30 years, in

annual, interest-free instalments,

Early in December the Director General of Unesco informed the Secretary General that the

General Conference had given very favourable consideration to ICA0 1 s request for the construc

tion of premises for its Paris Office at Unesco 1 s Headquarters, and had authorized him to

negotiate an agreement for submission to the ICAO Council and the Unesco Headquarters Com

mittee, The General Conference stipulated, however,· that Unesco must 11 retain full rights of

ownership in respect of the premises occupied by ICA01'. At t~e year 1 s end the Secretary General was engaged in negotiations with the Director General of Unesco with a view to drafting

an agreement that would be in accordance with the directive of the General Conference but would

provide ICAO with sufficient safeguards as to permanence of occupancy, right to transfer its

rights in the premises at a future date, if necessary, and to be reimbursed for them, liability

for repairs, allocation of the cost of common service~ and similar matters, Subsequent devel

opments will be reported to the Assembly in the Co~ncil 1 s Supplementary Report,

Organization, Administration and Finance

6.- Finance

The sum of $2,530,310 for the General Fund in 1954 was assessed to Contracting States by the Seventh Session of the Assembly in June 1953, Subsequently, assessments amounting

69

to $73, 166 were made by the Council on five States that became mem.bers of the Organization between sessions of the Assembly, bringing the total for the year to $2,603,476, China {Taiwan) was assessed at the rate of 10 units in accordance with Assembly Resolution A 7-3, while Ecuador, Japan, Uruguay and Viet-Nam were assessed at the rate of 2, 31, 3 and 2 units respectively under Article VII, paragraph 2 of the Financial Regulations,

Payments totalling $2, 346,234, or 92.7% of the amount assessed by the Assembly, had been received by the end of the year, In addition, the sum of $411,442* was received in 1954 in payment of assessments for the General Fund, and $20,927 in respect of assessments for the Working Capital Fund, for previous years, Sixteen States elected to pay part of their assessments in Australian pounds, Egyptian pounds, French francs or Peruvian soles, under the arrangement authorized by Resolution A4-29; the equivalent of $70, 000 Canadian, or 2. 77% of the total amount assessed, was paid in these currencies.

In June an arrangement for the settlement of arrears was concluded with the Government of Iran, and the authorization previously given to the Council to discuss and conclude arrangements with States in arrears was renewed by the Assembly in Resolution A8-7. The question of action to be taken in the case of States in arrears again provoked a great deal of discussion at the Assembly, arid with the object of reaching an understanding at the next ses~ion on the principles that should govern the application of Article 62 of the Convention. a resolution (A8-8) was adopted directing the Council to review the policy and practice of the Organization in connection with the collection of arrears, to consider possible improvements, and to report to the Assembly in 1955, with a statement of the factors that might be taken into account by the Assembly when considering the application of Article 62. This question is to come before the Council early in 1955 and will be the subject of a separate report.

The 1954 budget provided for a total expenditure of $3,200, 000. Actual expenditure was $3, 086, 747 (96. 46o/o). Income from Casual Revenue (e. g. salary deductions under the ICAO Staff Assessment Plan and receipts from the sale of publications and from rental of premises) amounted to $455,132. The cash deficit for 1954 was $85,::181, which, added to that for previous fiscal periods($ 91, 046), ·brought the total cash deficits of the General Fund to $176,427 at 31 December 1954.

Quarterly balances of the General and Working Capital Funds for the twelve months ending 31 December were:

General Working Capital Fund Fund Total

31 March $452, 502 $1,098,198 $ 1, 550, 700 30 June 331,011 1, 151, 240 1, 482, 251 30 September 550,044 1,156,403 1, 706,447 31 December 56,802 1,009,325 1, 066, 127

Of the total balance of funds on 31 December, the sum of $1,000,000 was invested in Government of Canada 2-1/4% bonds, maturing on l July 1955, four-fifths ($800, 000) of it under a special arrangement whereby the Organization can sell and repurchase the bonds at

* $73, 214 represented payments in respect of previous cash surplus years and the balance payments in respect of previous cash deficit years, with the result that the cash deficits of the General Fund for these years, totalling $433, 995 at 31 December 1953, were reduced to $95, 767. Adjustments effected in 1954 in respect of previous years• expenditure brought about a further reduction to $91,046 as of 31 December 1954.


any time up to maturity at a price that will guarantee the return of the capital investment plus a yield of 1. 5'1o per annu,rn interest. At the same date the sum of $150,000 was on loan from the Working- Capital Fund to the General Fund to finance current expenditure.

The total expenditure authorized by the Assembly for 1955 (Resolution AS-14) was $3, 223, 100 ($ 23, 100 more than for 1954), to be provided by assessments to Contracting States ($2, 530, 260), by income from Casual Revenue (estimated at $477, 840), and by appropriation from the Working Capital Fund ($215, 000). Appendix 6 gives the assessments, in terms of units, of the individual States. The differences in unit assessments for 1955 and 1954 are due almost entirely to the use of ton-kilometers available in place of passenger-kilometers performed and of a 3:1 weighting of international and domestic operations in measuring the factor "interest and importance in civil aviation'' and to the continued progress towards the maximum assessment of 33-1/3% established by the Assembly in 1952 (Resolution A6-10).

In December the Council approved an amended form of budget, designed to improve the form and presentation of the budget document. The budget estimates for 1956 will be presented in this new form.

The Financial Regulations were also amended during 1954, the Assembly in June adopting revised Regulations incorporating changes intended to bring the ICAO Regulations into closer conformity with those of the United Nations, to meet views expressed by the External Auditor, and to clarify the wording of the Regulations adopted in 1949. The new Regulations were to come into force on 1 January 1955.

APPENDIX 1

STATUS OF THE CHICAGO AGREEMENTS, 31 DECEMBER 1954

~: The dates mentioned in the table are as follows: day/month/year (A) designates States which adhered to the Convention

Chicago Amendment Transit Convention( 1) to Agreement -- Chicago Convention(2) --STATES (Deposit of -- (Notification

ratification (Deposit of of or adherence) ratification) acceptance)

Afghanistan 4/4/47 2/3/48 17/5/45 Argentina 4/6/46(A) 4/6/46 Australia 1/3/47 28/8/45 Austria 27/8/48(A) Belgium 5/5/47 19/7/45 Bolivia 4/4/47 4/4/47 Brazil 8/7/46 14/10/49 Burma 8/7/48(A) 25/10/51 Canada 13/2/46 22/8/47 10/2/45 Ceylon l/6/48(A) 9/12/48 Chile 11/3/47 China 2/12/53 Colombia 31/10/47 Cuba 11/5/49 20/6/47 Czechoslovakia 1/3/47 21/4/48 18/4/45 Denmark 28/2/47 1/12/48 Dominican Republic 25/l/46 10/11/47 Ecuador 20/8/54 Egypt 13/3/47 24/11/49 13/3/47 El Salvador 11/6/47 1/6/45 Ethiopia 1/3/47 22/3/45 Finland 30/3/49(A) France 25/3/47 24/6/48 Greece 13/3/47 21/9/45 Guatemala 28/4/47 28/4/47 Haiti 25/3/48 Honduras 7/5/53(A) 13/11/45

1 T,.,e1 ancl · n'J->.'!47 ?..1 I,·; 47

India 1/3/47 15/12/47 2/5/45 Indonesia 27/4/50(A) Iran 19/4/50 27/4/50 19/4/50 Iraq 2/6/47 9/12/50 15/6/~5 Ireland 31/10/46 Israel 24/5/49(A) 16/6/54(3) Italy 31/10/47(A) 8/10/52 Japan 8/9/53(A) 20/10/53 Jordan 18/3/47(A) 18/3/47 Korea (Republic of) ll/ll/52(A) Lebanon 19/9/49 Liberia ll/2/47 19/3/45 Libya 29/l/53(A) Luxembourg 28/4/48 28/4/48

Transport Agreement

--. (Notification

of acceptance)

4/4/47

1/6/45 22/3/45

28/2/46*

13/11/45

19/3/45

( 1) In force as of 4 April 1947. /see over for reservations and statements . . (2) Not yet in force.

(3) Information unofficially given on 17 June 1954 by the Office of the Representative of the United States on the Council of ICAO pending official notification by the State Department.

- 71 -


Mexico 25/6/46 12/9/49 25/6/46 Netherlands 26/3/47 12/1/45 8/2/45 New Zealand 7/3/47 22/9/47 19/4/45 Nicaragua 28/12/45 28/12/45 .. ·.,. ,.,.·, , .. ~·,.. .. ~. -~y ·z "'-'··· 19/7/48

J".l, ~l "XJ

Pakistan 6/ll/47(A) 15/8/47** Paraguay 21/1/46 27/7/45 27/7/45 Peru 8/4/46 Philippines 1/3/47 17/11/52 22/3/46 Poland 6/4/45 6/4/45 Portugal 27/2/47 Spain 5/3/47 30/7/45 Sweden 7/11/46 19/11/45 19/ll/45 Switzerland 6/2/47*** 6/7/45 Syria 21/12/49 23/1/53 Thailand 4/4/47 6/3/47 Turkey 20/12/45 6/6/45 6/6/45**** Union of S. Africa l/3/47 30/11/45 United Kingdom 1/3/47 19/1/48 31/5/45 United States 9/8/46 8/2/45 Uruguay 14/1/54

28/3/46 Venezuela l/4/47(A) 28/3/46***** Viet-Nam 19/10/54

* Reservation accompanying the acceptance of Greece: "In accepting this Agreement (transport) in accordance with Article VIII, paragraph two thereof, I am directed to make a reservation with respect to the rights and obligations contained in Article I, Sectio~ 1, paragraph (5) of the Agreement which, under Article IV, Section 1, Greece does not wish, for the time being, to grant or receive. 11

** The Ambassador of Pakistan made the following statement in the note No. F 96/48/1 of 24 March, 1948 to the Secretary of State: 11 ••• that by virtue of the provisions in clause 4 of the Schedule of the Indian Independence {International Arrangements) Order, 1947, the International Air Services Transit Agreement signed by United India continues to be binding after the partition of the Dominion of Pakistan. II The acceptance by India on 2 May, 1945 of the Transit Agreement applied also to the territory, then a part of India, which later, on 15 August, 1947 became Pakistan.

*** The Minister of Switzerland made the following statement in the note transmitting the Swiss instrument of ratification: "My ·government has instructed me to notify you that the authorities in Switzerland have agreed with the authorities in the Principality of Liechtenstein that this Convention will be applicable to the territoryof the Principality as well as to that of the Swiss Confederation, as long as the Treaty of 29 March 1923 integrating the whole territory of Liechtenstein with the Swiss customs territory will remain in force. 11

**** Reservation accompanying acceptance of Turkey: 11 ••• the reservation made by the Turkish Delegation on the fifth freedom of the air contained in the International Air Transport Agreement is explained in the following article of the law by which the aforementioned instruments have been ratified: 'The Turkish Government, when concluding bilateral agreements, shall have the authority to accept and apply for temporary periods the provision regarding the fifth freedom of the air contained in the International Air Transport Agreement•. 11

***** Date of receipt of Venezuela's notice of denunciation: 3 June 1954; denunciation will take effect on 3 June 1955. This information was unofficially given on 17 June 1954 by the Office of the Representative of the United States on the Council of ICAO pending official notification by the State Department.

APPENDIX 2

THE COUNCIL, ITS COMMITTEES AND THE AIR NAVIGATION COMMISSION, 1954

Argentina

Australia

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

Egypt

France

India

Ireland

Italy

Lebanon

Mexico

Netherlands

Norway

Philippines

Portugal

Spain

Union of South Africa

COUNCIL

Representative

*Brig. 0. P. Delfino

Mr. J.W. Stone

Lt. Col. J. Verhaegen -to 28 September

Mr. A. X. Pirson -from 28 September

Lt. Col. P. Cunha Mello

Brig. C.S. Booth

Air Commodore A. H. Soliman

Mr. H. Bouche

Mr. D.· Chakraverti

Mr. W. G. Algar

Dr. S. Cacopardo

Mr. E. Dabbas

Mr. E. M. Loaeza

Dr. F.H. CopesvanHasselt

Mr. B. Grinde

*His Excellency. Emilio Abello

Mr. J. de Brito Subtil

Col. M. Martinez Merino

Mr. W. D. van Zyl

United Ki~gdom Mr. J. E. Keel

United States of America Mr. Harold A. Jones

Venezuela Mr. L. M. Chafardet Urbina

* Represented by his Alternate.

Alternate

Mr. W.J. Binaghi

Major J. C. Miranda Correa

Mr. H. A. L. Pattison

Mr. M.E.P. Pascal

Mr. J. van der Heijden

Mr. E. Rasmussen (to 1 September, 1954) Mr. E. Andersen (from 1 September, 1954)

Mr. Emilio Asistores

Major F. Tordesillas

Mr. G. McD. Wilson

Col. John W. Dregge Mr. P. DeForrest McKeel


AIR NAVIGATION COMMISSION

Mr. J. W. Binaghi (Chairman)

Major J. C. Miranda Correa

nominated by - Argentina

Mr. H. A. L. Pattison

Mr. -P. K. Casey {Alternate)

Mr. C. Teyssier - to 23 February

Mr. M. Pascal - from 23 February (Alternate to 23 February)

Mr .. J. van der Heijden

Major F. Tordesillas

Mr.· E. Ljungh

Mr. D. F. Peel

Mr. P. DeForrest McKeel

Mr. Claude H. Smith (Alternate)

Mr. J. W. Stone

AIR TRANSPORT COMMITTEE

Lt. Col. J. Verhaegen - to 28 September

Mr. A. x: Pirson - from 28 September

Dr. A. Bruzzi, jr.

Brig. C.S. Booth

Mr. H. A. L. Pattison (Alternate)

Air Commodore A.H. Soliman- from 23 June

Mr. H. Bouche

Mr. E. Wessberge (Alternate)

Mr.. W. Algar

1\lir. D. Chakravedi - from 2 February

Dr. S. Cacopardo - from 2 February

Mr. E. Dabbas

Dr. E. M. Loaeza (Chairman)

Dr. F. H. Copes van Hasselt

Mr. E. Rasmussen - to 28 September

Mr. E. Andersen - from 28 September

Sir Frederick Tymms - to 2 February

II -II -If -

II -II -II -If -If -

If -II -II -

Australia

Belgium

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

Canada

Egypt

France

France

Ireland

India

Italy

Lebanon

Mexico

Brazil

Canada

Canada

France

France

Netherlands

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

United States

Netherlands

Norway

Norway

United Kingdom

Appendix 2

Mr. J. E. Keel - from 2 February

Mr. G. McD. Wilson (Alternate)

Col. John W. Dregge

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Lt. Col. P. Cunha Mello

Brig. C.S. Booth- to 12 October

Mr. H. Bouche

Mr. E. Wessberge (Alternate)

Mr. W. Algar (Chairman)- to 21 October

Mr. D. Chakraverti -from 12 October (Chairman from 21 October)

Dr. E. M. Loaeza

Mr. G. Grinde - to 12 October

Mr. G. McD. Wilson

Mr. Ernest A. Lister - to 2 February

Col. John W. Dregge -from 2 February (Alternate to 2 February)

Mr. L.M. Chafardet Urbina- frt;>m 12 October

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

United States

Brazil

Canada.

France

France

Ireland

India

Mexico

Norway

United Kingdom

United States

United States

Venezuela

COMMITTEE ON JOINT SUPPORT OF AIR NAVIGATION SERVICES

Lt. Col. J. Vei-haegen - to 5 October

Mr. A. X. Pirson - from 5 October

Brig. C.S. Booth- to 5 October

Mr. H. Bouche

Dr. F. H. Copes van Hasse1t

Mr. E. Rasmussen - to 5 October

Mr. E. Andersen - from 5 October

Mr. J. de Brito Subtil (Chairman)

Col. M. Martinez Merino

Mr. G. McD. Wilson

Mr. Ernest A. Lister - to 2 February

Col. John W. Dregge - from 2 February

Belgium

Belgium

Canada

France

Netherlands

Norway

Norway

Portugal

Spain

United Kingdom

United States

United States

75

MEETING

Assembly

Council and its Committees

Air Navigation Commission

Legal Committee

Legal Subcommittee on Aeria'l Collisions

Division and Special Meetings

- COM Division

- MET Division

- Airworthiness Panel

- Conference on Co-ordination of Air Transport in Europe

Regional Meetings

- Third NAT RAN Meeting

- MID COM Meeting

- Special EUM COM Meeting

- Informal SAM COM Meeting

- First Informal Meeting of SEA COM Co-ordination Committee

APPENDIX 3

ICAO MEETINGS IN 1954

SESSION

Eighth

Twenty-first Twenty-second Twenty-third

Fifteenth Sixteenth Seventeenth

Tenth

Fifth

Fourth

- 76 -

DURATION

1 June to 14 June (Montreal)

2 February to 7 April 18 May to 23 June 27 October to 15 December

26 January to 8 April 11 May to 10 June 21 September to 10 December

7 September to 24 September (Montreal)

12 January to 22 ,January (Paris)

9 March to 9 April (Montreal)

15 June to 14 July (Montreal)

15 November to 16 December (Montreal)

21 April to 8 May (Strasbourg)

5 October to 29 October (Montreal)

11 May to 29 May (Rhodes)

16 November to 27 November (Paris)

6 July to 1 3 July (Lima)

18 October to 27 October (Bangkok)

APPENDIX 4

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS FOR 1955

MEETING PROPOSED SITE

Assembly - 9th Session Montreal

Sub-committee on the Negotiability of the Madrid Air Waybill

Sub-committee on the draft Protocol to Madrid Amend the Warsaw Convention

Meeting of Medical Experts on Hearing Paris and Visual Requirements

Second Air Navigation Conference Montreal (RAC/OPS)

Conference on the Draft Protocol to The Hague Amend the War saw Convention

Facilitation Division - 4th Session Manila

Pacific Regional Air Navigation Meeting ·Manila

European Civil Aviation Conference Strasbourg (1st Meeting)

- 77 -

PROPOSED DATE

31 May

12 April

on or about 22 April

25 April

30 August

6 September

4 October

1 November

29 November

I

APPENDIX 5

PARTICIPATION OF STATES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN !GAO MEETINGS IN 1954

n e ~ec r e e a ton an re r n wn y server . ounc1 ern er a es are mar e {NQ!s - In the table below, 11 P 11 denotes representation by a member of the State •s permanent delegation in Montreal. 115 11 de ot s s ial epr s nt t• d 110 11 p ese tat• b Ob s C ·1 M b St t k d 11*11 )

CONFERENCE ON'CO-

MET COM ORDINATION

STATE OR ASSEMBLY DIVISION DIVISION THIRD OF AIR SPECIAL

!NT ERNATIONAL EIGHTH FOURTH FIFTH NAT RAN TRANSPORT MID COM EUM COM

ORGANIZATION SESSION SESSION SESSION MEETING IN EUROPE MEETING MEETING

CONTRACTING STATES

AFGHANISTAN s • ARGENTINA p s p s 0

" AUSTRALIA p s p s 0

AUSTRIA s s s • BELGIUM p s s s s s

BOLIVIA *" BRAZIL p p s s 0

BURMA s • CANADA p s s s p s 0

CEYLON CHILE s CHINA s· COLOMBIA s CUBA CZECHOSLOVAKIA DENMARK s s s ~ ...!!__

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC s s 0

ECUADOR

• EGYP p s p s p s PO 0 s ~

EL SALVADOR s ETHIOPIA s 0

FINLAND s s

• FRANCE p s s s s s s s GREECE s s GUATEMALA HAITI HONDURAS s 0

ICELAND s s

* INDIA p s p s PO ...!!__

INDONESIA IRAN s s IRAQ s s . IRELAND p s s p s s s ISRAEL s s 0 s s

* ITALY p s s s s s s JAPAN s s 0

JORDAN KOREA REPUBLIC OF s

• LEBANON· p p p PO s s LIBERIA s LIBYA LUXEMBOURG s s . MEXICO p p . NETHERLANDS p s s s s s ~ ~

NEW ZEALAND s s s NICARAGUA

.; NORWAY p ·s s ~

PAKISTAN s s s PARAGUAY PERU

* PHILIPPINES p p

POLAND . PORTUGAL

• SPAIN p p s p p s s SWEDEN p s s s s ~ ~

SWITZER LA D s s s SYRIA s s s s 'THAILAND s s s TURKEY s s s . UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA p s

* UNITED KINGDOM p s s s s s s s

• UNITED STATES p s s s s s s s URUGUAY

• VENEZUELA p s s VIET-NAM

NON-CONTRACTING STATES

FEDERAL REPUBLIC L I l l I 1 l OF GERMANY 0 0

SAUDI ARABIA 0

CIVIL AVIATION AND ALLIED HIGH COMMISSION, GERMANY I I I I I I 0 I

USSR RUMANIA

0

YUGOSLAVIA 0

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

UN 0 0 0

lATA 0 0 0 0 0 0

FA! 0

!FALPA 0 0 0 0

ARB 0

COUNCIL OF EU_BOPE 0

WMO 0 0 0

FlTAP 0 0

ISO UPU !IUPL 0

ILO 0 NC 0 0

ITU 0 0

!RASA 0 0 9 YTNECE 0

0 0

OEEC 0 .....

-·

- 78 -

LEGAL COMMITTEE

TENTH SESSION

s s

s

s

~

s

s

PS s

_..!:: ~

s ~

s s

s

0

0

0

·SCALE OF CONTRIBUTIONS FOR 1955, WITH 1954 SCALE FOR COMPARISON

Units Units 1955 1954 1955 1954

Afghanistan 2 3 Japan 34 31*** Argentina 23 32 Jordan 2 2 Australia 43 51 Korea 2 2 Austria* Lebanon 2 2 Belgium 28 30 Liberia 2 2

Bolivia 2 2 Libya 2 2 Brazil 36 39 Luxembourg 2 2 Burma 2 3 Mexico 28 30 Canada 75 81 Netherlands 39 39 Ceylon 3 4 New Zealand 8 13

Chile 7 8 Nicaragua 2 2 China 10 10** Norway 12 14 Colombia 13 14 Pakistan 12 14 Cuba 9 11 Paraguay 2 2 Czechoslovakia 16 20 Peru 3 5

Denmark 15 18 Philippines 11 12 Dominican Republic 2 2 Poland 29 32 Ecuador 2*** 2*** Portugal 5 9 Egypt 8 1 1 Spain 23 27 El Salvador 2 2 Sweden 28 31

Ethiopia 3 4 Switzerland 21 26 Finland 7 6 Syria 2 2 France 105. 95 Thailand 4 4 Greece 6 7 Turkey 10 13 Guatemala 2 2 Union of South Africa 13 19

Haiti 2 2 United Kingdom 158 147 Honduras 2 2 United States 489 445 Iceland 2 2 Uruguay 3 3*** India 50 56 Venezuela 12 16 Indonesia 10 9 Viet-Nam 2*** 2***

Iran 3 8 Iraq 2 3 Ireland 6 10 Israel 5 5 Italy 39 42

* Austria was assessed a token amount of $ 1, 000 for 1954 and for 1955.

** Assessment fixed by Council under Article VII, para. 2 of the Financial Regulations and in accordance with Assembly Resolution A7-3.

~'** Assessment fixed by Council under Article VII, para. 2 of the Financial Regulations.

- 79 -

Resolution or

APPENDIX 7

REVIEW OF AC.TION TAKEN ON RESOLUTIONS

AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ASSEMBLY

Note.- This review covers all resolutions of the Eighth Session of the Assembly ·

and those of previous sessions on which action had not been completed

when the previous reviews were presented, (See Appendix G toDoc 6968,

A4-P I 1, Appendix 7 to Doc 7270, A6-P I 1, Appendix 7 to Doc 7367,

A 7 -PI 1, and Appendix 7 to Doc 7456, AS-P I 2, Reports of the Council

on the Activities of the Orga~ation in 1949, 1951, 1952 and 1953.

respectively). Action taken on any of these resolutions during the early

part of 1955 will be described in the Supplementary Report to the

Assembly.

An asterisk indicates resolutions and recommendations on which further

Council action is required.

. Recommendation Subject Remark$

Second Session

•A2-ll

•A2-14

•A2-44

•A2-46

Carriage by air of goods which, though classed

as dangerous, are necessary to ensure the safe

and regular operation of international air

services or are urgently required for other

reasons.

Study on charges for air navigation facilities

and services.

Directive to the Council to study Article 33

of the Convention and, if necessary, prepare

an amendment,

Directive to the Council to study Article 41

and related articles.

- 80-

Still under study. See page 31 of this

Report,

See page 33 of this Report.

In November 1953 the Council decided

to defer further consideration of this

question until some new development

required it to be considered, See also

page 27 of this Report.

In November 1953 the Council decided

to defer further consideration of this

question until some new development

required it to be considered.

Resolution or Recommendation

•A4-1

A4-3

A4-6

Fifth Session

A5-3

Appendix 7

Subject

Obligation of Council Member States to appoint and support full-time representation at the Headquarters of the Organization, and directive to Council to report to each session of the Assembly any cases of failure to discharge this obligation.

Programme with respect to the amendment of the Convention.

Character and scope of future sessions of the Assembly; major sessions to be held every three years, in the year in which the election of the Council takes place; other sessions to deal only with budgetary and administrative matters required by the Convention, unless the Council decides that some other type of problem is of urgent importance.

Invitation to Contracting States with experience in various forms of joint operation of international air services to submit to the Council, on a continuing basis, full information concerning their experience; directive to Council to give assistance, when requested, to States that take the initiative in developing co-operative arrangements directly among themselves.

Delegation to Council of authority to extend invitations to non-contracting States and international organizations to participate in future sessions of the Assembly.

81

Remarks

Reports covering the years 1950-53 inclusive were submitted to the Assembly in the Council's annual report. ~ page 65 for representation of Council Member States during 1954.

Amendments to Articles 45, 48(a), 49(e) and 61 were recommended by the Council and adopted by the Assembly in 1954. See pages 55 and 56 of this Report.

The Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Sessions of the Assembly were "limited" sessions and the Ninth will be. The Seventh wa.;; a full-scale one and, in accordance with paragraph 2 of the resolution, reviewed the question of the character and scope of sessions of the Assembly in the light of experience gained over the previous three years.

No work has been done specifically on this question at Headquarters during 1954, but associated problems have been studied in connection with the coordination of air transport in Europe.

Invitations to the Ninth Session of the Assembly have been extended only to the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as this will be a "limited" session.

82


Fifth Session (Cont'd)

A5-13

Sixth Session

A6-2

Seventh Session

A7-1


Subject

Invitation to Council to try to reach an agree

ment with the Government of Canada for the

grant of franking or other postal privileges to

the Organization.

Authorization to Council to discuss and

conclude arrangements for the settlement of

arreal'S; suspension of voting power of certain States in arrears; authorization to Council to

suspend from these States such part of the

general services furnished to Contracting States as it may find reasonable to suspend; directive to Secretary General to circulate

to Contracting States quarterly schedules

showing amounts of arrears up to 31 December

of the previous year.

Authorization to Council to discuss and

conclude arrangements for the ·settlement of

arrears; restoration of voting power to Bolivia

and E1 Salvador; directive to Secretary

General to circulate to Contracting States

quarterly schedules showing amounts of

arrears up to 31 December of the previous

year.

Directive to Council to ascertain the views

of Contracting States on the desirability of

amending the Convention to pennit the

Organization to arrange its programme of Assembly sessions at less' frequent intervals

than annually and to present recommenda

tions to the next session of the Assembly.

Remarks

The Council has been unable to reach

such an agreement with the Government

of Canada. See page 61 of this Report.

Arrangements were concluded with the

Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan and

Guatemala under the authority of this

resolution. The voting power of Bolivia and E1 Salvador, two of the States

mentioned in the resolution, was restored

by Resolution A7-l. There was no suspension of general services to States in

arrears. Quarterly schedules were des

patched on 2 May, 11 July and 8 October

1952 and 15 January 1953.

No arrangements for the settlement of

arrears were concluded under the authority

of this Resolution. Quarterly schedules

were despatched on 14 April, 10 July

and 9 October 1953 and 11 January 1954.

Amendments to Articles 48( a), 49( e)

and 61 were recommended to and adopted

by the Eighth Session of the Assembly

(Resolution AS-1). See page 55 of this Report.

Resolution or

Recommendation Subject

Appendix 7

Seventh Session (Cont'd)

A7-7

A7-8

A7-9

Directive to Council to establish criteria for the determination of items to be included in the work programmes of the AN Commission and its specialist activities; not to schedule more than two air navigation conferences and Division meetings in any one calendar year UD,].ess special circumstances require _it1 to continue to make use of technical Division meetings, special meetings, standing committees and panels of experts as most appropriate to the subject matter under discussion! and to give greater emphasis to correspondence as a means of obtaining the views of Contracting States on technical problems.

Directive to Council to limit substantive amendments to Annexes and PANS to those significant to the safety, regularity and efficiency of international air navigation. to keep editorial amendments to the essential minimum, and to establish a programme for the application of amendments to provisions of a regulatory nature so that the relevant national aeronautical regulations will not normally require to be amended more frequently than at one year intervals.

'Directive to Council to establish a simpler and more effective procedure for reporting differences pursuant to Article 38 of the Convention, to give more emphasis to monitoring of outstanding differences, and, in fixing dates for the application of standards, recommended practices and procedures, 'to allow sufficient time to enable States to complete their arrangements for implementation,

83

Remarks

The Council decided in June 1954 that the criteria specified in Clauses (1) and (2) of the Resolution, together wi·th existing Directives to Divisions and resolutions and recommendations of earlier sessions of the Assembly, provided adequate guidance in planning the work of t:he Commission and its specialist activities, and that no additional or more detailed direction was necessary. Only two Division meetings - COM and MIT -were held in 1954, and so far only one air navigation conference is planned for 1955. Two panels of experts were established in 1954.

In February 1954 the Council approved a plan: proposed by the AN Commission which consisted essentially of establishing a common date of application in any one year for amendments to Annexes and PANS adopted or approved during a specified period.

A simplified procedure for reporting differences was established in March by the Council, which at the same time directed that special attention be given to the monitoring of differences, associating this task with the normal followup work done by the Regional Offices. In establishing the dates of applicability of amendments to Annexes and PANS made in the second half of 1953 and in 1954, the Council extended by at least two months the interval previously allowed between the date of adoption and the date of applicability, except in the case of Amendments 3 9 and 40 to Annex 3, where special circwnstances made a shorter interval necessary. See page 29 of this Report,

84

Resolution or

Recommendation


Subject


A7-10

A7-11

A7-12

A7-13

Directive to Council to use the training resources of the Air Navigation Bureau to their fullest extent to assist and encourage States in the provision and operation of facilities and services for international air navigation.

Directive to Council to give further emphasis to improving the efficiency of the regional planning activities of the Organization by, ~ alia, establishing the agenda of regional air navigation meetings on the basis of problems known to exist in the region and requiring early solution and determining the operat,ional requirements associated with the subject matter of the agenda well in advance of the meeting; in normal ciroum stances to convene not more than one major RAN meeting within any twelve-month period, and to make use of special meetings of limited scope to handle individual problems.

Directive to Council to develop further the technical resources of the Regional Offices with the object of giving States greater assistance with their implementation problems.

Directive to Council to complete as soon as practicable the study of ICAO policy on international airworthiness.

Remarks

See page 19 of this Report.

Noted by the AN Commission and Council for guidance. As indicated in Appendices 3 and 4, one full scale RAN meeting (Third North Atlantic) and four special meetings of limited scope (two of them informal) were convened in 1954, and one full scale meeting (for the Pacific Region) is planned for 1955. At the time of writing the Directives to Regional Air Nayigation Meetings and the organizational plan of such meetings were being reviewed by a working group of the Commission.

In connection with the budget estimates for 1955, the Council approved proposals by the Secretary General for strengthening the Regional Offices. See page 19 of this Report.

The AN Commission's report on the

study, calling for a revision of Annex 8 and the complementary part of Annex 6, was acted upon by the Council in June

1954. The Airworthiness Panel established to prepare the draft revisions held its first meeting in November and December. ~page 27 of this Report.


Subject

Appendix 7


A7-14 Directive to Council to concentrate work in the economic fi~ld during 1954-6 primarily on action in pursuance of resolutions adopted by the Seventh Session of the Assembly, giving first priority to the studies on charges for airports and air navigation facilities, and to review the working methods of the Air Transport Committee and Bureau with particular attention to their respective responsibilities in preparing documentation for economic studies.

Directive to Council to keep under review the possibilities of partial solutions to the problem of multilateralism in commercial rights for scheduled international air services and to study those which, in its view, would produce results of practical value to Contracting States.

· Directive to Council to give careful attention to any views expressed by Contracting States that might lead to an improvement of the definition of a "scheduled international air service" as a means of distinguishing between a scheduled arid non-scheduled services and to take such action to give effect to its conclusions as it thinks.best. Directive also to · consider the information received from States on difficulties experienced in the operation of non-scheduled services, suggestions as to practical steps that might be taken to eliminate or reduce such difficulties, and any legal problems that might be presented by attempts at liberalization of their national regulations, and then advise States what practical steps should be taken in order to facilitate the operation of non-scheduled air transport.

85

Remarks

The study on airport charges was completed early in February 1954 and despatched to States. The study on charges for air navigation facilities was in process at the time of writing. In April the Council found no need for any change in the working methods of the AT Committee and Bureau and in particular was against the substitution of working groups for the Secretariat in preparing documentation, except in extraordinary cases. ~ pages 33 and 66 of this Report.

In November 1954 the Council decided that the work being done by the Organization on the preparation of a draft multilateral agreement for Europe in response to Recommendation 2 of the Strasbourg Conference should be regarded as fulfilling in part and for the present the directive in this Resolution. See page 34 of this Report.

In the autumn of 1954 the AT Committee advised against the amendment of the definition, but was asked by Council to give further consideration to two of the suggestions for modification made by Contracting States. On the second directive, the results of the regional approach to the problem in the first meeting of the European Civil Aviation Conference are being awaited before launching any action on a world-wide plane. See page 35 of this Report.

86

Resolution. or Recommendation


Subject


A7-18

0 A7-.19

A7-24

A7-25

Directive to Council to transmit to States an objective study on airport charges, request their opinion on the usefulness of an international meeting on the subject at a convenient early date, and take action having regard to the replies received.

Directive to Council to conduct an investigation into the establishment, organization and methods of the Secretariat, and to report to the next session of the Assembly.

Invitation to Council, in administering the 1954 Budget, to make every necessary use of the freedom of action given to it in the Financial Regulations.

Request to Council to examine the question of internal procedure raised by the proposal of the Delegation of Venezuela that the working papers of Council and its subordinate bodies be issued in the three languages of the Organization, and to report to the next session.

Directive to Council to study all factors relevant to the weighting of international operations in relation to domestic operations in measuring "interest and importance in civil aviation", to adopt suitable weights for use in preparing the draft scale of assessments for 1955, and to study further the possibility

of incorporating a satisfactory measure of interest and importance in the non-scheduled

sector of international aviation and the continuing improvement of the relevant statistics.

Remarks

Study transmitted to States in February 1954. A meeting on airport charges is planned for 1956 as soon as possible after 21 March, the exact date to be determined later. See page33 of this Report.

An interim report was submitted to the Eighth Session of the Assembly, indicating that Mr. C.]. Gardner, Chief of the Organization and Methods Service of the Canadian Civil Service, had been engaged to conduct a preliminary survey, had completed the fact-finding portion of it, and was preparing his report. For subsequent developments ~ page 66 of this Report.

The Council did not find it necessaryto take advantage of this Resolution.

The Council reported to the Eighth Session of the Assembly (A8-WP /4, AD/ 3) that it had ·concluded that there was no need to change the existing practice of normally issning supporting documentation and min.utes of the Council, its Committees and the Air Navigation Commission in English only, but that the matter was open to reconsideration

at any time.

In December 1953 the Council adopted a 3:1 weighting of international and domestic operations, but it has not yet taken action on the second part of the directive relating to interest and importance in the non-scheduled sector of international aviation.


Eighth Session

AB-1

AB-2

•AB-3

AS-4

AB-5

Appendix 7

Subject

Adoption of amendments to Articles 48(a), 49(e) and 61 of the Convention designed to enable the Organization to arrange its programme of Assembly sessions at less frequent intervals than annually if such action appears desirable,

Decision to hold a session of the Assembly in Montreal in 1955.

Request to Council to study the effects of the amendments to Articles 48(a), 49(e) and 61 and to prepare recommendations for consideration by the 1956 Session of the Assembly on the future policy of the Organization in regard to the frequency of Assembly sessions.

Adoption of an amendment to Article 45 of the Convention which will enable the Headquarters of the Organization to be moved otherwise than temporarily by decision of the Assembly.

Decision that no proposal to move the headquarters should be considered unless notice of it, with all pertinent documentation, has been sent to all Contracting States at least 120 days before the opening of the session of the Assembly which is being asked to consider it,

Request to Council to study Rule 54 of the Standing Rules of Procedure of the Assembly in relation to Articles 93 and 94(a) of the Convention, to circulate appropriate material to Contracting States with a request for their comments, and to prevent its recommendations to the Assembly as soon as practicable,

87

Remarks

Protocol of amendment transmitted to States early in July 1954, with a letter drawing their attention to the Assembly's recommendation that they take urgent action to ratify the amendments. See page 55 of this Report.

The Ninth Session of the Assembly is to open in Montreal on 31 May 1955.

Study not yet initiated.

The Protocol of amendment was despatched to Contracting States early in July with a letter drawing their attention to the Assembly's recommendation that they take urgent action to ratify the amendment. See page 56 of this Repcirt,

No Council action required.

Referred to the Legal Committee which advised that Rule 54 presented no conflict with Articles 93 and 94(a). Council accepted this conclusion as a prima facie indication that no change in the Rule was necessary, but decided to circulate the Legal Committee's report to States with a request for comments before making a recommendation to the Assembly. See page57 of this Report.

DjVu Document

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