To ban or not to ban? Regulators attempt to mitigate risks from air carriage of lithium batteries

ICAO and regulators worldwide are examining methods to mitigate the risk posed by air carriage of lithium batteries. The crashes of two freighters in 2010 and 2011, and the grounding of Boeing 787s in 2013, all connected with lithium batteries on board, in combination with recent FAA studies, have sparked an intense debate on the conditions under which lithium batteries should be (not) allowed on board aircraft.

ICAO Council Adopts Core Principles on Consumer Protection

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has adopted global core principles on air transport consumer protection. The principles cover three phases of a customer’s experience: before, during and after travel.

RPAS regulation takes off in the EU – The Riga Declaration and the EASA Concept of Operations for Drones

Regulation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), commonly known as “drones”, received a boost in the EU after the issuance of the Riga Declaration, which laid down policy aims on RPAS regulation. A few days later, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced the Concept of Operations on Drones.

ICAO takes action on tracking of airline flights

ICAO concluded a Special Meeting on Global Flight Tracking of Aircraft on 14 May and set priorities with Member States and the airline industry. The priorities regard short-term, mid-term and long-term actions.

Aviation safety: Statistics and developments

2013 is one of the safest years in aviation, according to IATA and ICAO statistics. However, challenges remain in runway excursions, Loss Of Control in Flight (LOC-I) and Control Flight into Terrain (CFIT). Meanwhile, EASA and IATA have signed an agreement on safety information sharing.

ICAO Diplomatic Conference adopts amendments to Tokyo Convention to cover unruly passengers

The International Civil Aviation Organization announced that a Diplomatic Conference adopted on 4 April 2014 a Protocol to amend the 1963 Tokyo Convention. The new Protocol addresses the problem of the so called “disruptive” or “unruly” passengers. It contains three main categories of provisions: on jurisdiction, list of offences and in-flight security officers.

Flight 370 and security deficiencies

The events surrounding Malaysian airlines flight 370 have sparked discussions about security deficiencies of the air travel in general and of the Malaysian aviation authorities in particular.