The most recent Nigerian National Civil Aviation Policy is dated May 2023.
Commerce Commission closes Barrier Air complaint
6 hours ago
Showing posts with label aviation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aviation. Show all posts
16 December 2025
South Africa Draft Comprehensive Civil Aviation Policy
On 23 May 2025 the South African Government published a draft Comprehensive Civil Aviation Policy.
22 September 2025
New Zealand Aviation Action Plan
On 16 September 2025 the New Zealand Government released an Aviation Action Plan.
21 March 2025
Atlas of the Sky from the European Commission
The most comprehensive data sources for the global airline and airport industries usually come at considerable cost but there are some good free sources of information available.
One such source is the online Atlas of the Sky provided by the European Commission.
Australian Government Aviation White Paper
In 2023 the Australian Government started consultations on a new aviation policy statement. The final Aviation White Paper - Towards 2050 was released in August 2024.
Fiji Aviation Policy and "Open Skies" with the United States
Following the announcement of a Cabinet decision on 9 April 2024 that also agreed to a mandate for negotiating an "open skies" agreement with the United States, in May 2024 the Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, Hon. Viliame Gavoka, signed off on a new Aviation Policy that allows for "liberalisation of air transport on a case-by-case basis, in the national interest."
A new "open skies" air transport agreement between Fiji and the United States of America was signed between the two countries on 28 August 2024.
03 June 2023
Old New Zealand aeronautical charts
In late 2021 I came across a source for scans of all the old New Zealand aeronautical charts and plates. The scans are excellent but the indexing is just about non existent when it comes to trying to isolate them out.
Go to: geodatahub.library.auckland.ac.nz
Have a look in the Knowledge Base at the New Zealand Mapping Service section, click on NZMS_009A, NZMS_009C, NZMS_012A, NZMS_89A, NZMS_096 and NZMS_228 then click on .jpg
NZMS_006 contains hundreds of aerodrome plates and instrument procedures.
NZMS_103 covers the NZ-UK air route in 1953.
Some of the earliest charts that I could find date from the late 1930s.
26 February 2012
Podcasts
A couple of years ago when I first got an iPhone I downloaded from iTunes and listened to an aviation podcast. I was not impressed as the speakers were amateur enthusiasts who were clearly not that well informed.
I then started listening to EconTalk, a series of excellent podcasts by economist Russ Roberts from GMU in Virginia (he also blogs at Cafe Hayek). Each week he interviews at length a distinguished economist in a manner that is not overly technical.
For lighter relief I have been listening to the Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4. These generally take the form of a quiz or short monologues focussed on the latest political news from the UK.
More recently, I have been listening to a couple of much more professionally done aviation podcasts.
They have turned out to be excellent with coverage of civil and miltary aviation, including aviation history and technology. I have been listening to older episodes and have even sent off a couple of possible "Grill the Geeks" questions to the USA.
These have all been great listening while walking our two dogs.
I then started listening to EconTalk, a series of excellent podcasts by economist Russ Roberts from GMU in Virginia (he also blogs at Cafe Hayek). Each week he interviews at length a distinguished economist in a manner that is not overly technical.
For lighter relief I have been listening to the Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4. These generally take the form of a quiz or short monologues focussed on the latest political news from the UK.
More recently, I have been listening to a couple of much more professionally done aviation podcasts.
- Airplane Geeks (@AirplaneGeeks) - from the USA
- Plane Crazy Down Under (@pcdu) - from Victoria, Australia
They have turned out to be excellent with coverage of civil and miltary aviation, including aviation history and technology. I have been listening to older episodes and have even sent off a couple of possible "Grill the Geeks" questions to the USA.
These have all been great listening while walking our two dogs.
Microblogging
Over the last few months I have become a fan of using Twitter (posts should be 140 characters or less and URLs are usually shortened) and some of the web links that I have previously been posting here are now being sent out from @aeropolitics It is also an excellent method for following other relevant Twitter accounts on the latest developments around the world as they happen. I will, however. be making an effort to catch up on my weblog posting.
I have also started helping the New Zealand Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society (I am a Council member) with tweets focussed on New Zealand aviation news using the brand name @aerospacenz
And I am still using @macilree for short messages of a more personal nature.
As this can often be done from my "old" iPhone it is generally a much quicker way of providing links to information that may be of interest to others.
To assist I am using Tweetdeck both on our PC and my smartphone.
I have also started helping the New Zealand Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society (I am a Council member) with tweets focussed on New Zealand aviation news using the brand name @aerospacenz
And I am still using @macilree for short messages of a more personal nature.
As this can often be done from my "old" iPhone it is generally a much quicker way of providing links to information that may be of interest to others.
To assist I am using Tweetdeck both on our PC and my smartphone.
17 November 2011
ECJ Advocate General releases opinion on extension of EU ETS to cover international aviation
On 6 October 2011 the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) issued a press release and non-binding legal opinion on the case (C-366/10) brought by the Air Transport Association of America and Others (see previous post).
Reaction from interested parties the same day included statements from:
As might be expected, the opinion has been of considerable interest to international law academics. Aviation Law Prof Blog from DePaul University in Chicago has been providing commentary and links to other work:
Reaction from interested parties the same day included statements from:
- Air Transport Association (ATA)
- International Air Transport Association (IATA)
- Association of European Airlines (AEA)
- Financial Post reporting the Canadian Government position
- The Washington Post
- The Economist
- Air Cargo World
As might be expected, the opinion has been of considerable interest to international law academics. Aviation Law Prof Blog from DePaul University in Chicago has been providing commentary and links to other work:
- Advocate General claims EU not bound by Chicago Convention
- Functional succession theory and ramifications of EU exemption from Chicago Convention
- Advocate General opinion charts new ground on extraterritorial jurisdiction over environmental issues
- Advocate General opinion finds no legal impediment to unilateral emissions action
- Does ETS constitute a tax?
Canada signs expanded air agreement with Japan
04 October 2011
Australia concludes open air services agreement with Japan
On 30 September 2011 the Australian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Hon Anthony Albanese, announced that Australia had negotiated a new open air services agreement with Japan. For Australian airlines the arrangements include time-restricted access to Haneda airport in Tokyo and open access to Narita airport from 2013. While described as "open skies", some slot-related restrictions on access to these Tokyo airports remain for the time being. Also included are fifth freedom rights for Australian airlines beyond Japan to third countries.
On 16 August 2011 the Qantas group had announced that it will be entering into a new joint venture with Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi Corporation to establish Jetstar Japan. Although announced as a domestic operation, this new joint venture could qualify to use Japanese international air rights.
On 16 August 2011 the Qantas group had announced that it will be entering into a new joint venture with Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi Corporation to establish Jetstar Japan. Although announced as a domestic operation, this new joint venture could qualify to use Japanese international air rights.
18 September 2011
UK has air services negotiations scheduled with Japan
The United Kingdom Forward Programme of Possible Bilateral Air Services Talks published by the Department for Transport has negotiations scheduled for September 2011 with Cuba, Egypt and Turkmenistan.
More interestingly it states that the UK has negotiations scheduled with Japan for 17-19 January 2012. With the recent talks with Canada (see previous post), Japan is clearly starting to work through a priority list of countries outside of East Asia (see previous post) as it implements its "open skies" policy.
More interestingly it states that the UK has negotiations scheduled with Japan for 17-19 January 2012. With the recent talks with Canada (see previous post), Japan is clearly starting to work through a priority list of countries outside of East Asia (see previous post) as it implements its "open skies" policy.
UK Government responds to Committee on Climate Change Aviation Report
On 25 August 2011 the UK Department for Transport published a government response to the Aviation Report issued by the Committee for Climate Change (CCC) in December 2009 (see previous post).
The response focusses on an estimated marginal abatement cost curve to reduce CO2 emissions from UK aviation.
The response focusses on an estimated marginal abatement cost curve to reduce CO2 emissions from UK aviation.
APEC Transportation Ministers meet in San Francisco
APEC Transportation Ministers met in San Francisco on 14 September 2011. The Ministerial Joint Statement released at the meeting makes specific mention of the Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transportation (MALIAT).
APEC has long taken an interest in the economic regulation of international air transport. In the late 1990s it developed and prioritised eight options for reform and these were endorsed when APEC Leaders met and issued the Auckland Challenge on 13 September 1999 (see page 4).
Guiding APEC's work in trade have been the Bogor goals set by Leaders in 1994.
APEC has long taken an interest in the economic regulation of international air transport. In the late 1990s it developed and prioritised eight options for reform and these were endorsed when APEC Leaders met and issued the Auckland Challenge on 13 September 1999 (see page 4).
Guiding APEC's work in trade have been the Bogor goals set by Leaders in 1994.
NZ Commerce Commission has a win in air cargo pricing court case
On 26 August 2011 the New Zealand Commerce Commission announced that it had won a procedural judgement in the High Court in its case against nine airlines (see previous post).
Australian Productivity Commission releases draft report on airport regulation
On 22 August 2011 the Australian Productivity Commission released a draft report on the Economic Regulation of Airport Services. The final date for submissions is 23 September 2011.
India's Comptroller and Auditor General Examines Air India
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has recently released a Performance Audit of Civil Aviation in India. The audit commenced in September 2009 and the report was tabled in Parliament on 8 September 2011.
For me the most interesting part of the report was Chapter 5 which looks at India's bilateral air services arrangements during a period of fundamental change in India's international air transport policy. Of particular concern to the auditors was the extent of sixth freedom carriage by many of the foreign airlines serving India, notably from small city states. Sixth freedom carriage in this context involves a foreign international airline is carrying traffic between India and a third country via its home country. Seeking to limit such carriage is a traditional approach to air rights exchanges dating back to the 1946 Bermuda 1 arrangements between the UK and the USA (see previous post).
What I had not expected to see was the extent to which European carriers serving India have as high a proportion of sixth freedom carriage as airlines from the Gulf. An 18 September 2011 article in the Business Standard reports on the data.
The auditors also focus in particular on the failure of the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation to secure Dubai's agreement to a "change of gauge" provision. If this was considered important surely the Indian negotiators would have made it the price for agreeing to capacity increases for Emirates?
A 10 September 2011 report in the Indian Express covers the reaction to the report from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
It would seem that India has no intention of seeking to wind back existing air services arrangements but one has to wonder what impact this report will have on future negotiations, particularly as there was a change of Civil Aviation Minister in India from Praful Patel to Vyalar Ravi in January 2011.
Air India recently had its application to join the Star alliance suspended (see 31 July 2011 media release) and there is now some doubt about its large order for new Boeing aircraft, including the B787.
In the 1960s Air India was one of the great airlines of the world with its wonderful Maharaja character. However, past failures to agree to replace older airliners has left the airline with a relatively old fleet.
For me the most interesting part of the report was Chapter 5 which looks at India's bilateral air services arrangements during a period of fundamental change in India's international air transport policy. Of particular concern to the auditors was the extent of sixth freedom carriage by many of the foreign airlines serving India, notably from small city states. Sixth freedom carriage in this context involves a foreign international airline is carrying traffic between India and a third country via its home country. Seeking to limit such carriage is a traditional approach to air rights exchanges dating back to the 1946 Bermuda 1 arrangements between the UK and the USA (see previous post).
What I had not expected to see was the extent to which European carriers serving India have as high a proportion of sixth freedom carriage as airlines from the Gulf. An 18 September 2011 article in the Business Standard reports on the data.
The auditors also focus in particular on the failure of the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation to secure Dubai's agreement to a "change of gauge" provision. If this was considered important surely the Indian negotiators would have made it the price for agreeing to capacity increases for Emirates?
A 10 September 2011 report in the Indian Express covers the reaction to the report from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
It would seem that India has no intention of seeking to wind back existing air services arrangements but one has to wonder what impact this report will have on future negotiations, particularly as there was a change of Civil Aviation Minister in India from Praful Patel to Vyalar Ravi in January 2011.
Air India recently had its application to join the Star alliance suspended (see 31 July 2011 media release) and there is now some doubt about its large order for new Boeing aircraft, including the B787.
In the 1960s Air India was one of the great airlines of the world with its wonderful Maharaja character. However, past failures to agree to replace older airliners has left the airline with a relatively old fleet.
"Breaking the Surly Bonds of Economic Regulation" by Chris Lyle
Consultant and former senior official at ICAO, Chris Lyle of Air Transport Economics in Canada published an article in August 2011 suggesting a way forward towards liberalising international air transport economic regulation involving a club approach.
Although I would not uncritically accept what he has to say, it is well worth reading.
Although I would not uncritically accept what he has to say, it is well worth reading.
Japan negotiating "open skies" agreement with Canada
CAPA reported that Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT) announced on 9 September 2011 that it would be negotiating an open skies agreement with Canada commencing on 13-14 September 2011 in Vancouver.
MILT noted that this would be only the second such agreement outside of East Asia, the first having been with the United States (see previous post).
MILT noted that this would be only the second such agreement outside of East Asia, the first having been with the United States (see previous post).
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