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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0057.PDF
DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENT SALES UK and EUROPE Display Advertising Enquiries +44 (181) 652 3315 Display Advertising Fax +44(181)6528981 Group Advertisement Director lanBurrows +44(18116523319 Sales and Events Co-ordinator Lisa Devlin +44(181)6523315 Advertisement Production Display/Classified Howard Mason +44 (181) 652 3267 UK, NORTHERN and EASTERN EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST and ISRAEL Senior Area Manager Robin Gordon +44 (181) 652 4998 UK, IRELAND, GREECE, IBERIA, BENELUX, AFRICA Area Manager Janice Lowe COMMENT +44(181)6523316 FRANCE Sales Director France Pierre Mussard Reed Business Information France. 15 bis. rue Ernest Renan. 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux. France. Telephone+33(1)46294615 Fax+33 (1)40 93 03 37 ITALY Representative Romano Ferrario Gruppo Editoraile Jackson. Via Gorki 69. Cinisello B Milano, Italy. Telephone +39 (2) 6603 4435 Fax +39 (2) 66034367 NORTH AMERICA Vice-president US Sales John Tidy Reed Business Information. 3700 Campus Drive, Suite 203. Newport Beach. 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Telephone+65 338 3398; Fax+65 338 3213 CLASSIFIED & RECRUITMENT Classified Advertising Enquiries +44 (181) 652 3811 Classified Advertising Fax +44 (181) 652 4802 Group Advertisement Manager GarethPask +44(181)6524814 Sales Manager Sarah Genest +44 (181) 770 3010 International Sales Executives MoButtivant +44(181)7703032 Simon Lees +44(181)7703011 Louise Meikle +44(181)7703027 LucyMiddelboe +44(181)7703030 Classified USA Gail Tavelman +1 (212) 545 5403 Classified Asia/Pacific Lina Rohmat +65 338 3398 Publisher Gavin Howe +44(181)6523675 x iigiitinio* The text of Flight International and Airline Business can be found on the following databases: Lexis-Nexis. Knight-Ridder DataStar, FT Profile, ESA, lAC/Predicasts, and Reuters Details from tel: +44 (181) 302 5101. Published in association with Airline Business by Reed Business Information, Quadrant House, The Quadrant. Sutton. Surrey, SM2 5AS. UK Flight International is sold subject to the following conditions: namely, that it is not, without the written consent of the publishers first given, lent, re-sold, hired out or in any unauthorised cover by way of trade; or affixed to. or as part of. any publication or advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever The publishers of Flight International ate prepared to accept unsolicited material, but only on the understanding that such material is submitted wholly at the risk of the provider, and that the publishers cannot guarantee the receipt, safekeeping or return of non-commissioned work in any format, including manuscripts, digital data, photographic prints and transparencies Second-class postage paid at Champlain. New York and additional entries Postmaster: Send address corrections to: Flight International, c/o IMS, Box 1518. Champlain. NY 12919 © 1997 Reed Business Information Ltd. OUTSIDE CONTROL THERE IS NOTHING new in the percep tion of inadequacy in African and Third-World air-traffic control (ATC)—merely in the articulation of that perception. The major international bodies (the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Inter national Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) have long known not only about the prob lems, but waned to do something about them. They have even qui etly suggested provid ing funds and the equipment needed to upgrade services, but have never succeeded, because, in most cases, they cannot get guar antees from the coun tries concerned that the resources so given will, in fact, be em ployed in improving ATC services. So far, there has been no public fuss about either the inadequacy of the current ATC ser vices or about the lack of success in helping upgrades, for fear of alienating the countries which are at fault. Now, the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations has said the unsayable: there is a problem, and the international community had better do something about it or pilots will not fly over these areas. Far from being annoyed by such a statement, the likes of ICAO and IATA are probably vasdy relieved that somebody else has brought the issue out into the open. Their relief will, however, be tinged with concern that, now, it will be up to such as them to make that "some thing" happen. There are two possible solutions to this prob lem: one is to find a method of persuading or forcing the countries at fault to upgrade their ATC systems to (and maintain them at) an acceptable standard; the other is to find a way of bypassing these countries in ATC terms. Persuasion has not worked so far, and is not likely to. Understanding the need for seamless, faultless ATC — far less providing it—is a long way down the priority list for a great many regimes, and gende persuasion will not change that. This makes it difficult to accept the view of some commentators that only the nations at fault can do something about the problem. Compulsion is another issue: United Nations - backed sanctions (such as cutting off air services "If the countries at fault refuse to provide proper ATC services, let others do it for them." and foreign aid) might have the effect—but get ting the UN to agree to apply sanctions over a comparatively non-urgent, non-life-direaten- ing issue like this would be near-impossible. What can possibly be the solution, then? If the countries at fault refuse to provide proper ATC services, let others do it for them. The technology is available, both for the ground infrastruc ture and for the air craft. If a reliable automatic dependent surveillance system can be set up in the Pacific Ocean, it could cer tainly be set up in Africa. There are enough "good", responsible countries which could host the ground sta tions; there are enough satellites to provide cov erage for two-way com munications; die airborne systems are available. The problem is, of course, diat by international convention, one country cannot "control" (even in die sense of ATC) the sovereign airspace of anoth er—without its consent. Would die "bad" coun tries give such consent? They would have a lot to gain from so doing. They would be absolved of die responsibility and expense of providing en route (although not local) ATC services. They would lose die censure for failing to provide adequate ATC. Such consent would, of course, not be lightly given. These countries do derive income from overflights, even if they do not plough that income back into ATC services as they should by international agreement. National pride in even the most sophisticated of countries can often stand in the way of ceding real or apparent sovereignty over even the most minor of issues. If the international community were willing to take on the task, however, it could set up trans national bodies to provide these services. It would be such a body, not a single nation, which would then be encroaching on a particular coun try's airspace. With international funding, such a body could cover its operating costs and still pay each host nation a "rental" for its airspace). The problem is then just one of persuading die international bodies to move. That persuad ing should come from the airlines (especially diose of the "developed" world) whose reputa tions suffer with every incident which occurs — whedier caused by ATC or not. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 January 1997 3
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