Provision of Air Navigation Services

Over the high seas, the rules of the air have binding effect under Article 12, Sentence 3 of the Chicago Convention. It should be clarified that rules of the air have a broader meaning than Annex 2 and encompass the Standards and Recommended Practices of all other Annexes as far as their application makes sense over the high seas.  

The ICAO Council, in adopting Annex 2 in April 1948 and subsequently in November 1951 when Amendment 1 to the Annex was adopted, resolved that the Annex constitutes rules relating to the flight and manoeuvre of aircraft within the meaning of Article 12 of the Convention. Therefore, the Council explicitly recognized that the rules in the Annex applied to the manoeuvre and operation of aircraft without exception. Annex 2, in its Foreword, states that the Standards in the 

Procedures of worldwide applicability are included either in the Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation as Standards or Reconunended Practices, or in the Procedures for Air 

In October 1945, the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control (RAC) Division at its first session made recommendations for Standards, Practices and Procedures for the Rules of the Air. These were reviewed by the then Air Navigation Committee and approved by the Council on 25 February 1946. They were published Recommendations for Standards, Practices and Procedures - Rules of the Air in the first part of Doc 2010, published in February 1946. The RAC Division, at its second session in December 1946-January 1947, reviewed Doc 2010 and proposed Standards and Recommended Practices for the Rules of the Air. These were adopted by the Council as Standards and Recommended Practices relating to Rules of the Air on 15 April 1948, pursuant to Article 37 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago, 1944) and designated as Annex 2 to the Convention with the title International Standards and Recommended Practices - Rules of the Air. They became effective on 15 September 1948. On 27 November 1951, the Council adopted a complete new text of the Annex, which no longer contained Recommended Practices. The Standards of the amended Annex 2 (Amendment 1) became effective on 1 April 1952 and applicable on 1 September 1952. 

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The provision of air navigation services are mainly regulated by three Annexes to the Chicago Convention, namely Annex 2 (Rules of the Air), Annex 3 (Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation) and Annex 11 (Air Traffic Services). Of these, compliance with Annex 2 is mandatory and does not... 

It is also provided in the Annex that close haison shall be maintained between those concerned with the supply and those concerned with the use of meteorological information on matters which affect the provision of meteorological service for international air navigation. Furthermore, States have responsibility establish one or more aerodrome and/or other meteorological offices which shall be adequate for the provision of the meteorological service required to satisfy the needs of international air navigation. ... 

The ICAO Regional Supplementary Procedures (SUPPS) form the procedural part of the Air Navigation Plan developed by Regional Air Navigation (RAN) Meetings to meet those needs of specific areas which are not covered in the worldwide provisions. They complement the statement of requirements for facilities and services contained in the Air Navigation Plan publications. 

Article 15 establishes a national treatment standard for all contracting States in the context of the use of airports and other air navigation facilities for international air transport. Insofar as the operation of scheduled services is concerned, Article 15 subjects the use of airports to Article 68, which permits each contracting State, subject to the provisions of the Convention, to designate the route to be followed within its territory by any international air service and the airports which any such service may use . However, Article 68 should not be read individually so as to derogate the national treatment standard established in Article 15. 

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