India is a signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, which has been an enduring multilateral treaty showing resilience and vision in the aviation sector. The signatories to this Convention had agreed on certain principles and arrangements so that international civil aviation could be developed in a safe and orderly manner and international air transport services be established on the basis of equality of opportunity and operated soundly and economically. It rests on four key elements – peace and friendship through aviation, safety, economical and orderly air transport. Aviation is a global industry and this Convention, in its true spirit, gives it a strategic direction of “creating and preserving friendship and understanding among the nations and people of the world”. As cities grow, the need for connectivity and air transport grows. This write up revisits the Chicago Convention and tries to find out what makes it relevant till date and whether the Convention that gives prominence to the state policy and protection of national interest over the interest of the user of air transport merely because it is stultified by interests of commercial and national policy is a good policy consideration for the burgeoning aviation sector.
