The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a statement emphasizing the need to protect civil aviation, including airport and air navigation infrastructure, during times of conflict amid increased geopolitical tensions in some parts of the world.
Willie Walsh, the director general of IATA, said that The Chicago Convention, signed eighty years ago as the Second World War raged, began with the words "civil aviation fulfils a purpose that transcends politics' by creating and preserving friendship and understanding among the nations and peoples of the world."
"They are a timeless reminder of civil aviation's essential and unique role in connecting people and delivering goods over vast distances," Walsh said.
"In the turbulent world of 2024, the truth of the Chicago Convention's preamble rings loudly."
"We all want to live in a world at peace. Sadly, today, that is far from reality for many people. That is why it is necessary to remind all involved in conflict of the need to ensure that flights are safe and that critical airport and air navigation infrastructure is not targeted in any hostilities," the IATA chief added.
Walsh emphasized that civil aviation "does not take sides in political conflicts."
"As an industry that requires the effective implementation of global standards to operate, aviation upholds global standards and the international rules-based order on which they rely," Walsh said.
"As the name implies, civil aviation serves the civilian population. It must be kept out of harm's way by all actors in a conflict. This is the firm belief of IATA. More importantly, it is the unquestionable obligation of governments under international law," he added.
Walsh emphasized that Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects the freedom of movement domestically and internationally, Article 48 of the Fourth Geneva Convention also holds that combatants in conflict must not target civilian objects.
"Basic norms of customary international law require that all parties to a conflict allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need and ensure the freedom of movement of authorized humanitarian relief personnel," Walsh said.
"These international legal obligations will be unfulfillable should the line between military and civil aviation blur, even in the slightest."
The chief of IATA — a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945 — underscored that such would bring "deeply troubling consequences for innocent populations trying to survive through conflict, and especially for those in need of humanitarian aid."
"Moreover, the Chicago Convention explicitly obliges states to protect civil aircraft and passengers in flight, refrain from the use of force against civil aircraft, and by corollary coordinate and communicate any activities potentially hazardous to civil aviation," Walsh said.
"These are essential to keep flying safe," he added.
