Open Skies ReviewAviation & International Affairs

Every international flight is an act of diplomacy.

Open Skies Review explains the treaties, institutions, and aircraft that make international aviation possible, for students, professionals, and anyone who has ever wondered who decides where airplanes may fly.

Why aviation is a diplomatic subject

No airline can carry a single passenger from one country to another without an agreement between governments. Since 1944 the world has managed its skies through a layered system: a foundational treaty, a United Nations agency that writes the technical rules, and thousands of bilateral and multilateral agreements that decide which airlines may fly where. Behind that commercial system sits another one, governing military and state aircraft, surveillance, and security.

Open Skies Review explains each layer in plain language.

The Chicago ConventionThe 1944 treaty that created the modern system of international civil aviation.The Freedoms of the AirThe nine traffic rights, from overflight to cabotage, explained with examples.ICAOHow a UN agency in Montreal writes the rules every airline follows.Bilateral Air AgreementsFrom the 1946 Bermuda Agreement to the modern air services agreement.Open Skies AgreementsHow the United States liberalized international aviation, partner by partner.The EU–US Open Skies AgreementThe 2007 agreement that remade transatlantic aviation.The Treaty on Open SkiesA different treaty with a similar name: unarmed observation flights between rivals.Aviation Security LawThe Tokyo, Hague, and Montreal conventions against hijacking and sabotage.Accident InvestigationAnnex 13 and how nations cooperate after a crash.Aircraft of Science and SecurityThe WB-57, the E-11A, and small unmanned systems.Airline LiabilityFrom the Warsaw Convention of 1929 to the Montreal Convention of 1999.Unmanned Aircraft PolicyHow drones challenge international aviation law and export control.CareersWorking where aviation and international affairs meet.

Featured contributor

Songkane Sackaly brings an unusual combination to aviation and international affairs: a degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Department of Defense work supporting aviation programs including NASA's WB-57, the U.S. Air Force's E-11A, and the Bat unmanned aircraft system, and a career as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. Read his profile.