- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 24/Jul 06:24

Management of the Piarco flight information region

IT is more than just a coincidence that whenever a government changes in Trinidad and Tobago, the management of the Piarco Flight Information Region (FIR) surfaces as contentious by some Eastern Caribbean (ECAR) states such as Antigua and Barbuda and St Vincent and the Grenadines. In 2015, after the change of administration, the then TT director general of Civil Aviation prepared a very comprehensive historical brief on the management of the Piarco FIR, which justified the retention of the FIR revenues. In April 1950, the ICAO second Caribbean Regional Air Navigation meeting held in Havana, Cuba, accepted a recommendation by the UK that its colony TT, be designated to provide air navigation services in the newly created FIR which was subsequently named the Piarco FIR after BWIA’s main base. At that time, TT was the only ECAR state with a national airline (BWIA) which required air navigation services due to its international route network. The Piarco FIR is an area of airspace of approximately 750,000 square miles extending from 10° to 18° north latitude and extending across the mid-Atlantic from 38° west longitude to 65° west longitude. Over 90 per cent of the FIR is over the mid-Atlantic ocean in international airspace known as the oceanic sector. The other ten per cent is over the ECAR islands known as the continental sector. The vertical limits of the Piarco FIR in the oceanic sector start from sea level up to 55,000 feet. The ICAO assigned each country in the continental sector with the responsibility for the airspace above its territories called Terminal Areas (TMA), starting from sea level to 24,500 feet under the control of the country’s respective air traffic control units. In some countries such as Barbados, the TMA boundaries extend beyond the sovereign territorial boundaries of the countries into international airspace. The vertical limits of the Piarco FIR over the TMAs start at 24,500 feet up to 55,000 feet. Using the latest technologies, TT solely provides all the air navigation services in the Piarco FIR, including air traffic control, aviation meteorology, communication, navigation, surveillance, aeronautical information management and search and rescue co-ordination. During a press conference on July 11, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves enigmatically said, "They (TT) make the money from the space that's part of our property." Dr Gonzales’s claims were not supported by any factual evidence. All the ECAR states, including TT, are signatories to the Chicago Convention of which Article 15 states in part, "No fees, dues or other charges shall be imposed by any contracting state in respect solely of the right of transit over or entry into or exit from its territory of any aircraft of a contracting state or persons or property thereon." Therefore, a country cannot impose charges on airlines overflying its sovereign airspace unless it provides a service to the airlines. Only TT provides air navigation services in the FIR. The other ECAR states, including St Vincent and the Grenadines, do not provide any services whatsoever in the FIR. For decades, a private company owned by airlines fixed and collected user charges from the airlines operating in the FIR. The company operated with impunity without complaints from anyone. In 2004, TT, as the custodian of the FIR, disengaged that company and began to fix and collect air navigation charges from the airlines. TT agreed with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on a regime of air navigation charges in the Piarco FIR based on a cost recovery basis in accordance with the TT Civil Aviation Act. These charges were used to construct one of the most modern air traffic control centres in the western hemisphere. Thereafter, rumblings began by some ECAR countries demanding the sharing of user charges. TT expends great financial resources to provide TMA support services at no cost to other ECAR states such as St Vincent and the Grenadines. It has equipped every airport in the TMAs with end equipment such as computers, displays, printers, software, UPS, for accessing the aeronautical fixed telecommunication network (AFTN) through a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) system. The AFTN is a worldwide aviation system used for the exchange of messages and data among airports, enabling the reliable and rapid transfer of essential flight information like flight plans, distress calls and meteorological data. All the TMA equipment requires ongoing maintenance, continuous upgrades and training for TMA technical staff for which TT bears the full cost. TT also pays the full cost to acquire and install air navigation aids in some ECAR states such as NDBs and VOR Systems in some ECAR states. The management of an FIR is a very complex process that requires state-of-the-art equipment, detailed procedures and highly trained technical staff in accordance with the exacting ICAO standards. Over the past 75 years, without any financial support from the other ECAR states, TT became a very diligent custodian of the FIR. Through visionary leadership, modern technology and expertise, TT is firmly placed on the global aviation map as a world-class centre of air navigation excellence. Dr Gonzales is a member of Caricom Quasi Cabinet with responsibility for Transport (Maritime and Aviation) and should focus on driving some key outstanding issues such as full compliance by all Caricom states with Chapter Six – Transport Policy of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. TT is the only Caricom country whose aviation laws fully comply with the aviation-related provisions of the revised treaty. As a result, any Caricom citizen can register an aircraft, obtain a commercial pilot licence (CPL) and establish a commercial airline in TT. This enabled dozens of Caricom citizens, mainly ex-Air Jamaica pilots, to easily obtain TT CPLs and gain employment with Caribbean Airlines Ltd. Another issue is the Caricom revised multilateral air services agreement (MASA). The revised MASA is in force and is a significant regulatory catalyst for developing regional air transport. However, many Caricom countries are yet to put the requisite administrative arrangements in place to implement the revised MASA. The OECS FAA category two downgrade since May 2020 remains a burning issue.   The post Management of the Piarco flight information region appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.