The Paris Convention of 1919 (formally, theConvention Relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation) was the first international convention to address the political difficulties and intricacies involved in international aerial navigation. The convention was concluded under the auspices of theInternational Commission for Air Navigation (forerunner toICAO). It attempted to reduce the confusing patchwork of ideologies and regulations which differed by country by defining certain guiding principles and provisions, and was signed inParis on 13 October 1919.
The first passenger-carrying airline flight happened in 1914 with theSt. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line.[1] Before that time, aircraft had been used to carry mail and other cargo. With the start ofWorld War I in 1914, aircraft were being operated internationally to carry not only cargo, but also as military assets. The international use of aircraft brought up questions aboutair sovereignty. The arguments over air sovereignty at the time factored into one of two main viewpoints: either no state had a right to claim sovereignty over the airspace overlying its territory, or every state had the right to do so.[2]
The Paris Convention of 1919 sought to determine this question as part of the process of framing the convention's assumptions, and it was decided that each nation hasabsolute sovereignty over the airspace overlying its territories and waters.
The nations that signed the treaty were: Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, the British Empire, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti,the Hejaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Siam, Czechoslovakia, and Uruguay. Ultimately, the convention was ratified by 11 states, including Persia, which had not signed it. The United States never ratified it because of its linkage to theLeague of Nations.[citation needed] The treaty came into force in 1922.
The Paris Convention was superseded by theConvention on International Civil Aviation (also known as the Chicago Convention).
The following principles governed the drafting of the convention:[3]
It had 9 chapters, dealing with:[3]