The rapid growth of air traffic is inevitably leading to congested skies, which may cause more flight delays, and more alarmingly, jeopardize the safety of air navigation. For this reason, the provision of air navigation services is undergoing constant modernization, necessitating a solid legal framework.
This paper examines the adequacy of the current legal framework, characterized by predominantly national regulation, with respect to traditional and cross-border arrangements for the provision of air navigation services. The Single European Sky legislative package, while reconfiguring European airspace into functional airspace blocks, does not address the liability of air navigation service providers. As will be discussed in this paper, complex cross-border services provision scenarios, such as those envisaged by the Single European Sky project, require a clear liability framework, which, in our view, would best be achieved through lawmaking on the regional level. This could serve as a basis for an international convention which would be desirable, should concepts such as the Single European Sky develop in other regions of the world.
Air and Space Law