Conflict Zones
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This article originally appeared in The Culture Issue of APEX Experience.
Among those taking the lead to establish strategies for the mitigation of conflict-related threats to civil aviation are the Airports Council International (ACI), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). While these three groups, along with more than 190 member states, have always been responsible for the safety of passenger air travel, several recent events – particularly the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014, allegedly due to shelling from anti-aircraft artillery while traveling over Eastern Ukraine – have jolted each into urgently evaluating existing safety protocols.
“While aviation is the safest form of transport, the MH17 incident has raised troubling concerns with respect to civilian aircraft operating to, from and over conflict zones,” read a statement released jointly by ICAO, IATA, ACI and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) in the wake of the tragedy. “We have met at ICAO with collective resolve to urgently review the issues and potential responses to be pursued. As a first step, states have been reminded by ICAO of their responsibilities to address any potential risks to civil aviation in their airspace.”
TASK FORCE
Indeed, sovereign states are responsible for ensuring the safety of civil aviation operations in their delegated airspace; and airspace users have the ultimate responsibility to decide where they are able to operate safely in a given region. But MH17 has highlighted, most painfully, that more must be done.
As a result of the initial meeting mentioned in the joint statement above, the Task Force on Risks to Civil Aviation arising from Conflict Zones (TF RCZ) was established and quickly set about looking for ways to close up some jarring gaps in communication between the three “I-groups,” the industry and the member states.
The TF RCZ has convened numerous times since July, and has put together an action plan outlining nearly 20 individual tasks and assigning their direction to either organization, industry or state. When completed, these tasks are expected to produce more than a dozen positive outcomes, ranging from the development of “best practice guidance for conducting risk assessments for civil aircraft operations over or near conflict zones” to the consolidation of available information as it relates to conflict zones in a centralized system accessible to all relevant stakeholders, and the development of “best practices on the provision of information to passengers and flight crew regarding the use of airspace over or near conflict zones.”
ICAO CONFERENCE
This past February, the results of the task force’s recent work were presented at the ICAO High-Level Safety Conference in Montreal. “As safety is our top priority, it is fitting that ACI World opened the year with the ICAO High-Level Safety Conference,” explains Angela Gittens, director general of ACI. “This took place February 2-5 at ICAO’s headquarters in Montreal and attracted some 600 ministers, directors general of civil aviation and other senior delegates from around the world.”
In addition to reviewing the current aviation safety system, the conference addressed several issues, including the future management of airspace safety, finding better ways to facilitate regional cooperation, assessing risks posed by conflict zones and exploring the possible establishment of improved global aircraft tracking systems. “ACI will work assiduously with the regulators and industry colleagues to ensure that the outcomes from the conference meet the objectives of airports as they contribute to an ever safer industry,” she continues.
SAFETY IN THE FIELD
While it’s reassuring, on one hand, to know that aviation’s governing bodies are developing stronger systems of industry-wide communication and accountability, the directives that they are discussing now will take months and even years to implement. In the meantime, thousands of flights are still departing from, arriving in and traveling through areas of instability and conflict every day.
Turkish Airlines is one of the most ambitious airlines in the world today and operates within Star Alliance (the largest global network), yet the country it calls home borders war-torn Iraq and Syria to the south and sits across the Black Sea from annexed Crimea and Russian-occupied Ukraine. The Turkish people, and to an even greater extent the passengers that Turkish Airlines carries, are a vast mix of ethnicities and religions – something the airline tries to celebrate and respect in the face of all the socio-political and religious conflict bubbling up around it.
Ali Genc, senior vice-president of media relations at Turkish Airlines, is confident in Turkey’s ability to keep Islamic State militants from crossing its southern border, and is also sure that the airline is completely up to date on the security status of each of its operational locations. Turkish Airlines weighs safety risks constantly in an effort to provide seamless service in as many areas as possible.
RISK ANALYSIS
“To successfully serve destinations in said ‘troubled’ areas, one must closely cooperate with the relevant state authorities and strictly follow the NOTAM’s [Notice to Airmen’s] issued,” Genc tells us in an exclusive interview. “As long as an airline has successfully conducted its risk analysis and assured the security of its flights and passengers, serving such areas will not be dramatically difficult.”
That said, Turkish Airlines will not hesitate to terminate flights in and over any specific area where the situation becomes too risky. For example, Aleppo International Airport in Syria closed its doors in January 2013 because of civil war. The Syrian military eventually regained control of that area, and the airport has been operating again since January 2014, but without Turkish Airlines.
“We are following the developments in the country,” says Genc, adding that just because the doors are open, it does not mean that Turkish Airlines will resume flights. “We don’t have a strict plan to resume our flights unless the armed conflict in the country will be terminated.”
In Libya, the situation is similar. Tripoli International Airport has been closed since July 2014, as the facilities and runway were badly damaged during the civil war. Limited flights to and from Tripoli are now using Mitiga International Airport, but with severe travel advisories still in place from states around the world, Turkish Airlines isn’t convinced. It has terminated this service, saying that flights to Libya will resume only when it seems that the necessary security conditions exist.
In March 2015, UAE carriers Emirates, Etihad and flydubai suspended flights to Erbil, Iraq indefinitely after seeing a decline in security and stability in the region. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines expanded their service to Nigeria (Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja) despite the growing regional presence of Boko Haram – a group largely considered to be one of the world’s most violent active terror cells. Genc says that Turkish Airlines conducted all necessary risk analysis prior to commencing the service, but he is also hoping that one day soon such stringent risk assessments won’t be as necessary.
“It is clear that strong cooperation in the aviation industry – covering all the airlines, service providers and relevant state authorities – is crucial to prevent any inconvenience concerning aviation security,” says Genc. “At Turkish Airlines, we are very optimistic for the future. We believe that humankind is good in nature and that a Kantian ‘Perpetual Peace’ … will be one day possible.”