Air Traffic Regulatory Organization

Air Traffic Regulatory Organization
Air Traffic Regulatory Organization
	Flag
Administrative center	115 international cooperation boulevard ; Alba Concordia
Type	League of Nations specialized agency
Leaders
• Secretary-General	Fugalaau Matagofie Muka'e
• Council President	Anestesia-Eithne Pasquier Morel
Establishment
• Agency created	14 June 1956
• Convention on Safe International Flight	12 February 1957 - 18 March 1957
	Website; atro.int

The Air Traffic Regulatory Organization (ATRO) is a specialized agency of the League of Nations that regulates and coordinates international air navigation, and fosters both planning and development of international scheduled air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. ATRO is headquartered in the city-state of Alba Concordia, Levantia, just like its parent body.

ATRO operates through an international council, called the ATRO Council. The ATRO Council adopts international standards and recommendations concerning air navigation, its infrastructure, flight inspection, and the facilitation of border-crossing procedures to be used in international civil aviation. ATRO plays a role in internationally streamlining the investigation of air accidents by defining protocols to be followed by national transport safety authorities. ATRO derives its power from the signing of the 1957 Convention on Safe International Flight Charter.

The Navigation Development Commission (NDC) is ATRA's main technical body, composed of 20 commissioners. These commissioners are provided through nominating by ATRO's contracting states, and appointed through vote by the ATRO Council. The commissioners act as independent experts who do not represent any state or political entity. The NDC directs the development of ATRO's Standards and Recommended Practices through various task groups. Once the commission approves a standard or recommendation, it is sent to the council as ATRO's political body for coordination and consultation with member states before final implementation.

ATRO is uniquely distinct from other international air transport organizations in its international authority among signatory states.

History

The boom in air travel after the Second Great War led to international and even intercontinental air travel becoming more widespread than before the war. The use of surplus airframes led to a boom in international air travel, and the years between 1943 and 1957 saw a rapid decrease increase in accidents and incidents. Confusion arose when pilots had to adhere to different policies and standards for every country they flew into, and soon multiple regional and international organizations popped up trying to standardize air travel between various creations.

The League of Nations, created in 1955, recognized the issue created in the years since the war during its first year of existence, and a early 1956 resolution allowed for the creation of the Air Traffic Regulatory Organization as the LoN's main body for standardizing air travel across the globe in an effort to increase safety. The new organization hosted the Convention on Safe International Flight in early 1957, which lasted over a month and led to most member states signing the Convention on Safe International Flight Charter, a document that laid the groundwork for ATRO's authority and planned for standardization by 1962.

ATRO's first years were spent researching and implementing measures that standardized aerial navigation and international border crossing across the globe, before helping member states implement these measures. Once the basics were in place, ATRO's focus shifted to creating the ATRO Standards for Aeronautical Accident Investigation in 1967, which allowed the transport safety authorities of various countries to investigate accidents and incidents in a way that could be understood across the globe.

Statute

The current 7th edition of the Convention on Safe International Flight Charter includes modifications from 1957 to 2017. The convention has 21 Annexes. 7 provisional addendums have been issued since 2017, which are to be ratified at the next Convention planned for 2037.

Membership

As of September 2033, all League of Nations member states are a member of ATRO. Various non-LoN member states follow or used to follow ATRO's standards and regulations prior to ATRO and LoN membership, to be more appealing to foreign air travel.

Council

ATRO's Council is elected every six years and consists of 20 member states. The present council was elected in June 2030.

Currently, the Council is as follows.

Navigation Development Commission

The Navigation Development Commission is the ATRO Council technical executive body in charge of 18 of the 21 Annexes to the Convention on Safe International Flight Charter. NDC oversees the development and implementation of standards and recommended practices for member states related to those annexes. The Commission meets twice a year, every spring and fall, with the time in between spent by its 20 commissioners overseeing respective task groups that develop the standards and recommended practices. NDC commissioners act independently of the country that nominated them, representing ATRO and ATRO only. Members of ATRO might send representatives to the NDC's meetings as observers, along with up to ten members from the civil aviation industry.

Standards

ATRO standardizes many aspects of the air travel industry, allowing airlines to operate the same way across the globe without having to adapt to regional systems. One of these standards is that every member country needs an accessible Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), based on standards defined by ATRO, containing information essential to air navigation. Countries are required to update their AIP manuals every 28 days and so provide definitive regulations, procedures and information for each country about airspace and airports. ATRO's standards also dictate that temporary hazards to aircraft must be regularly published using NOTAMs. ATRO defines an International Standard Atmosphere (also known as ATRO Standard Atmosphere), a model of the standard variation of pressure, temperature, density, and viscosity with altitude in the Earth's atmosphere. This is useful in calibrating instruments and designing aircraft. The standardized pressure is also used in calibrating instruments in-flight, particularly above the transition altitude. ATRO is active in infrastructure management, including communication, navigation and surveillance / air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems, which employ digital technologies (like satellite systems with various levels of automation) in order to maintain a seamless global air traffic management system.

Passport standards

ATRO has published standards for machine-readable passports since 2001. These passports have an area where some of the information can be processed digitally instead of manually entering information into a computer, leading to a quicker border control process. The technical standard for these passports is found in ATRO document 8004 Machine Readable Travel Documents.

Aerodrome reference code

Aerodrome reference code
Number	Field length
1	< 800 m (2,625 ft)
2	800–1,200 m (2,625–3,937 ft)
3	1,200–1,800 m (3,937–5,906 ft)
4	≥ 1,800 m (5,906 ft)

Aerodrome reference code
Letter	Wingspan	Main gear span
A	< 15 m (49.2 ft)	< 4.5 m (14.8 ft)
B	15–24 m (49.2–78.7 ft)	4.5–6 m (14.8–19.7 ft)
C	24–36 m (78.7–118.1 ft)	6–9 m (19.7–29.5 ft)
D	36–52 m (118.1–170.6 ft)	9–14 m (29.5–45.9 ft)
E	52–65 m (170.6–213.3 ft)	9–14 m (29.5–45.9 ft)
F	65–80 m (213.3–262.5 ft)	14–16 m (45.9–52.5 ft)

Registered Codes

ATRO has its own internationally recognized airport and airline code system.

Airport codes

ATRO uses ATRO Airport Codes. The ATRO code is based on the region the airport is located in, with some countries having their own unique letter due to size or other special reasons. Not all airports are assigned codes; for example, airports that do not have airline service do not need an IATA code.

ATRO Airport Codes
Letter	Country
C	Crona
E	Alstin
K	Kiravia and nearby countries (for example: Vithinja)
L	Levantia
S	Sarpedon
A	Audonia
P	Stenza and other countries in Peratra and Australis
D	Daxia
U	Urcea
Z	Caphiria
B	Cartadania
T	Tierrador

Airline codes

ATRO also assigns three-letter airline codes. ATRO also provides ]]telephony designators to aircraft operators worldwide, a one- or two-word designator used on the radio, usually, but not always, similar to the aircraft operator name.

Aircraft registrations

ATRO maintains the standards for aircraft registration, known as tail numbers, including the alphanumeric codes that identify the country of registration.

Aircraft type designators

ATRO is also responsible for issuing two to four character alphanumeric aircraft type designators for those aircraft types which are most commonly provided with air traffic service. These codes provide an abbreviated aircraft type identification, typically used in flight plans.

Leadership

List of secretaries general

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List of council presidents