International Aviation Research Articles

Use of multimodal physiological signals to explore pilots’ cognitive behaviour during flight strike task performance

This study explored the use of multi-physiological signals and simultaneously recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and eye movements to better understand pilots’ cognitive behaviour during flight simulator manoeuvres. Multimodal physiological signals were collected from 12 experienced pilots with international aviation qualifications under the wide-angle and impressive vision simulation. The data collection spanned two flight strike missions, each with three mission intensities, resulting in a data set of EEG, ECG, and eye movement signals from six subtasks. The multimodal data were analysed using signal processing methods. The results indicated that, when the flight missions were performed, the pilots’ physiological characteristics exhibited rhythmic changes in the power spectrum of θ waves in the EEG, r-MSSD in the ECG, and average gaze duration. Furthermore, the pilots’ physiological signals were more sensitive during the target mission than during the empty target mission. The results also showed correlations between different physiological characteristics. We showed that specific multimodal features are useful for advancing neuroscience research into pilots’ cognitive behaviour and processes related to brain activity, psychological rhythms, and eye movement.

The financial market effects of international aviation disasters

The spread of misinformation with regards to aviation disasters continues to be a point of concern for aviation companies. Much of this information usually surrounds speculation based on the cause and responsibility attributed to the incident, implicitly possessing the potential to generate significant financial market price volatility. In this paper, we investigate a number of stylised facts relating to the effects of airline disasters on aviation stocks, while considering contagion effects, information flows and the sources of price discovery within the broad sector. Results indicate a substantially elevated levels of share price volatility in the aftermath of aviation disasters, while cumulative abnormal returns present sharp under-performance of the analysed companies relative to international exchanges. When considering an EGARCH analysis, we observe that share price volatility appears to be significantly influenced by the scale of the disaster in terms of the fatalities generated. Significant contagion effects upon the broad aviation index along with substantial changes in traditional price discovery channels are also identified. The role that the spread of information on social media, whether it be correct or of malicious origins, cannot be eliminated as an explanatory factor of these changing dynamics over time and region.

ОЦЕНКА АТМОСФЕРНОЙ ЭМИССИИ ПАРНИКОВЫХ ГАЗОВ ОТ МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ ПЕРЕВОЗОК ИЗ РОССИИ ВОЗДУШНЫМ И ВОДНЫМ ТРАНСПОРТОМ

The current intensive development of shipping and aviation is accompanied by an increase in anthropogenic impact on the environment and climate. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) assessments, greenhouse gas emissions from international air and sea traffic are expected to increase by 2-3 times by 2050. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from international aviation and navigation from the territory of Russia for the period of 1990-2018 were estimated, the dynamics and the main drivers of emissions changes are analyzed, international comparisons are provided. The calculation was made in accordance with the methodology of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change based on the data from the Federal Air Transport Agency and IAA «Port News». Analysis of historical trends shows that greenhouse gas emissions dynamics during the reporting period for international sea and air shippingis almost the same. In 2018, the total emission of CO2, СH4 and N2O from international transport from the territory of Russia amounted to 47.0 million tons of CO2-equivalent, which is 2.7 times higher than in 1990. Carbon dioxide dominates in the component composition of the emissions, its share in the total emission amounted to 99.5%. Contributions of methane and nitrous oxide emissions were 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively. Shipping makes a major contribution to emissions. Russia's share of worldwide carbon dioxide emission from international water and aviation transport does not exceed 3.5%.Emissions from aviation and shipping have been largely driven by economy and international trade. Greenhouse gases emissions from international aviation and maritime transport are expected to decrease in the coming years related to IMO's banon high-sulfur fuel use and reduction of international air and sea traffic in the light of the spread of the coronavirus in 2020.

UN MTC Article 8: Was the Source Rule Surrender on Article 8 a Blunder? The Case Study of Pakistan

The United Nations Model Tax Convention (UN MTC) Article 8 allocates taxing rights on international traffic to the state of effective management. Article 8 (Alternative B), however, to the extent of shipping, conditionally allows some taxing rights to source state, too. The study posits that by surrendering source rule on Article 8, UN MTC ditched developing countries. This allowed airlines and shiplines stationed in developed countries not only generate large sums of revenues by hitting developing countries’ ports but also repatriate them tax free to a sustained disadvantage to the developing countries. The costs of the source rule surrender for the developing countries were realized on account of soft outflow of hard-earned foreign exchange, foregone revenues, and stunted growth of critical communication industries. It is argued that Pakistan’s aviation and maritime industries’ decent rise through 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and their abject descend into chaos through 1990s, 2000s and 2010s is explainable in terms of double taxation agreements (DTAs) obtaining Article 8 it signed. The insights gleaned are generalizable to other similarly circumstanced developing nations whose aviation and maritime industries failed to keep pace with their overall development. The UN MTC’s surrender on Article 8, it is posited, promoted mass-scale injustice at inter-state level, and therefore, needs correction. UN Model Tax Convention, UN MTC Article 8, International Traffic, International Shipping, International Aviation, Reciprocal Exemption, Territoriality, Double Taxation Agreements, DTAs and Developing Countries, Tax Base Erosion

Economic diplomacy in small countries: a four-action plan for the Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands is finally ready to establish external relations. Starting almost from scratch, its new Ministry of International Trade, Investment, Aviation and Maritime Affairs is launching a coordinated global charm offensive. Economic diplomacy should be put at the centre of the Ministry's strategy because of Cayman's role as a world-leading offshore financial centre. This article puts forward a four-action plan to inform its early activities. It is structured in four main sections, covering each of the suggested actions, which are (i) setting up an electronic one-stop-shop for investment, (ii) humanising 'Brand Cayman', (iii) creating a worldwide network of Government offices, starting in Brussels, to deploy economic diplomacy and (iv) promoting blue-green investments on island through public-private partnerships. The methodology is desk-based research. Sources blend international and local materials for a unique perspective.

Economic diplomacy in small countries: a four-action plan for the Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands is finally ready to establish external relations. Starting almost from scratch, its new Ministry of International Trade, Investment, Aviation and Maritime Affairs is launching a coordinated global charm offensive. Economic diplomacy should be put at the centre of the Ministry's strategy because of Cayman's role as a world-leading offshore financial centre. This article puts forward a four-action plan to inform its early activities. It is structured in four main sections, covering each of the suggested actions, which are (i) setting up an electronic one-stop-shop for investment, (ii) humanising 'Brand Cayman', (iii) creating a worldwide network of Government offices, starting in Brussels, to deploy economic diplomacy and (iv) promoting blue-green investments on island through public-private partnerships. The methodology is desk-based research. Sources blend international and local materials for a unique perspective.

How to improve the global ‘Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation’ (CORSIA)?

Air transport contributes to anthropogenic global warming by emitting CO2 and other climate relevant species like NOx, H2O and soot, as well as contrails and contrail cirrus. Even though air transport’s total contribution to global warming is estimated to be relatively small, this share is expected to increase in the future due to the enormous growth rates in the sector. While we acknowledge that the short-term decline caused by Covid-19 is unprecedented in its extent, we do not expect a structural interruption caused by COVID-19 in the long-term, but a continuation of trends that have been already present before (Scheelhaase et al., 2020). To limit aviation’s CO2 emissions, the ‘Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation’ (CORSIA) was agreed at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly in 2016. CORSIA is the first global scheme for the limitation of aviation’s CO2 emissions. However, criticism has been raised concerning CORSIA’s environmental ambitiousness. This paper investigates CORSIA’s environmental benefits as well as options for improving the scheme’s environmental impact. Based on our emission modelling results for the global airline schedules, recommendations for technical experts and policymakers are provided. Our results indicate that an effective option for improving the scope of CORSIA would be a voluntary inclusion of domestic CO2 emissions of the ten largest domestic aviation markets (USA, China, Japan, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Russia, Australia and Canada, as well as the EU,). Domestic flights are those within a country including overseas territories, if applicable. This way, in the long run, an additional 50% of CO2 p.a. could be compensated, without significant added bureaucracy for most airlines, and CORSIA’s environmental performance would be improved massively. This approach could be realized relatively easily since the decision on a voluntary inclusion of domestic aviation in CORSIA is at the sovereignty of each state.

A Critical Review on Regional Connectivity Scheme of India

The civil aviation industry of India has arisen as one of the world’s fastest growing industries. In June 2016, the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India unveiled the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP). One of the objectives of NCAP was on the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), also known as UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) which translates as ‘let the common citizen of the country fly’, and aims to make flying affordable for the masses, promote tourism, increase employment opportunities and promote balanced regional economic growth. Even though the national and international aviation market is thriving, the regional market in India is underdeveloped. From the RCS draft unveiled in December 2016, it is clear that a lot of work is done on coming up with a scheme which encourages airlines to start flights to remote destinations, to airports which are right now lying unused and to those airports where there are few flights but not adequate in number. The present paper attempts to elucidate the business model, the impact of RCS on the aviation sector, various opportunities and challenges of the scheme. Performance analysis of Indian airports, before and after the scheme is done using Data Envelopment Analysis. There is limited research within the area of air transport in remote regions in India, and hence a variety of sources from news articles, government documents, discussion papers, presentations, and reports are used. While the RCS is a novel idea to promote regional connectivity, its success will depend entirely on traffic demand and cooperation from various stakeholders including governments, local bodies and airport operators. The paper reveals that RCS is a step in the right direction unless the implementation is carefully monitored.

Recent Development in International Treaties Relating to Aviation: New Standardization of International Air Law

Globalization is identified with the development of treaties into national domain law. Initially, such treaties did not appear as legal regulations but as standard/harmonized-setting for member states. Since the establishment of Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation, 1944, treaties on aviation keep developing well both on the aviation operational technique and economic aspect. Those treaties nowadays have turned into the source of international aviation law. Treaty has been one of the bases of domestic law for almost nations in the world. As a result, the global requirements need to be adjusted into national law of states. States are bound both legally and politically to verdicts of International organizations. The process of regulation and decision making in International organizations should be based on democratic procedures of member states either in the construction of final draft or in negotiation and arrangement of regulation or resolution drafts. Specifically, this article discusses recent development of international treaties relating to aviation from both operational and economic aspects. Following Assembly 39th Session, ICAO, member states of ICAO, including Indonesia, made several multilateral agreements. The ratification of International treaties should consider the effects on legal, political, and security aspects. For Indonesia, one of the aspects that should never be neglected is strategic airspace, both geographically and geopolitically.

The Financial Market Effects of International Aviation Disasters

The spread of misinformation with regards to aviation disasters continues to be a point of concern for aviation companies. Much of this information usually surrounds speculation based on the cause and responsibility attributed to the incident, implicitly possessing the potential to generate significant financial market price volatility. In this paper, we investigate a number of stylised facts relating to the effects of airline disasters on aviation stocks, while considering contagion effects, information flows and the sources of price discovery within the broad sector. Results indicate a substantially elevated levels of share price volatility in the aftermath of aviation disasters, while cumulative abnormal returns present sharp under performance of the analysed companies relative to international exchanges. When considering an EGARCH analysis, we observe that share price volatility appears to be significantly influenced by the scale of the disaster in terms of the fatalities generated. Significant contagion effects upon the broad aviation index along with substantial changes in traditional price discovery channels are also identified. The role that the spread of information on social media, whether it be correct or of malicious origins, cannot be eliminated as an explanatory factor of these changing dynamics over time and region.

Funding Global Public Good Institutions via Carbon Pricing for Aviation – A Comparison of Three Proposed Mechanisms

The EU is considering taking unilateral action to achieve higher carbon pricing for international aviation. It has been proposed that the EU could start a club mechanism whereby participating countries would have to tax (or include in an emissions trading scheme) the emissions of all outgoing flights as well as all flights coming in from non-participants at a fixed rate. They would then have to allocate a certain proportion of the tax revenue to some agreed-upon global institution for climate change mitigation. I propose an alternative club mechanism in which participating countries could allocate their tax revenue to Global Public Good Institutions (GPGIs) of their choice from a set of GPGIs recognized as eligible in the treaty establishing the mechanism. Of the tax revenue that participants decide to not allocate, they could retain a fixed proportion. The remaining revenue would be added to the GPGIs, in proportion to the aggregate allocations made to them. I consider an example where the set of eligible GPGIs consists of 2 GPGIs for global health and 4 for climate change mitigation. I estimate the payoffs that countries would derive from money being added to the different GPGIs, taking into account the heterogeneous benefits generated by each GPGI, the rents that some GPGIs create and the re-distributional effects that some GPGIs induce by changing e.g. the oil price. Using an iterated best response algorithm and assuming that initially only the EU and China participate, I predict that this new mechanism can achieve 22% more welfare gains than the previously proposed one, raising 50% more revenue for GPGIs. I then enrich the mechanism by allowing countries to also give to so-called “Proportional Matching Funds”, which distribute their budget to subsets of GPGIs, in proportion to the direct allocations made to these GPGIs. This enriched mechanism can achieve 67% more welfare gains than the previously proposed one, raising 100% more revenue for GPGIs.

Climate benefits of proposed carbon dioxide mitigation strategies for international shipping and aviation

Abstract. While individual countries work to achieve and strengthen their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, the growing emissions from two economic sectors remain largely outside most countries' NDCs: international shipping and international aviation. Reducing emissions from these sectors is particularly challenging because the adoption of any policies and targets requires the agreement of a large number of countries. However, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have recently announced strategies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from their respective sectors. Here we provide information on the climate benefits of these proposed measures, along with related potential measures. Given that the global average temperature has already risen 1 ∘C above preindustrial levels, there is only 1.0 or 0.5 ∘C of additional “allowable warming” left to stabilize below the 2 or 1.5 ∘C thresholds, respectively. We find that if no actions are taken, CO2 emissions from international shipping and aviation may contribute roughly equally to an additional combined 0.12 ∘C to global temperature rise by end of century – which is 12 % and 24 % of the allowable warming we have left to stay below the 2 or 1.5 ∘C thresholds (1.0 and 0.5 ∘C), respectively. However, stringent mitigation measures may avoid over 85 % of this projected future warming from the CO2 emissions from each sector. Quantifying the climate benefits of proposed mitigation pathways is critical as international organizations work to develop and meet long-term targets.

A Sectoral Application of the Polluter Pays Principle: Lessons Learned from the Aviation Sector

The search for a global market-based measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international civil aviation has faced legal obstacles. One of these is linked to the basis of such a measure: the polluter pays principle. The application of the principle in the aviation legal regime has resulted in a conflict of norms. As a solution, the International Civil Aviation Organization, in 2016, adopted a market-based measure in the form of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (corsia). This article will address the following two questions: By adopting corsia, and by negotiating its implementation, has icao produced a successful integration of the polluter pays principle in a sectoral legal regime of norms and institutions? If yes, could icao’s success provide arguments for a sectoral application of the polluter pays principle more broadly in public international law?

A Study on Pilots’ Behavior on Decision of Maneuvering Aircraft for Fuel Efficient Flight Operation

The response to climate change of international air transport industry might be initiated by ICAO’s CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) which will impact on international airlines’ flight operation behavior in the future. Though the airlines’ efforts to reduce fuel consumption has been a major issue in economics of aviation industry, the improvement of fuel efficiency in flight operation will have additional impact on their profitability by introducing carbon emission cost. The fuel consumption in flight operation will be somewhat influenced by pilots’ technical action for maneuvering aircraft during flight operation. This study will investigate pilots’ behavior on decision for tactical aircraft control for mission flight. The data will be collected by the survey through sample pilots asking about their intention and perception on fuel savings during flight operations. The data will be analyzed by AHP process and the study will find out the elements and factors influencing pilots’ behavior on technical decision of flight and their weights on fuel saving effects.

Understanding Aviation Law Through the Evolving Concept of Sovereignty Beyond the Traditional Deep Blue Skies

In this paper, I will discuss the relevant conventions, treaties and agreements concluded in Public International Aviation Law covering air navigation, air accidents and crime committed on airplanes, and attempt to analyze how countries operate their airspace by entering into commercial agreements for conducting air transport activities. I aim to analyze important aviation conventions such as the Chicago Convention of 1944 and the Montreal Convention of 1999 to understand the evolving concept of sovereignty to understand how international regulations of air accidents are implemented with respect to liability and the damages attached thereunder, and the ramifications of the same on the sovereign control exerted by states. This is to say, how compensation to third parties for damages owing to acts of unlawful interference with aircraft is ascertained.

TRANSFORMATIONS OF CIVIL AVIATION IN UKRAINE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Постановка проблеми. Цивільна авіація України відіграє суттєву роль в житті суспільства та на міжнародній арені. Вона виконує багатопланові функції – пасажиро- та вантажоперевезення, проведення авіаційних робіт в аграрному і лісному господарствах, надання медичної допомоги, здійснення пошуково-рятувальних операцій, пожежогасіння, будівельних робіт, культурно-спортивних заходів, наукових досліджень тощо. Наразі актуальним є об’єктивне висвітлення діяльності авіаційної галузі особливо у зв’язку з тим, що тут залишається чимало проблем, які створюють негативне враження про українську авіацію, уявлення про її занепад в сучасних умовах. Мета. Проаналізувати діяльність цивільної авіації України з початку ХХІ ст. до сьогодення і, застосовуючи проблемно-хронологічний метод, комплексно дослідити процеси трансформацій в авіаційній галузі за основними її функціональними напрямами та визначити їх характерні особливості. Акцентувати на інтеграції української авіаціі до європейського і світового авіаційного простору, тенденціях авіаперевезень, інноваціях в розвитку аеропортів і авіакомпаній, проблемах літакобудування різних типів повітряних суден та безпілотної авіації, підготовці авіафахівців в сучасних умовах. Результати: Нове ХХІ століття стало і новим етапом в розвитку цивільної авіації України, для якої, завдяки проведеним трансформаціям, характерним стала позитивна динаміка її зростання. В основному відбувався послідовний процес інтеграції вітчизняної авіації до міжнародних авіаційних організацій, активніше впроваджувалися стандарти та рекомендована практика ІКАО, зростали авіаперевезення. Застосовувалися інновації у літакобудуванні та галузевій інфраструктурі, посилювалася увага до проблем авіаційної безпеки і безпеки польотів, науково-технічних розробок, здійснювалися заходи щодо вирішення глобальних проблем, зокрема підвищення рівня екологічності авіаційного транспорту, якості підготовки авіафахівців тощо. Проте, маючи потужний потенціал в усіх сферах авіаційної галузі, він використовується з ряду зовнішніх і внутрішніх причин недостатньо, а вирішення існуючих проблем буде сприяти сталому розвитку як авіатранспортній галузі, економіки України, так і міжнародного співробітництва.

Fuel efficiency improvement on a business jet using a camber morphing winglet concept

International aviation regulations on emissions are becoming more strict. In a scenario where the traditional configuration is reaching maximum efficiency, new technologies may bring further improvement to cope with goals on fuel consumption. Among the new technologies, morphing structures with the capability to adapt their aerodynamic shape for the optimal condition in flight has the potential for aircraft drag and operational fuel consumption reduction. The fixed winglet is usually designed for optimum performance at a single condition, operating in a sub-optimal regime for other parts of the mission. In this work, a genetic algorithm was used to optimize the winglet spanwise camber morphing at different flight phases. Camber variations are based on angle changes in leading and trailing edge sections maintaining a fixed central section for structural feasibility. The camber morphing winglet concept was applied to a midsize business jet and results showed that fuel consumption improvement can be achieved when compared to an optimized fixed geometry winglet.

A dynamic climate finance allocation mechanism reflecting the Paris Agreement

Reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement requires substantial investment. The developed country parties have agreed to provide USD$100 billion in climate finance annually from 2020 to 2025. Ongoing negotiations on post-2025 commitments are likely to exceed that sum and include a broader scope of parties. However, there is no guidance regarding the allocation of contributions. Here, we develop a dynamic mechanism based on two conventional pillars of a burden sharing mechanism: emission responsibility and ability to pay. The mechanism adds dynamic components that reflect the Paris principle to ‘ratchet-up’ ambition; it rewards countries with ambitious mitigation targets and relieves countries with a high degree of climate vulnerability. Including developed country parties only, we find that ten countries should bear 85% of climate finance contributions (65% if all parties to the Paris Agreement are included). In both scopes, increasing climate ambition is rewarded. If the EU increased its emission reduction target from 40% to 55% by 2030, member states could reduce their climate finance contributions by up to 3.3%. The proposed mechanism allows for an inclusion of sub-, supra- or non-state actors. For example, we find a contribution of USD$3.3 billion annually for conventionally excluded emissions from international aviation and shipping.

Governing complexity: How can the interplay of multilateral environmental agreements be harnessed for effective international market-based climate policy instruments?

Major new multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have entered into force in 2016, including the Paris Agreement (PA) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with nationally determined contributions (NDCs) for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, the Kigali Amendment (KA) to the Montreal Protocol with a phase-down schedule for HFC production and use in all countries as well as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) under the International Civil Aviation Organization, an offset mechanism for GHG emissions. Regarding climate change mitigation, these MEAs are implicitly and explicitly linked to each other. However, the interaction effects between them have not yet been studied. We apply document analysis to assess the following question: how does the MEA interplay impact the scope and effectiveness of international market-based climate policy instruments defined in Article 6 of the PA (Paris Mechanisms) regarding NDC achievement? The Paris Mechanisms can generate early reductions in HFCs that lower the KA baseline and thus the entire phase-down schedule, thereby generating long-term GHG mitigation. Reduction in HFC-23—a large, controversial source of carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)—is now mandated through the KA and thus no longer available for international market mechanisms. If it accepts CDM credits predating 2020, CORSIA will not generate demand for emission units generated by the Article 6 mechanisms and thus not impact their effectiveness. Otherwise, CORSIA demand for Article 6 credits enhances effectiveness, provided that ‘double counting’ of credits is prevented through corresponding adjustments.

Options to Continue the EU ETS for Aviation in a CORSIA-World

From 2021, an increasing percentage of the carbon emission growth in international air transport will be subject to offsetting under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). Presently, it is still unclear if, and how, the existing EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) for aviation will continue. We assess the environmental impacts of different options (not) to continue with the EU ETS for aviation alongside CORSIA, and also discuss resulting monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) requirements. Our results indicate that any form of continuation of the EU ETS would have positive environmental effects especially in the early 2020s, when the coverage and environmental impact of CORSIA, which only tackles any post-2020 emission growth in international aviation, will still be low. If, moreover, a certain failure of CORSIA Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) to actually achieve emission reduction elsewhere is assumed, the environmental net benefit of CORSIA will be even lower. From both the policy and economic perspectives, these aspects may further strengthen the need to continue with the EU ETS for aviation. Possible options are to maintain the EU ETS in operation for domestic flights only, as a complement to CORSIA, or to keep it alive even for international flights within the European Economic Area (EEA), replacing CORSIA there as an equivalent measure. Another option to increase the environmental effectiveness of CORSIA, at least to some extent, could be to voluntarily extend it to domestic EEA flights. Administrative-wise, the CORSIA MRV system could be applied to a continued EU ETS to reduce transaction costs and to assure globally similar or even identical MRV standards, e.g., with regard to exemptions and eligible fuel monitoring methods.