A History of International Civil Aviation

Explaining the development of international civil aviation from its origins in the early twentieth century to the present day is not just a story of technical advances. Planes cannot fly internationally without states granting them permission via air services agreements (ASAs) and such permission has always been accompanied by conditions. This created the central and fundamental problem for international civil aviation: tension between national sovereignty over air space on the one hand and a growing need to avoid ‘narrow-minded restrictions’ on the other in order to allow international civil aviation to flourish. Dobson expertly conveys the interplay between these two requirements.