NUJS Kolkata: International Conference On 'Aerodrome Requirements: Legal And Developmental Perspectives' [30 March 2024]

The significance of civil aviation in the present world needs no explanation; a statement which is also correct with respect to the contribution of airports in civil aviation. The aviation industry has widened the scope of markets, enriched human lifestyles and has altered the fundamentals of economic, commercial and cultural activities. However, aviation is a capital-intensive sector, and concerted efforts to develop every sub-sector of the aviation industry attain significance in the process of strong value generation. With increased flights and passenger flow across the globe, the old aerodromes and their limited infrastructure are found grossly inadequate in modern times. Uplifting the aerodromes and maintaining requisite facilities are found absolutely essential to ensure safe, economical and efficient air transport. Accordingly, the International Civil Aviation (ICAO) has made efforts to develop norms in the direction of improving the standards of aerodromes. This has been supplemented by the efforts of IATA and Airports Council International.

Airport governance patterns in different States have taken different shapes with the private sector investments. While the process of privatization of airports has not been a recent phenomenon in the developed States, it has percolated into developing countries in the recent past. Since private participation in airport ownership differs from State to State and airport to airport, a lot of difference is also witnessed in terms of administration, environmental compliance, safety standards and availability of infrastructural facilities in the airports. These differences raise suspicion about the compliance of relevant international standards applicable to aerodromes. Interestingly, the Indian statistics unveil the fact that almost every airport is loss-making, which is a matter of grave concern especially in the wake of India not having a good track record in aerodrome infrastructure, services and facilities.

Major Sub-Themes of the Conference

The conference is focused on receiving inputs on compliance with international standards and the adoption of best practices relating to aerodrome administration. Hence, papers that are focused on the administration of a specific airport relating to the following areas are highly preferred:

• Compliance with aerodrome requirements under Annex 14 of the Chicago Convention

• Compliance with aerodrome safety management under Annex 19 of the Chicago Convention

• Compliance with standards of facilitation in aerodromes under Annex 9 of the Chicago Convention

• Compliance with environmental standards in aerodromes under Annex 16 of the Chicago Convention

• Best practices in airport governance

• Role of IATA in airport governance

• Role of Airports Council International in airport governance

Call for Papers

Those who are interested in presenting a paper on any of the above themes must send an abstract of 400 words along with a brief biographical note (not more than 100 words) on or before 24 February 2024. The acceptance of the paper for presentation will be informed by 28 February 2024. Upon acceptance, an extended write-up of a minimum 2,000 words (not exceeding 8,000 words) must be sent by 25 March 2024 in the format available at https://caslnujs.in/70-2/. If the extended write-up is not submitted before the last date, authors will not be allowed to present the paper at the Conference. Submission of the extended write-up will be presumed as unconditional consent of the author/s for a possible subsequent publication by the organisers. The feasibility of publishing an edited book in due course will also be explored by contacting an internationally exempted from payment of the registration fee may upload their NUJS identity card or CASL membership letter.

*Registration fee, once paid, will not be refunded for any reason

Important Dates

Last date for submission of Abstract: 24 February 2024

Last date for submission of Extended Write-up: 25 March 2024

Last date for Registration: 25 March 2024

Conference Date: 30 March 2024

For more details, refer to the brochure here

Venue: The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata

E-mail id for Submissions: casl@nujs.edu [copy to sandeep@nujs.edu]

Contact Numbers: +918981079230 (Mr. Ankur Ghosh) +917604047575 (Ms. Neha Banerjee)