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THE POSTAL HISTORY OF ICAO

The 1919 Paris Convention:

The starting point for the regulation of air navigation

Needless to say that the technical developments in aviation arising out of World War I created a
completely new situation at the end of the hostilities, especially with regard to the safe and rapid
transport of goods and persons over prolonged distances. However, the war had also shown the ugly
potential of aviation; it had therefore become much more evident that this new and now greatly
advanced means of transport required international attention.
 
For obvious reasons, the treatment of aviation matters was a
subject at the Paris Peace Conference (Congrès de la Paix) of 1919.
At the suggestion of Albert Roper, Air Expert at the French
Cabinet of the Under-Secretary of State for Aeronautics, France
had formally taken up the idea of international collaboration in
aviation matters; the other principal Allied Powers received it
favourably.
Stamp cancel: 28 June 1919
Subsequently,
a special Aeronautical Commission, which had its
origin in the Inter-Allied Aviation Committee
created in 1917, was formed on 6 March 1919
under the auspices of the Peace Conference. In
seven months and using the groundwork laid at
the 1910 Paris Diplomatic Conference, this
Aeronautical Commission drew up a Convention
Relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation,
which was signed by 27 States on 13 October
1919. 
 
This new Convention (with texts in French,
English and Italian) consisted of 43 articles
that dealt with all technical, operational and
organizational aspects of civil aviation and also
Front-page of the Paris Air Convention foresaw the creation of the International
Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN), under
the direction of the League of Nations, to monitor developments in civil aviation and to propose
measures to States to keep abreast of developments.
 
At 1 June 1922, fourteen instruments of ratification were deposited with the French Ministry of the
Foreign Affairs; hence, the Convention and ICAN could enter into force forty days later, that is to say
on 11 July 1922. Albert Roper was instrumental in obtaining those ratifications; he was at the origin of
a series of meetings, which were named at the beginning Conférences anglo-franco-belges and took
later the too broad title of Conférences aéronautiques internationales. The first eleven of these
Conferences were held between 1920 and 1922 in Paris, London and Brussels until the Convention came
into force. They were made up of staff from the aeronautics administrations. Those conferences and
various other regional conferences (i.e. The Mediterranean Air Conference, the Baltic and Balkan Air
Conference) were to study problems of detail and practical difficulty which arose in the operation of
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international airlines between the various states, and to report the results to ICAN for action by
means of amendments to the annexes to the Paris Convention. Later, ICAO made large use of regional
machinery. i.e. Regional Air Navigation Meetings and Regional Offices.
 
 
The Convention was ultimately
ratified by 37 States, of which
four countries (Bolivia, Chile, Iran
and Panama) denounced it;
therefore, in all, the Convention
was in force for thirty-three
States in 1940.
 
The postmark on the reverse side
of this postcard is dated 28 June
1919 (VERSAILLES - CHATEAU
CONGRES DE LA PAIX), date on
which the Peace Treaty of
Versailles was signed by Germany
and the Allied powers at the Palace Postcard with hand-stamp: Versailles / Congrès de la paix
of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had
ended in 1918. The Versailles Palace was considered the most appropriate venue simply because of its
size - many hundreds of people were involved in the process and the final signing ceremony in the Hall
of Mirrors could accommodate hundreds of dignitaries. The Treaty also established the League of
Nations, an international organization dedicated to resolving world conflicts peacefully.
 
ICAN was by no means the first international organization designed to further the growth of aviation.
 
In the non-commercial
field, the Fédération
Aéronautique
Internationale (FAI) came
into existence as early as
1905, as a result of a
resolution passed at the
Olympic Congress at
Brussels. The FAI devoted
itself particularly to
private aviation, and the
development of facilities
for air touring had become
one of its principal
concerns.
Back of above postcard with date-stamp: 28 June 1919  
At the initiative of the French Government, the First International Conference of Private Air Law was
convened in Paris in 1925 to examine the question of the responsibility for the airlines and to undertake
the immense work of the coding of the private air law; the final protocol of this Conference asked for
the creation of a special committee of experts (Comité International Technique d'Experts Juridiques
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Aériens, C.I.T.E.J.A.) in charge of the continuation of the work of the Conference. Dr. Roper was the
Secretary General of the International Conference of Air Law. The work of the C.I.T.E.J.A. was taken
over by ICAO in May 1947 with the creation of the Legal Committee.
 
The International Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de Commerce Internationale,
CCI) was created at the end of the year 1920. The Chamber was created to
express the opinion deliberated on the business world. It was the body
representative of the bankers, the tradesmen and the industrialists of the various
countries; the delegates of the various branches of the economic activity there
discuss the international questions that interest them and act in concert for a
common action.  It had a Transports group under the auspices of which are
discussed the aeronautical questions.
 
Following the horror of the First World War, everyone was convinced that the
creation of a permanent organization was necessary to maintain world peace. As of
January 1919, the Peace Conference of Versailles worked out the fundamental
charter of the Société des Nations (League of Nations). The project was
IATA Emblem completed on 14 February 1919 and the city of Geneva was selected as seat of the
organization. The objectives of the Organization were to constitute an
international forum for the discussions carrying on questions of a political nature and legal, about
disarmament, the economic relations, the protection of the minorities, the communications and
transport, health and the questions social. One of its Commissions treated military, naval and air
questions.
 
In 1919, six European airlines founded in The Hague, Netherlands, the International Air Traffic
Association (IATA) to help airlines standardize their paperwork and passenger tickets and also help
airlines compare technical procedures. The modern IATA (International Air Transport Association),
founded in 1945 in Havana, Cuba, is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association.
 
There is a general acceptance that 1919 was the year when the air transport industry was born. In
many countries, both domestic and international air services were launched on a sustained basis and the
first International Convention Regulating Air Navigation was signed on 13 October of that year.
 

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United Kingdom – 26 July 1969 – First Day Cover commemorating the 50th
anniversary of Civil Aviation (1919-1969).
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