MILESTONES IN SIXTY YEARS OF ECAC HISTORY
| 1955 | • Inaugural Session of ECAC (29 November –16 December). |
| 1956 | • The ‘Multilateral Agreement on Commercial Rights of Non-Scheduled Air Services in Europe' opens for signature (30 April). |
| 1959 | • The Committee on Coordination and Liberalisation (COCOLI) was established. |
| 1960 | • The ‘Multilateral Agreement relating to Certificates of Airworthiness for Imported Aircraft' was opens for signature (22 April). |
| 1967 | • Major restructuring of ECAC working arrangements: Establishment of a Coordinating Committee and four Standing Committees (ECO I, ECO II, Facilitation, Technical). • The ‘International Agreement on the Procedure for the Establishment of Tariffs for Scheduled Air Services' opens for signature (10 July). |
| 1969 | • Cyprus becomes ECAC's 20th Member State. |
| 1974 | • The ANCAT group of experts and an ad hoc group dealing with security measures are established. |
| 1976 | • Amendment of the ECAC Constitution, giving Directors General meetings an institutional character. |
| 1977 | • Yugoslavia joins ECAC. |
| 1979 | • Malta joins ECAC. • The EURPOL Working Group is established. • An operating ban is agreed for Europe, as of 1 January 1988, of aircraft not complying with noise standards of ICAO Annex 16. • Establishment of Common European Procedures for the Authorisation of Category II and III Operations (Doc 17). • Publication of Joint Requirements for Emergency and Safety Airborne Equipment, Training and Procedures (Doc 18). |
| 1982 | • First ECAC-US Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on North Atlantic Pricing. • Publication of the COMPAS report on Competition in Intra-European Air Services (Doc 25). |
| 1985 | • Publication of Doc 30, Parts I (Facilitation) and II (Security). |
| 1986 | • Report on Standard Method of Computing Noise Contours around Civil Airports (Doc 29). |
| 1987 | • The ‘International Agreement on the Procedure for the Establishment of Tariffs for Intra-European Scheduled Air Services' opens for signature (16 June). • The ‘International Agreement on the Sharing of Capacity on Intra-European Scheduled Air Services' opens for signature (16 June). |
| 1988 | • First ECAC meeting at Ministerial level followed by the publication, in 1990 and 1992, of the ECAC Strategy for the 1990s. • Development of a ‘Code of Conduct for Computer Reservation Systems'. • JAA becomes an Associated Body of ECAC. |
| 1989 | • ECAC Symposium on the Future of European Leisure Air Transport (23-25 October). • Monaco joins ECAC. |
| 1990 | • First ECAC Symposium on Civil Aviation Security, in Paris (6-8 November). • Hungary and Poland become ECAC Member States. |
| 1991 | • Development and publication of the ‘ECAC Handbook on Airport Guidelines'. • Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia join ECAC. |
| 1992 | • Croatia, Lithuania and Slovenia become ECAC Member States. |
| 1993 | • Latvia joins ECAC. |
| 1994 | • ECAC/ECMT Seminar on Access to Air Travel for People with Reduced Mobility. |
| 1995 | • First ECAC/EU Dialogue with the European air transport industry, in Noordwijk (6-7 July). • Estonia joins ECAC. |
| 1996 | • The ECAC SAFA Action Programme becomes operational. • First ECAC Environmental Policy Statement. • Second ECAC Symposium on Civil Aviation Security, in London (22-24 May). • Armenia and Moldova become ECAC Member States. • Publication of the first issue of ECAC news. |
| 1997 | • Finalisation of the ‘ECAC Institutional Strategy for Air Trafic Management in Europe'. • The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia joins ECAC. • Inauguration of the ICAO/ECAC European Aviation Security Training Institute – EASTI, in Haren (November). |
| 1998 | • Signature of MOUs with AFCAC and LACAC. • Albania joins ECAC. |
| 1999 | • Directors General adopt the EMTO (ECAC's Medium Term Objectives) Task Force report, defining ECAC's role at the beginning of the new millennium and introducing the concept of 'Focal Points'. • Ukraine becomes ECAC's 38th Member State. • Signature of MOU between ECAC and ICAO for Cooperation on Safety Oversight Audits and Related Matters (26 May). |
| 2000 | • MATSE/6, laying the foundations for a Single European Sky. • Signature of MOU with ACAC. |
| 2001 | • The ECAC Aviation Security Audit Programme becomes operational. |
| 2002 | • Airline and Airport Voluntary Commitments on Air Passenger Services become operational (14 February). • Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro join ECAC. • Target date for implementation of 100% screening of hold baggage in ECAC States (31 December). |
| 2003 | • Adoption of a modernised ECAC Environmental Policy Statement. • Launch of ECAC Aviation Security Capacity Building Programme. |
| 2004 | • Signature of MOU with ICAO on 'Aviation Security Audits and Related Matters' (27 September). |
| 2005 | • Georgia joins ECAC as 42nd Member State. |
| 2006 | • Recommendation on ECAC-wide Application of the Community List of Carriers subject to an Operating Ban. • Recommendation on the Prevention of the Spread of Communicable Diseases by means of Air Travel. • Code of Conduct on Cooperation in the field Of Civil Aviation Accident Incident Investigation. • Adoption of the 10th edition of ECAC Doc 30, Part I, Facilitation. • Signature of MOU with WAEMU. |
| 2007 | • Following the implementation of the FUJA Report, the Join Aviation Authorities become "JAA T" (Transition). • Signature of MOU with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. • Signature of MOU with the General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates. • Gerry Lumsden is appointed Executive Secretary of ECAC. |
| 2008 | • San Marino and Montenegro join ECAC as 43rd and 44th Member States. • ECAC/EU Industry Dialogue on "Meeting the Environmental Challenge". • Launch of the ECAC Common Evaluation Process (CEP) of security equipment. • Establishment of the annual "ECAC Forum", first one on aviation fuel supply security. |
| 2009 | • Closure of the Joint Aviation Authorities. • Establishment of JAA Training Organisation as an Associated Body of ECAC. • Signature of MOU with Republic of Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. • Former ECAC Executive Secretary Raymond Benjamin becomes Secretary General of ICAO. • Second ECAC Forum on passenger experience. |
| 2010 | • Signature of MOC with ICAO. • Directors General receive the national safety oversight comparative analysis benchmarking study, conducted amongst ECAC Member States. • Adoption of the 13th edition of ECAC Doc 30, Part II, Security. • Salvatore Sciacchitano is appointed Executive Secretary of ECAC. • Catalin Radu (DGCA Romania) is elected as new ECAC President. • Third ECAC Forum on crisis management in aviation. |
| 2011 | • Signature of MOU on aviation security with US Transportation Security Administration (TSA). • Establishment of ECAC Focal Point for Pan-European matters' position. • Directors General, in a Special Plenary Session, adopt amendments to ECAC Recommendation 27/4 in respect of NOx emission charging schemes (September). • Signature of MOU on aviation security with Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport. • Decision to establish ECAC standing group on coordination in European Search and Rescue. • ECAC establishes first ever pan-European network of civil aviation training organisations. • Fourth ECAC Forum on intermodality and its impact on aviation. • Establishment of 'ECAC Directors General Familiarisation Course'. • ECAC/EU Industry Dialogue on "Improving the Passenger Experience: Competition or Regulation?". |
| 2012 | • Signature of MOU and Safety and Security Implementation Plans with IATA. • Signature of MOU with Transport Canada concerning Civil Aviation Security. • Catalin Radu is reappointed as ECAC President. • ECAC Secretariat joins ACI EUROPE Airport Carbon Accreditation Advisory Board. • Publication of ECAC Guidance on the Underwater Location and Recovery of Aircraft Wreckage and Flight Recorders. • Vice-President of the European Commission Siim Kallas participates in ECAC DGCA/139 meeting, signature of a joint declaration confirming shared ECAC/EU commitment to cooperate. • Signature of a Cooperation Arrangement in the field of civil aviation security with the European Commission. • Fifth ECAC Forum on air cargo and the challenges of the future. |
| 2013 | • Workshop jointly organised by ECAC and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on best practices in three key areas of aviation safety. • Signature of a new Annex of the MOU between ECAC and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). • ECAC starts activities on behaviour detection in aviation security. • ECAC and IATA organise a series of workshops on the IOSA- IATA Operational Safety Audit and ISAGO – IATA Safety Audit Ground Operations. • Signature of an MOU between ECAC and TRACECA (International Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia). • Sixth ECAC Forum on "The Economics of Airports". |
| 2014 | • Aviation Security Seminar jointly organised by ECAC and ICAO Offices of Paris, Dakar and Cairo. • Signature of the Cooperation Arrangement with the Civil Aviation Administration of Indonesia. • Signature of a Cooperation Arrangement with CANSO. • Catalin Radu steps down from the position of President of ECAC. Patrick Gandil, DGCA France, is appointed Acting President. • Signature of a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) of China. • The first meeting between the Coordinating Committee and CAAC was held in Paris. • Ingrid Cherfils, DGCA Sweden, is appointed President of ECAC. • ECAC/EU Dialogue with the Industry on European Air Transport competitiveness. • Seventh ECAC Forum on "European Air Transport – A vision for the Future". |
| 2015 | • ECAC celebrates its 60th Anniversary. • Signature of MOC with Malaysia. • Newly appointed ICAO Secretary General Fang Liu participates to ECAC Special DGCA Meeting. • Directors General adopt updated 'ECAC Strategy for the Future' and 'ECAC External Policy Statement', both subsequently available as publications. • ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu attends DGCA/145. • Eighth ECAC Forum on the theme of "Connectivity". |
| 2016 | • Creation of the Economic Working Group (ECO) and the Network of Chief Economists (NCE). • ECAC Coordinating Committee approves a new Focal Point portfolio on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). • ECAC Directors General issue "the Bratislava Declaration" at DGCA (SP)/65, a common statement on joining a global market-based measure scheme from its start. • Adoption of the fourth edition of ECAC Doc 29 on the Standard Method of Computing Noise Contours around Civil Airports. • Ninth ECAC Forum on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). |
| 2017 | • Development of an updated version of Doc 30 and new comprehensive guidance material on cyber security. • ECAC/ EU Dialogue with the air transport industry takes place in Rome, on the theme "Challenges and opportunities in financing aviation". • Election of Alessio Quaranta, Director General for Civil Aviation for Italy, as second Vice-President of ECAC's coordinating Committee at DGCA(SP)/66. • Tenth ECAC Forum on "Digitalisation". |
| 2018 | • Signature of Cooperation Agreement in the field of aviation security between ECAC and the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. • Election of Silvia Gehrer, Director General of Civil Aviation for Austria, as third Vice-President of ECAC's Coordinating Committee at ECAC/36. • Adoption of the 12th edition of ECAC Doc 30 Part I (Facilitation) (Amendment No 1). • Signature of a new Annex 4 and Annex 5 to the MOU between ECAC and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on respectively the Singapore-ICAO Programme for Young Aviation Professionals and Facilitation of Speaker Exchange. • Eleventh ECAC Forum on "Sustaining Aviation Growth". |
| 2019 | • Signature between ECAC and the Arab Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO) of the ECAC/ACAO Joint Work Programme 2019-2022. • Election of Dan Micklethwaite, Director General for Civil Aviation for the United Kingdom, as third Vice-President of ECAC's Coordinating Committee at DGCA/152. • Twelfth ECAC Forum on "Policies to address aviation's environmental challenges". • Signature of a Cooperation Agreement with ACI EUROPE. |
| 2020 |
• ECAC/ EU Dialogue with the air transport industry on the theme "Restart, reconnect, recover - rebuilding aviation in a changed world". • Thirteenth ECAC Forum on "COVID-19 crisis - from survival to recovery". • 9th edition of the ECAC Constitution issued (December 2020). |