International air transport services and the regulatory framework

The age of aviation can be dated to 1903 when the Wright brothers in the USA and then Captain Ferber in France first flew engine-powered planes. In 1909 the first international flight between non-contiguous countries occurred between France and Britain. While there were important changes in plane technology in the years leading up to World War I, there was little commercial utilization of aircraft in these years. Over the course of World War I dramatic technological changes occurred, and it was these developments that opened the door to the birth of commercial air transport after the war.

In 1919 a number of important legal and political steps were taken that laid the bases for the development of international civil aviation. An international conference granted states sovereignty over air space above their territories, and this meant that intergovernmental negotiations would shape the development of the international air transport industry. Also in 1919, states created the International Commission for Air Navigation, and airlines formed the International Air Traffic Association for the purpose of developing technical and safety standards. The distinctiveness of the two organizations tended to disappear during the 1920s and 1930s because most airlines outside of the USA were founded and owned by states.