The Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia ( es, Unidad Administrativa Especial de Aeronáutica Civil, also known as ''Aeronáutica Civil'', ''Aerocivil'' or UAEAC) is a

government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...

of the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ...

. It is the agency in charge of regulating

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

, the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...

industry, and of managing the Colombian

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is th ...

. Aerocivil is also in charge of managing and controlling all of Colombia's public airports. It is headquartered in the new ''Aerocivil'' building on the property of El Dorado International Airport. Previously it was located on the fourth floor of the main terminal building of the airport.

Agency

Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia is a semi independent agency of the Colombian Ministry of Transport. Aerocivil deals not only with civil aviation, but with

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

as a whole, excluding

military aviation Military aviation comprises military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift ( air cargo) capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a war thea ...

which falls under the

Colombian Air Force , "We are the Force" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Colombian Air Force Hymn , mascot = Capitan Paz , anniversaries = 8 November , ...

branch of the

Military Forces of Colombia The Military Forces of Colombia ( es, Fuerzas Militares de Colombia, links=no) are the unified armed forces of the Republic of Colombia. They consist of the Colombian Army, the Colombian Navy and the Colombian Air Force. The National Police of ...

. The agency also operates two agencies of its own, the Corporation of the Colombian Aeronautic Industry SA (''Corporación de la Industria Aeronáutica Colombiana S.A'', or CIAC) which is in agency in charge of construction, repair and maintenance of planes and jets, and the Centre for Aeronautic Studies (''Centro de Estudios Aeronáuticos'', or CEA), which creates programs for training and education in the field of aeronautics.

Mission

The mission of Aerocivil is to work towards the organized development of civil aviation, the aviation industry, and the safe use of the Colombian airspace, facilitating intermodal transportation, through: * The regulation of the use of the Colombian airspace and its airport and aeronautic infrastructure. * The administration of the use of Colombian airspace by means of civil aviation, the airport and aeronautic infrastructure, and the coordination of its relations with that of the military. * The lending of airport services and support to aviation. * The exercise of control and observance of operational safety in the air-space sector. * Implement the principles of quality and social responsibility; focusing its management in the continuous improvement of human talent, the processes and financial viability of the institution, as a strategy for organizational competitiveness.

Objectives

The objectives of Aerocivil as a government agency are: * To foment and regulate the development, coverage, and growth of civil aviation, and industry and research into aeronautics, to guarantee national and international geographical connectivity and to contribute to the growth of the economy and Colombian quality of life. *To guarantee operational safety by means of planning, design, implementation, regulation, and control of the development of civil aviation, guaranteeing the observance of national and international standards and the improvement of the use and conditions of the environment. *To guarantee the availability and effectiveness of the interactions of customers and the community and the review of their suggestions, needs and requirement. * To adopt the best practices of management, direction, and control in the compliance methods to fulfill the requirements set by Law, and international standards, that allow the satisfaction of the clients and users, as well as the development and well-being of our employees. * To guarantee financial sustainability. * to foment and optimize the mechanisms of investment, commercialization, and exploitation based in private participation and economic sustainability, in the lending of services of public and commercial airport administration, in accordance with the national and international standards of civil aviation. * To determine the policies of development and regulation pertaining to the aeronautical sector. * To guarantee the availability of airport infrastructure for the development of commercial activity. * To select, adopt and maintain the technology applicable to the offering of services associated with the Agency. * To guarantee the effective Administration of Human Talent, the development of competitiveness and the strengthening of the processes of formation, training, and investigation.

History

During the early 1900s the growth of civil aviation and commercial airlines created the need for their regulation and oversight. In 1919 with the creation of the first Colombian airline,

SCADTA Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transportes Aéreos german: Deutsch-Kolumbianische Luftverkehrsgesellschaft), or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline in Latin America, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SC ...

, the need for regulation led the government to take the first of such steps. On 31 December 1919, President

Marco Fidel Suárez Marco Fidel Suárez (April 23, 1855 – April 3, 1927) was a Colombian political figure. He served as president of Colombia from 1918 to 1921. He was born on April 23, 1855, in the town of Hatoviejo, Antioquia. His parents were Rosalía Suárez ...

sanctioned ''Law 126 of 1919'', which became the first form of legislation in the country dealing with aviation, making aviation companies, and everything related to aviation subject to government regulations. On 2 November 1933 during the administration of President Enrique Olaya Herrera, ''Decree 1080 of 1933'' was passed. This decree ascribed matters of civil aviation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, the next year however, ''Decree 1682 of 1934'', expedited by the newly elect President Alfonso López Pumarejo, ascribed it to the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War now controlled all aspects of aviation in the country, military by the Air Force, and civil by the Department of Civil Aviation (''Departamento de Aviación Civil''). As aviation became popular, and new international and national flight routes were created, the government saw the need to create a more organized and independent agency to oversee civil aviation. Was then that

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

passed ''Law 80 of 1938'', which created the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (''Dirección General de Aeronáutica''), centralizing the management of civil aviation into one agency. The agency was still part of the Ministry of War, but had gained more independence in management and finances, and was now in charge of the operations of

aerodromes An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

, airways, aeronautic radiocommunications,

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

, and oversight. On 18 October 1951 a change of name and command was implemented during the administration of President

Laureano Gómez Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro (20 February 1889 – 13 July 1965) was a Colombian politician and civil engineer who served as the 18th President of Colombia from 1950 to 1953. In November 1951 poor health led him to cede presidential pow ...

, who by means of ''Decree 1956 of 1951'', created the National Department of Civil Aviation (''Departamento Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil''), replacing the name and placing it under the authority of the Ministry of Public Works. On 18 June 1960, the National Government created by ''Decree 1721 of 1960'' the Civil Aviation Department (''Departamento Administrativo de Aeronáutica Civil'', DAAC), which was assigned specific technical and administrative duties to define aeronautic policy. In 1992 the DAAC merged with the National Aeronautic Fund (''Fondo Aeronáutico Nacional''), broadening its services and responsibilities. On 30 December 1993, the Colombian Congress passed ''Law 105 of 1993'', which created the Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia. It replaced the DAAC and was placed under the administration of the Ministry of Transportation. The agency officially went into operation on 1 February 1994, with officials being sworn in again, and 450 employees laid off.

References

External links

Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia

Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia ''Old Website''

Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia

Mobile

Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia ''Old Website''

Milton Cabeza Peñaranda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Civil Aviation Authority of Colombias Aviation organisations based in Colombia