– ICAO Council and Air Navigation Commission expand representation

MONTREAL, Canada– The Council and the Air Navigation Commission of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will expand following the completion of the necessary legal requirements. The ICAO Council will expand from 36 member states to 40, and the Commission from 19 members to 21.

On 12 June 2026, the Government of Ecuador deposited instruments of ratification to the Protocol Relating to an Amendment to the Convention on International Civil Aviation [Article 50 (a)] and the Protocol Relating to an Amendment to the Convention on International Civil Aviation [Article 56], both signed at Montréal on 6 October 2016. The instruments were deposited at ICAO’s Montréal Headquarters.

Both protocols required ratification by 128 States to enter into force, and the deposits made by Ecuador constitute the 128th deposit for each of the two instruments, bringing the Protocols into immediate effect.

“Broader representation of states and their priorities at the ICAO Council and Air Navigation Commission will enable ICAO to optimise the safe, secure, and sustainable development of air transport for all,” remarked ICAO council president Toshiyuki Onuma. “We are grateful to those states who have ratified the protocols amending the Chicago Convention, demonstrating their commitment to air transport and to the benefits it brings to the entire global community.”

The council is ICAO’s governing body. Its responsibilities include the consideration of proposals by the Air Navigation Commission, which is ICAO’s main technical body.

The council will now consider convening an extraordinary session of the ICAO Assembly to elect the four new members of the Council. The appointment of the two additional members of the Commission will also be considered by the council.