In a bid to bolster flight safety standards and perfect the control mechanism of aviation obstacles, the Civil Aviation Agency of the State of Georgia has introduced significant changes to the permissible heights of buildings in the protection areas of civil airfields and heliports. This transformative move, which came into effect in June 2023, aims to ensure safer operations within airport vicinities and comply with international aviation regulations.
Previously, construction projects within the airport area required the consent of the relevant airport operator company. However, under the new regulations, the authority to determine the permissible heights of buildings in the aerodrome/heliport protection areas has been exclusively granted to the Civil Aviation Agency.
The guidelines for establishing the civil aerodrome protection area and determining the permissible height of structures within it were developed by Chapter 4 of Annex 14 (Aerodromes) of the 1944 Chicago Convention on Aviation. These rules were approved by the Director of the Civil Aviation Agency of the Civil Aviation Authority of Ukraine, ensuring alignment with international best practices.
To facilitate accessibility and transparency, the Civil Aviation Agency has launched a dedicated section on its website (https://gcaa.ge/aerodrome-safeguarding/) providing comprehensive information on the process of determining and agreeing on permissible building heights in the aerodrome/heliport protection areas. Interested parties can find a list of required documents to be submitted to the agency for approval, details of protected areas certified by the agency, and other relevant regulatory documents related to aerodrome protection.
By Mariam Gorkhelashvili
