Russia loses spot on U.N. aviation group's governing council: Travel Weekly

Russia has lost its seat on the governing council of the United Nations’ aviation organization. 

In a vote held Friday, Russia fell six votes short of the 86 needed to remain on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council. The vote was held among the 193 member states of ICAO, which is convening in Montreal for its general assembly. 

The assembly is held every three years, and this is the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

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Thirty-six countries are on the ICAO Council, but Russia had been one of 11 countries on the council designated as a “state of chief importance in air transport.”  

ICAO’s rebuke of Russia follows attacks by Russia on Ukraine, and the appropriation by Russian airlines of leased jetliners owned by foreign corporations — a move that was made after EU sanctions called for companies based in the European Union to terminate lease deals with Russian airlines.

In a statement submitted ahead of the council vote, Ukraine argued for Russia’s removal, contending that the country has violated provisions of the 1944 Chicago Convention, which established ICAO and laid the groundwork for international civil aviation law.

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