The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) is opposing the inclusion of business aircraft with fewer than 19 seats into the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) flight-tracking requirement proposed late last week, IBAC director Peter Ingleton said, citing operators' cost considerations. On Friday, ICAO ended its second high-level safety conference in Montreal with a consensus on two still-emerging safety issues, global flight tracking and risk mitigation to flights in and around conflict zones.

The conflict-zone discussions included a proposal to develop a prototype online resource for global conflict-zone risk assessments. Other key items addressed by the more than 850 participants from ICAO states include requiring ongoing ICAO focus on safe integration of remotely piloted aircraft systems into civilian airspace, the continued adoption of proactive safety management approaches in member states, provisions on the sharing and protection of safety information, full and expedited implementation of performance-based navigation regulatory oversight and the need for all ICAO states to receive sufficient financial assistance to enable them to reach global minimum levels of effective safety oversight.