Source: CIA World Factbook 2006

Airspace: 61,105 square miles

Recent Airspace Conflicts

Since 2001, reports have surfaced that civilian aircraft secretly registered to the United States Central Intelligence Agency have been sighted over Denmark. Human rights organizations claim that the planes are used to transport terror suspects to locations where torture can be conducted.

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has publicly notified U.S. officials that it does not want its airspace used for purposes that are in conflict with international conventions. As a result, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency can no longer use Danish airspace for flights to transport suspected terrorists around the world.

Airspace Regulatory Body

Naviair: A subsidiary of the Danish Ministry of Transport and Energy, Naviair provides air navigation services that guide aircraft through Danish airspace. Naviair and its Swedish counterpart are expected to complete a revised plan to unify airspace across Denmark and Sweden by the middle of 2006. The countries’ goal is to create an organization that will provide air traffic management (ATM) services across the whole of Danish and Swedish airspace.

Membership in International Aviation Organizations

EUROCONTROL: An international governmental organization with 31 member states. Among its many services, this organization seeks to fulfill the needs of civil and military aircraft through the Flexible Use of Airspace mandate. This approach attempts to avoid airspace restrictions due to military operations by limiting the duration of restrictions to coincide with the duration of military operations, thus not blocking large areas of airspace for lengthy periods of time. Furthermore, it aims to break down national airspace barriers and develop a single upper airspace for use by partner countries through the Single European Sky mandate.

Sources: Navair, THE COPENHAGEN POST, Federal Aviation Administration, International Civil Aviation Organization