Nobody Owns The Sky Over The Atlantic & International Law Has Never Resolved It

International airspace remains a legal frontier, with sovereignty clearly claimed over national airspace but without a defined upper boundary. The 1944 Chicago Convention established states’ complete and exclusive sovereignty over airspace above their territory, yet it did not specify where airspace ends, leaving regions above the high seas effectively unowned. As long-haul flights routinely traverse oceanic areas where no state asserts ownership, a gap persists between sovereignty and outer space boundaries. Modern aviation relies on ICAO and a web of agreements, but the precise altitude limit of sovereign airspace has never been codified, a paradox that continues to shape regulatory and operational practice.