Source: ICAO ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu reiterated the UN agency’s call for national governments to assure the sustainable funding of their civil aviation authorities (CAAs). Her appeal was made during her opening remarks to the latest virtual coordination meeting of ICAO European and North Atlantic (EUR/NAT) Region Directors General of Civil Aviation (DGCAs). “State aviation authorities have been facing drastic reductions to their funding,” Dr. Liu highlighted, “and this has led to significant gaps between performance and oversight expectations and available resources. To overcome these challenges, a cooperative and collaborative approach with industry, and regional and international organizations, is key.” The ICAO Secretary General welcomed the ICAO EUR/NAT Office’s recent workshop to start addressing the CAA funding shortfall [...]

Source: ICAO Ensuring that States coordinate and sufficiently resource their aviation strategies will underpin both the continued safety of flight and the global recovery of the aviation network as a whole, ICAO Council President Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano and ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu declared at yesterday’s Flight Safety Foundation 2020 International Air Safety Summit.   “There should be no misconceptions regarding the dependence of the ultimate speed and effectiveness of our sector’s recovery on the degree of international coordination we establish,” the President said. “It will also be dependent on the measures we pursue being compatible with safety and security requirements; proportionate to the improvement of public health; flexible where possible to allow for a viable economic recovery; and [...]

Source: ICAO Downturns in air transport have significant and cascading impacts on tourism and hospitality markets all over the world, and recent slight upturns have been insignificant when compared to how severely global air transport and tourism have plummeted due to COVID-19.   This message was underscored today by ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu, as she addressed the latest meeting of the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO's) Global Tourism Crisis Committee.   Appreciating the deep inter-dependencies of air transport and tourism, and the close and effective cooperation already established between ICAO and the UNWTO, Dr. Liu reported to the government and industry officials on hand that current trends in global mobility and connectivity continue to paint a dire economic [...]

Source: ICAO Over half the world's tourists travel by air, and aviation and tourism together deliver significant growth and development benefits which are deeply relied upon by many national economies.   This was one of the key messages delivered by ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu earlier today as she addressed the G20  high-level public-private event on Accelerating the Global Recovery of travel and tourism hosted today by the G20 Presidency, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.   A second key update provided concerned the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART), and how its current Phase II updating of its response and recover 'Take-off' guidelines would include new recommendations to help countries evaluate testing options as a means to alleviate [...]

Source: ALTA The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) signed an agreement to promote and facilitate access to IATA Training courses for aviation professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean. IATA trains over 100,000 professionals and students every year around the world with more than 350 courses and 40 diplomas in the areas of management, environment, fares and ticketing, finance, human resources, education, infrastructure, operations, quality, regulations, safety, sales and marketing, and security, travel and tourism, to name a few. “Training the human resource is a priority. With this agreement, we seek to further strengthen the development of professionals in aviation, an industry that requires the highest standards of qualification and [...]

Source: ICAO Summarizing the outcomes of an ICAO sustainability event today, ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano stressed the need to seize the post-COVID recovery as a vital opportunity for aviation to build back better through decarbonization. “Aviation has always promoted and benefitted from innovation, but it will be up to us to help energize this momentum further and motivate partners, both private and public, to foster the required investment and incentive frameworks,” remarked President Sciacchitano during his closing remarks to the ICAO Stocktaking Seminar on aviation in-sector CO₂ emissions reductions. “With public subsidies and bailouts playing a critical role in sustaining many airports and airline operators through this period, States could likely have a greater say over how the industry [...]

Source: ALTA The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) welcomes Neste as a new affiliate member, the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel made from waste materials. Its turbine fuel, called Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel ™, offers an immediate solution to reduce direct carbon emissions from flights by reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas GHG emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil fuels. José Ricardo Botelho, Executive Director & CEO of ALTA, comments: “We are pleased to welcome Neste as an affiliate member in ALTA and in our Fuel Committee. Its scope, experience and support will provide an important contribution and good practice to the initiatives in ALTA and our members.” “Neste is excited [...]

Fuente: ICAO In her remarks today at the official opening of the final week of the Virtual World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2020, ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu underscored that information and communications technologies are critical to aviation’s role in global UN Sustainable Development Goal attainment, and to how air transport will build back better post-COVID-19. “Increased air transport digitalization promotes critical efficiencies and capabilities which improve our sector’s capabilities as a catalyst for socio-economic and sustainability benefits,” Dr. Liu stated. “This is especially relevant given that ICAO-compliant air services and international connectivity are already improving global outcomes toward the achievement of 15 of the 17 SDGs.” Summarizing the devastation COVID-19 is now wreaking on global [...]