By Mohamed Attia
Egypt wins membership of 2nd category
The 41st General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which was held early this month in Montreal, Canada, witnessed many important events at the global, African and local levels, being the first since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
At the local level, the Egyptian delegation that participated in the General Assembly, headed by Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Abbas Helmy achieved several successes, the most important of which was maintaining Egypt’s seat on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for the next three years, for the “second category”.
Egypt obtained 156 votes to be the first in Africa and among the countries with the highest voting in the second category, which confirms the position enjoyed by Egypt and its effective role in international and regional Organisations in the field of air transport industry.
According to the ICAO statute, the member states of the Organisation select 36 countries divided into three categories to form the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, which is responsible for managing the affairs of the Organisation and setting the work strategy during the next three years.
Each category consists of 12 countries, and the “first category” represents countries that are manufacturers of aircraft and aviation technology.
The “second category” in which Egypt won represents countries that have a major role in providing facilities in the field of civil aviation and air navigation. As for the “third category,” seats are distributed according to geographical areas.
Egypt was also chosen as Vice-Chairman of the Economic Committee of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, where Engy El-Yazi, advisor to the President of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority and Egypt’s former delegate in ICAO, was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Committee, with the support of the African group represented by the African Aviation Commission “AFCAC”.
The Economic Committee is one of the most important committees in the International Civil Aviation Organisation, as it lays down general policies on issues related to the regulation and economic development of global air transport activity, in a way that supports the economic activities of the sector, as well as support for cross-border investments in airlines and the regulatory and economic aspects of airports and air navigation services to improve safety and efficiency levels.
During the association’s activities, Egypt presented 40 working papers and information in coordination with the African Commission and the Arab Civil Aviation Organisation, where the participants praised the working paper prepared by Egypt’s specialists in the fields of ground handling and cybersecurity.
It is worth noting that Eng. Abdel Ghaffar El-Sayed Abdel Halim, an environmental expert, holds the position of Vice-Chairman of the Environment Committee of the Organisation, which is a committee composed of environmental experts from all countries of the world and responsible for technical studies and specialized analyses in the field of carbon dioxide emissions to develop procedures and legislation for the protection of the environment.
For his part, Minister Helmy stressed that the success achieved by Egypt’s winning of the membership of the International Civil Aviation Organisation Council enhances Egypt’s leading position at the regional and international levels.
The minister indicated the keenness of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to enhance continuous co-operation and coordination with various countries to ensure the safety and sustainability of global civil aviation, pointing to Egypt’s active role in many important issues related to security, safety and environmental protection for the civil aviation sector at the international level.
The minister stressed that Egypt is committed to continuing to contribute positively to enhancing the security, safety and environment of international aviation, developing the air transport industry, assuming its responsibilities in all fields of aviation, and supporting ICAO initiatives, as Egypt is proud to be one of the first founding countries to sign the Chicago Agreement and one of the founding countries of the Organisation and a member of the Council since its inception.
The minister explained that the Egyptian state has given great attention to the civil aviation sector, which is one of the main axes of economic development within the framework of the Egyptian state’s vision 2030 to achieve sustainable development, as the sector is witnessing a great development in infrastructure projects, increasing the capacity of airports, and strengthening procedures and measures, which had a major role in achieving Cairo International Airport ranked first in Africa in terms of the number of passengers and “second” in terms of cargo volume in 2021, as stated in the report of the Airports Council International (ACI).
In addition, 11 Egyptian airports obtained a certificate of safe and healthy travel and renewed it from the International Airports Council, which enhanced confidence in the system of procedures applied in Egyptian airports and contributed to the return of air and tourist traffic to Egypt and enhancing its position on the map of the world’s favourite tourist destinations.
The air navigation system was also updated based on Egypt’s keenness to provide advanced navigational services to serve global aviation. The Egyptian government established the “National Centre for Airspace Management” to develop navigational services and air traffic.
As for the African level, the Assembly witnessed an important event on the level of the African continent, where Bobby Koza, President of the Civil Aviation Authority of South Africa, was nominated as the first African woman to preside over the association since the establishment of the Organisation.
At the global level, for the first time since the establishment of ICAO in 1947, Russia loses its seat on the Council of the World Organisation as a result of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
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