The President of the ICAO Council, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, highlighted the need for determined cooperation supporting international airspace safety while on mission in the Ukraine earlier this week.
The Council President was accompanied on his visit by ICAO’s European and North Atlantic Regional Director Mr. Luis Fonseca de Almeida, and his points were stressed during a series of high-level bilateral meetings held with the Vice-Prime-Minister of Ukraine, Mr. Volodymyr Kistion, the State’s Minister of Infrastructure, Mr. Volodymyr Omelyan, the Chairman of the State Aviation Authority of Ukraine (SAAU) Mr. Oleksandr Bilchuk, and Director of the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise, Mr. Dmytro Babeichuk.
“The roles and responsibilities of ICAO Member States are clearly delineated in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and its Annexes,” President Aliu remarked, “and have served to help ensure the safety and security of international civil aviation for many decades. ICAO is presently reviewing some associated regional concerns through its Black Sea Task Force, and we look forward to the collaboration of our Member States in resolving the current challenges of civil operations over the Black Sea.”
Discussions focused on ICAO’s global role and the assistance and capacity building it could provide the Ukraine under the Organization’s ongoing No Country Left Behind initiative. Highlighted in this regard was the need to assure the State maintains a strong, efficient and autonomous civil aviation authority in order to assure the effective safety and security oversight functions which all ICAO Member States are responsible for.
“This support is essential for States to effectively set out and adhere to ICAO’s global Standards and Policies,” the Council President stressed, “but it also requires substantial local political will and concrete commitments. The Ukraine can count on ICAO’s assistance and capacity under our No Country Left Behind initiative to help it achieve these objectives, and thereby optimize air transport’s unique socio-economic benefits, and for our part ICAO will be counting on the Ukraine’s closer cooperation and support for our global and regional programmes.”
President Aliu also encouraged the Ukraine to accelerate efforts towards the liberalization of its air transport sector and simplifying its visa regime.
Separate visits were also held with the Acting Rector of the National Aviation University of Ukraine, Mr. Volodymyr Isaienko, on the occasion of President Aliu receiving an Honourary Doctorate, and to the Antonov manufacturing and services company facility in Kiev, where the Council President was given a detailed tour.
