02 July 2021

ICAO COUNCIL SUPPORTS AVIATION RECOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT

Last week, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reviewed the progress of the aviation sector’s recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to enhance the safety, security and sustainability of flights, and issues related to ICAO’s governance.

The Council discussed the implementation of the most recent ‘Phase III’ guidance of the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Taskforce (CART), which were adopted in March 2021. The Council also addressed ICAO’s preparations for its High Level Conference on COVID-19, which will take place in October. The Conference aims to promote and strengthen States’ collective efforts, including through CART implementation.

A focus was put on updates on ICAO’s activities to mitigate cybersecurity risks and threats, and on the efforts to ramp up the achievements being realised in support of the sustainability of aviation, including the progress towards the implementation of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), as well as ICAO’s preparations in view of the upcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow.

The ICAO Council also evaluated progress on work to ensure the safety and security of flights through conflict zones, with a focus on Canada’s proposed “Safer Skies” initiative. The Council facilitated the achievement of a decision in principle on the establishment of a Doha Flight Information Region, and reviewed an interim report resulting from a fact-finding investigation led by the ICAO Secretariat into events surrounding Ryanair flight FR 4978 in Belarus. This investigation is ongoing, with a report expected at the Council’s next session, which begins on 13 September.

Source: ICAO