ICAO welcomes recent aviation safety progress in Georgia

The President of the ICAO Council, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, expressed the UN agency’s deep appreciation for the proactive actions being taken by the Government of Georgia to mitigate recent safety concerns identified under the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP).

“Today the overall situation in Georgia is more stable, with positive trends prevailing,” Dr. Aliu commented. “In order to sustain this momentum, ICAO encourages Georgia to continue working closely with our European and North Atlantic Regional Office and to strengthen its Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is a priority for ICAO throughout this Region.”

During his mission to Georgia, which took place from 25 to 27 May 2017, Dr. Aliu held discussions with Georgia’s Prime Minister, Mr. Giorgi Kvirikashvili, where he underlined how the State’s commitments to ICAO compliance would be instrumental to the socio-economic benefits which Georgia could look forward to due to enhanced global connectivity.

Dr. Aliu also met with the country’s Minister and Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Gakharia and Mr. Giorgi Cherkezishvili, respectively, and the Director of the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency, Mr. Guram Jalaghonia. He was further introduced to the most recently appointed Permanent Representative of Georgia to ICAO, Mr. Konstantin Kavtaradze.

Dr. Aliu highlighted in the course of these discussions the progress which Georgia has made toward enhancing its compliance with ICAO’s standards and recommended practices, notably with the support of ICAO’s Europe and North Atlantic (EURNAT) Regional Office. While accompanied by the ICAO EURNAT Regional Director, Mr. Luis Fonseca de Almeida, Dr. Aliu furthermore assured the country’s leadership that ICAO is deeply committed to its “No Country Left Behind” initiative, and to providing further assistance to Georgia as its progress continues.

The Georgian PM and Ministers acknowledged the aviation sector’s role as a catalyst for broader socio-economic development, and noted the need for greater investment in infrastructure and better aligned national and aviation development planning. These are particularly important concerns for Georgia given the State’s ambitions in terms of air navigation services provision and its desire to become a transit hub, as well as the significant opportunities expected due to the forecast increase in global air traffic volumes and Georgia’s liberalization of its air transport policies.

“Georgia is poised to achieve even greater progress towards the development of its capacity within the global civil aviation network, and ICAO is ready to provide all support necessary to help it along that path,” Dr. Aliu summarized