On IAC participation in ICAO EUR/NAT online conference

On September 29, the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) took part in the ICAO EUR/NAT online conference on Sustainable Funding of States Civil Aviation Authorities during COVID-19 pandemic.

The ICAO notes that an increasing number of States are faced with the issue of insufficient and unsustainable funding of activities related to their main oversight responsibilities. Limited financial resources pose risks for flight safety, aviation security, environmental and economic oversight of the global air transport industry. The ICAO has also expressed concern that the situation is further aggravated by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In the current circumstances, national governments are forced to direct significant budgetary funds to support industry enterprises through revision of other allocations.

The goal of this online conference was to collect and share information about the actual situation among the CAAs of European states. Besides the national CAAs of several countries (Great Britain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Turkey, Ukraine, Montenegro, etc.), the conference was attended by representatives of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Civil Aviation Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and other organizations.

The IAC presented a report on building a sustainable model of cooperation between key stakeholders to counter the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures of state support for the aviation industry. In particular, the Committee developed and recommended to its Member States of the Agreement a number of measures of state support - financial, regulatory, intra-industry and from related industries. Conference leaders named the IAC among the most efficient and successful regional organizations.

The outcomes of the event will be used as basis for a set of specific recommendations to be elaborated for the upcoming meeting of the General Directors of CAAs of the European and North Atlantic Regions of the ICAO, scheduled for October 20, 2020.

The IAC, in its turn, invited participants of the conference to take part in the second on-line conference "Priorities for activities and measures to support civil aviation in the recovery from and after the pandemic", which will be held on November 5, 2020.