Monday, December 12, 2011

General Civil Aviation Authority hosts third Gulf Cooperation Council meeting on Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft

Dubai, UAE: The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) hosted the Third Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting at the GCAA office in Dubai, UAE. GCC Member states from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman attended the meeting on Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) and discussed the establishment of a unified GCC SAFA program.

HE Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General of GCAA, stated the importance of cooperation between the Gulf States on the field of aviation safety because of the common interests and the expected benefits as he indicated the concerns of foreign operators who are not meeting the international standards and the transfer of risks from one state to another in case of exclusion by one of the member states.

Al Suwaidi also emphasized on the value of exchange of information and utilizing of available expertise for the program to implement the international standards in order to meet the set goals.

Within the framework of the team force, a number of processes were agreed upon to establish and activate the unified GCC SAFA program, including establishment of a mechanism to exchange information related to suspension of foreign aircraft by one member state to the other member states.

It was also agreed during the meeting to appoint a permanent coordinator for the GCC SAFA program by each member state and a unified check list and inspection procedures in order to facilitate the future development of electronic information exchange via database repository.

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