At the close of the 2nd Global Aviation Safety Conference (GASC) for Humanitarian Air Services, more than 300 delegates comprising civil aviation authorities, regulators, contractors and service providers have agreed on a number of recommendations, including the need to assist greater pilot training to reduce runway accidents.
Three main recommendations from the conference included the need for improved identification and reporting of hazards, greater transparency between regulators and air operators, and harmonized standards of risk assessment and hazard mitigation.
These findings came out from the two-day conference organised by the World Food Programme's (WFP) Aviation Safety Unit - the UN body mandated to improve aviation safety culture particularly for humanitarian air services efforts - with the full support of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) of Sharjah and held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Civil Aviation - Sharjah International Airport.
His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Essam Al Qasimi, Director of Civil Aviation, Government of Sharjah was present at closing ceremonies of the conference.
On behalf of Sheikh Khalid, the closing remarks at the conference were delivered by Ahmed Bukalla, Director of Operations-DCA, Government of Sharjah. Bukalla thanked all participants for their vital contribution in helping ensure safe aviation operations across the global aviation industry, specifically for the World Food Programme's humanitarian efforts in critical areas of need.
"It is vital that a high level of aviation safety is maintained in order to expedite the delivery of food and aid which is critical in saving lives," Bukalla said. "It is crucial that the level of human tragedy be minimized, and the contribution that aviation plays is central to realising this goal.
"We recognize the need to further enhance existing safety procedures, raise safety techniques across all aspects of air operations and offer safety management workshops for both government and commercial aviation personnel. It is for this reason that we have given our full support to this conference based on shared objectives and goals of further promoting aviation safety across the entire global aviation industry," he added.
Discussing the recommendations of the conference, Cesar Arroyo, head of the WFP's Aviation Safety Unit said: "Global aviation has never been safer but we must continue to improve our work. Humanitarian aviators operate in very challenging environments when we have to deliver aid and these recommendations are not only crucial in our field, but for other aviators as well."
For his part, Samir Sajet, Regional Aviation Safety Officer of WFP's Aviation Safety Unit based at Sharjah, UAE, noted how successful the conference was in terms of participants' synergy.
"At this conference, we saw regulators sitting next to operators and contracting parties at the same table. It is an amazing synergy that is created when you bring all of them together. We have the same goal and for me it is extremely successful to be able to bring all these different cultures and nationalities and still come up with recommendations agreed by everybody," Sajet said.
"The most important thing in this conference is that we had this huge number of attendees that exchanged information, safety concerns and it also provided good networking opportunities for all concerned," he added, stating that WFP is voluntarily funded, and relies on annual contributions for all of its operations.
Arroyo noted the valuable support of the UAE, with Sharjah Airport authorities providing a base for food and non-food items. He also urged donors to provide additional financial support to meet urgent needs for WFP's humanitarian work.
"Food security is pivotal in the fight against global hunger, particularly in places like Pakistan, where an emergency operation is still underway," he said.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Each year, on average, WFP feeds more than 90 million people in more than 70 countries.
In 2009, WFP Aviation provided safe, efficient and reliable air transport services. With an average usage of 53 aircraft per month, WFP Aviation transported 323,713 passengers and 12,412 metric tons of humanitarian cargo in 44,200 flying hours to 200 destinations in 14 country operations.
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