Guyana’s aviation gets improved approval ratings from int’l safety regulator

Apr 18, 2017 News

Guyana has made significant progress in improving aviation safety, with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recently announcing that this country is one of 12 countries that have done well.
ICAO works with over 190 member states and industry groups to reach consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector. These SARPs and policies are used by ICAO Member States to ensure that their local civil aviation operations and regulations conform to global norms, which in turn permits more than 100,000 daily flights in aviation’s global network to operate safely and reliably in every region of the world.
According to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), ICAO has selected Guyana as one of 12 member states to receive its Council President Certificate for 2016, in recognition of the significant progress it has made in resolving safety oversight deficiencies and improving the effective implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices.
The Council President Certificates are issued once each calendar year in recognition of states that have met the criteria during the previous year.
The eligibility criteria used for the recognition are objective and transparent, and are based on the results of ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP CMA) activities, including audits, ICAO Coordinated Validation Missions (ICVMs) and off-site validation activities.
Member states must prove that they have no Significant Safety Concern (SSC) – that is, states with an outstanding SSC will be excluded from consideration until their SSC is resolved.
The recognition of Guyana’s work in aviation would be significant, as failure could see Guyana losing rights to fly to certain destinations because of safety concerns.
In May last year, during the renaming of Ogle Airport to the Eugene F Correia International Airport, GCAA’s Director-General, Colonel (Retired) Egbert Field, noted that Guyana was focused on drastically reducing the frequency of air accidents. At that time, the regional average was above 70%, while Guyana stood at 44%.
In December, Guyana managed to make it 64 percent compliant. Field disclosed that a higher score could have been achieved if the agency did not fall short in the ICAO assessment.
This shortfall was attributed to the lack of a high level of expertise within the GCAA.
Field explained that the process of gaining the expertise required for full compliance is an expensive one, and Guyana was not unique to this. Every country would normally face this, he said.
The GCAA Head underscored the need for the establishment of a ‘robust’ oversight system, citing its importance in facing the challenges that are likely to arrive in another two to three years.
One of the initiatives he outlined will see the authority improving its position in the establishment of a fully-prepared staff.
Guyana is currently building a bigger airport at Timehri that will include a new arrival terminal and longer runway, in a project that will cost Guyana up to US$150M.
Guyana is hoping to attract more flights and diversify its destinations.

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