A flag hoisting ceremony has been held in Accra in commemoration of this year’s International Civil Aviation Day (ICAO DAY).
Organised by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the event was on the theme “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development.”
Held annually in member countries of ICAO, the Day was to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of civil aviation to the sustainable development of states.
Additionally, it highlights the unique role ICAO plays in helping nations to cooperate and realise a global air transport network that connects cultures and communities across all world regions.
Speaking at the event, Juliet Okae, Deputy Director-General in-charge of Finance and Administration, GCAA, highlighted the importance of civil aviation to global development.
The GCAA, she said, was mindful of the numerous benefits that air transport offers, and the sector’s many other contributions regarded as a veritable economic lifeline for an increasing number of people in Ghana.
As the regulatory agency for air transport in the country, she stated that GCAA remained committed to its mandate of licensing air transport operations, maintaining oversight of aviation safety and security, as well as providing air navigation services within the Accra Flight Information Region (FIR), which comprises the airspace of Ghana and a large area over the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.
She said since becoming a contracting ICAO State on May 9, 1957, Ghana has, working through GCAA, complied with the Standards and Recommended Practices of the UN Specialised aviation agency.
Compliance with the standards, Ms Okae noted, resulted in Ghana obtaining an Effective Implementation or EI rate of 89.89 per cent, the highest by an African country, after ICAO concluded its Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) in April 2019.
Additionally, in October 2019, ICAO also conferred two prestigious awards; one in safety compliance and the other in Aviation Security compliance on Ghana at its 40th Triennial Assembly in Montréal, Canada, she added.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sectoral recovery happening across the global aviation industry, she called on stakeholders of the industry to recognise the air transport priorities confronting the world.
In a message of solidarity, ICAO noted that owing to the United Nations (UN) and world nations adopting Agenda 2030, and embarking on a new era in global sustainable development, the importance of aviation as an engine of global connectivity has never been more relevant to the Chicago Convention’s objectives to look to international flight as a fundamental enabler of global peace and prosperity.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
