ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu takes flight during a simulator demonstration at the ATR training center in Toulouse. Highlights of her mission to France on the sidelines of COP21 included meetings with many high-level government and industry officials, the signing of a new MoU outlining deeper cooperation on personnel development with ENAC, and a review of France’s pioneering approaches to the safe integration of remotely-piloted aircraft systems into civil airspace.
MONTRÉAL, 15 DECEMBER 2015 – The Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Dr. Fang Liu, concluded another round of successful ICAO outreach visits with high-level French government and aviation industry officials on the sidelines of the COP21 in Paris last week.
During her week long mission, one of the highlights of the Secretary General’s visit was the conclusion of a new MoU with France’s prestigious École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC). The new agreement will create internships at ICAO for qualified ENAC candidates who have completed or are enrolled in a graduate degree programme, building on the recent status ICAO bestowed on ENAC as an ICAO Regional Training Centre of Excellence.
While at ENAC, Secretary General Liu was also briefed on the progress France has made on integrating remotely-piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) into civil airspace. The State set out pioneering regulations in 2012 which were reviewed as part of ICAO’s RPAS Symposium in March of this year, and France is presently assisting ICAO’s work in this field through the secondment of an expert to ICAO’s Air Navigation Bureau.
Secretary General Liu also held productive follow-up discussions during her stay with France’s Minister of State for Transport, Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Mr. Alain Vidalies, subsequent to his earlier talks late last week with ICAO’s Council President, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu.
Other high-level officials met during her mission included Mr. Christian Masset, Secretary General of France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Patrick Gandil, France’s Director General Civil Aviation; Mr. Philippe Crebassa, Vice-Director of ENAC; Mr. Alexandre de Juniac, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air France/KLM; Mr. Fabrice Brégier, President & CEO Airbus; Mr. Patrick de Castelbajac, CEO of ATR; Mr. Pierre Bourlot, Managing Director of France’s Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS); and Mr. Xavier Brunetière, Director of the French Agence Nationale des Titres Sécurisés (ANTS – France’s secure travel document authority).
Discussions on those occasions revolved around the significant contributions of international civil aviation to socio-economic prosperity and sustainable development, current and future challenges for international civil aviation, the economic and technical regulation of international air transport, ICAO's leadership role as the highest level global forum for international civil aviation, and the resources available for ICAO to carry out its mission.
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