MIDANPIRG/22, Doha, Qatar - 4 May 2025

The Regional Officer for MET/ANS Implementation from the ICAO EUR/NAT Office participated in the Twenty-Second Meeting of the Middle East Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group (MIDANPIRG/22) held in Doha, Qatar.

The meeting was hosted by Qatar and organized by the ICAO MID Regional Office, gathering senior officials, experts, and stakeholders from the region and beyond. Participants reviewed progress in implementing ICAO's Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP), discussed critical air navigation and safety priorities, and adopted regional strategies to enhance aviation performance.

During the meetings, RO EUR/NAT presented the outcomes and key updates from the 11th and 12th Meteorology Sub-Group (MET SG) meetings held in November 2023 and 2024, respectively. Coordinated with MID States and international partners, the updates focused on several strategic areas, including:

Transition to Digital Aeronautical Meteorological Services, the global transition from traditional MET products to System-Wide Information Management (SWIM)-enabled, digitally structured formats such as IWXXM (ICAO Meteorological Information Exchange Model), aligned with ICAO Annex 3 and GANP objectives.

It was decided that the ICAO EUR/NAT MET Regional Officer, in coordination with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), will organize a dedicated workshop on enhancing MET services in the MID region. This initiative aims to support states in addressing identified air navigation deficiencies, implementing Quality Management Systems (QMS), and upgrading MET services in accordance with ICAO SARPs.

The meeting endorsed several related draft conclusions and decisions, including the proposal to conduct a regional MET compliance survey and to formally revise the Terms of Reference of the MET Sub-Group to include oversight of space weather services.