At a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Transport of France, Ms. Elisabeth Borne (left), ICAO’s Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu appreciated the importance of French innovation to the future safety, security, and sustainability of the global civil aviation network. This was supported in a consecutive meeting with Mr. Damien Cazé, Head Advisor of Environment, Transport and Energy to the Prime Minister of France.
In this regard, Dr. Liu emphasized key priority areas for ICAO’s upcoming 40th Assembly, highlighting that “safety must be on the forefront of ICAOs strategic objectives, while national priorities need to be aligned with the targets and timelines presented in the ICAO Global Plans for Aviation Safety (GASP), Security (GASeP), and Air Navigation Capacity and Efficiency (GANP).”
Dr. Liu concurred with the French authorities that a collective approach is key to addressing the challenges presented by both the impending implementation of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), and the potential cybersecurity threats presented by the advanced digitalization of aviation operations.
She noted that the upcoming ICAO Innovation Fair and the ICAO World Aviation Forum, both key events leading into the 40th Assembly, would be excellent opportunities to engage the global aviation community on these themes and to explore the related opportunities presented by emerging innovations and technologies.
The implementation of these at the global level, Dr. Liu observed, would be predicated on the emergence of associated resourcing for ICAO, given the Organization’s fundamental normative role.
The Secretary General’s mission to France, which took place on 8 and 9 April 2019, also provided her with an opportunity to discuss these points throughout a series of subsequent meetings with senior corporate leaders of France’s aviation industry.
During her visit to Airbus she was greeted by its CEO Mr. Guillaume Faury. The leaders exchanged fruitful insights on the role which innovation is now playing in revolutionizing how air services support citizens, businesses and societies, and surveyed examples of these applications in a series of Airbus showcases on forward looking strategies for future technological solutions.
Before concluding her mission, the Secretary General also visited BEA, the Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Bureau of France.
Dr. Liu was joined throughout all of her meetings by the Director General of Civil Aviation of France, Mr. Patrick Gandil; the Permanent Representative of France to ICAO, Mr. Phillippe Bertoux; and ICAO’s Regional Director for Europe and the North Atlantic, Ms. Silvia Gehrer.
