ICAO workshop, seminar begin in Bahrain

The 12-day regional safety oversight seminar and workshop of the twelfth International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, began here yesterday.

In a message to the seminar and workshop Bahrain's Transportation Minister Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa described the ICAO's safety oversight programme as a valuable support to member states in assisting them to ensure that the highest standards of safety are provided for the travelling public and the forthcoming extension of the safety audit to include airports and air traffic services will be a further benefit.

"Our aviation heritage, which stretches back over seventy years, is something that we are all proud of. The aviation sector has played and it continues to play a major role in our economic and social links with the rest of the world and this is evident in the continued support the civil aviation affairs enjoys from the government," said Sheikh Ali.

Addressing the gathering on what the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme is about Mohammed R. M. Khonji, Deputy Director of Cairo based ICOA's Middle East office, said the objective is to promote global aviation safety through auditing the 187 contracting states on an ongoing basis to determine the status of each state. The seminar and workshop also aims at increasing the knowledge.