GCAA participates in ICAO / UNOOSA AeroSPACE Symposium

GCAA participates in ICAO / UNOOSA AeroSPACE Symposium

ATP-  arab tourism portal- Dubai,  (WAM) — A UAE civil aviation delegation has participated in the joint International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) / United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Aerospace Symposium which was held in ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada, under the theme ”Emerging space activities and civil aviation – challenges and opportunities.” The delegation from the from the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which included Laila Ali bin Hareb Al Muhairi, Assistant Director General of Strategy and International Affairs, and Ismael Al Baloushi was appointed Assistant Director General of Aviation Safety, engaged in discussions during the landmark event which brought together for the first time both aviation and space communities from around the globe to explore existing regulations and practices as well as safety management and systems engineering methods with regard to civil aviation, suborbital flights and developments in space transportation.

It aimed to provide a good overview of existing regulations and practices, as well as safety management and systems engineering methods used, with a focus on sharing the airspace with civil aviation. Progress made by different stakeholders, as well as available and future technologies, were presented to provide a realistic and transparent insight into the current development of the civil space transport sector.

The event was an incredible opportunity for networking, collaboration and coordination between States, ICAO, industry, and representatives from different international and regional aerospace organizations, as well as a forum for sharing valuable experiences and lessons learned.

Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of the Council, ICAO, and Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), addressed the activity.

Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Director General, GCAA, emphasised the GCAA’s keenness to keep abreast of the latest developments in the civil aviation sector, especially in advanced technologies and outer space.

With the UAE having its own Space Agency, he said, the UAE was planning to explore the outer space and join the club of outer space explorers.

He added that new challenges, developments and commercialisation of the outer space require new viable laws and conventions to fulfill ambitions of harnessing the outer space to serve the civil aviation sector.

He expressed the GCAA’s support for the ICAO’s initiative to introduce an aerospace law for peaceful purposes.