Jan. 26, 2015
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen recently travelled to Montreal to discuss business aviation priorities with top leaders of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Bolen met with ICAO Council President Dr. Benard Aliu and Farid Zizi, president of the ICAO Air Navigation Commission.
“We appreciated the opportunity to meet with Dr. Aliu to share our Members’ unique needs, and we were encouraged by the reception we received,” said Bolen. “This meeting enabled us to communicate the challenges and opportunities facing our industry, particularly those related to access, emissions and security.”
Kurt Edwards, director general of the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), also participated in the discussions, which focused on ICAO’s work to address airspace and airport access issues and security concerns unique to business aircraft operators.
Through the Aviation System Block Upgrades (ASBU) initiative, ICAO has focused on the airspace upgrades necessary to facilitate NextGen and similar international systems such as Europe’s Single European Sky ATM Research. The ASBU effort is a programmatic framework designed to develop air traffic management solutions, take advantage of current equipage, establish a transition plan and enable global interoperability.
Both ICAO officials committed to working with NBAA and IBAC in preparation for the next ICAO General Assembly meeting in 2016.
“NBAA and IBAC are committed to ensuring safe, efficient and secure business aviation operations in the United States and around the globe,” said Bolen. “We look forward to continued, open discussions with ICAO on these issues.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.