Regional safety oversight organisations (RSOOs) play an important role in supporting States and aviation industry. Therefore, coordination between these organisations is valuable within the highly interconnected international aviation system, according to participants in a virtual event on regional cooperation in aviation safety.
The online event, jointly organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), was opened by Juan Carlos Salazar, Secretary-General ICAO. and Patrick Ky, Executive Director EASA. There were 15 panelists representing States, aviation industry, RSOOs and other regional organisations who participated and shared their experiences and outlooks during the two panel discussions.
These discussions focused on two areas; the first was the achievements and challenges of RSOOs including their recent experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic, where it was confirmed that a regional approach had helped the industry to face the unprecedented challenges this posed, the second panel focused on the future of regional cooperation and how to build partnerships with industry to support and enhance RSOOs.
The one-day event also reviewed developments since the first Regional Safety Oversight Organisations Forum was held in Eswatini (then Swaziland) in March 2017. This initial forum had provided momentum for advancing the agenda of regional cooperation within ICAO and resulted in the emergence of the RSOO Cooperative Platform and Global Aviation Safety Oversight System. The ICAO High-level Conference on COVID-19 (12-22 October 2021) also considered proposals on how to strengthen various forms of regional cooperation and proposed recommendations addressed to States and ICAO.
Please note that the whole event is published on ICAO TV (registration required).
