Hiiraan Online
Tuesday April 11, 2017
ICAO Preisdent Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu has denied rumours that control of Somali airpsace will be transferred. FILE PHOTO
Dubai (HOL) - The President of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu has denied reports that the control of Somali airspace will be transferred to neighbouring countries as widely reported in local media.
Dr. Aliu spoke to Hiiraan Online in Dubai where he was speaking at a conference discussing Cyber Security in Aviation. He said that there were no plans to transfer control of Somali airspace and that he was shocked at the reports circulating,
For the past eight months, rumours that the Somali airspace will be transferred over to either Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles or India were rife.
“I can confirm that the Somali airspace cannot be transferred,” Dr. Aliu told HOL, “I have sent a letter explaining the situation surrounding the Somali airspace to the Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and he has been made aware that control (of the airspace) cannot be transferred.
Dr. Aliu who is Nigerian national is the fifth president of ICAO and will serve as the head until 2019.
In other aviation news, another ICAO conference is underway in Nairobi discussing the control of carbon emissions in aviation industry in line with Montreal Agreement. The conference is being attended by representatives from Africa.
Mercy Awori who is the chairperson of conference told HOL that Somalia does not have a representative present at these ICAO Regional Seminar on States' Action Plans and Carbon offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), but hopes that Somalia will participate in future discussions regarding CO2 emissions reduction in the aviation industry.
Somalia is one of 191 countries that have agreed to implement the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), an agreement to implement a market-based measure that will support airlines’ efforts to stabilize emissions with carbon neutral growth.