WINDHOEK: The recent attack on Zaventem Airport in Brussels has shown that threats against civil aviation are becoming more unpredictable and difficult to mitigate, says the Director of Air Transport in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Boubacar Djibo.
The attack on the Belgian capital’s airport on March 22 in the form of two bomb explosions resulted in a lock-down for about 12 days and is expected to reduce airport capacity for at least three months, he added.
Djibo said this during the official opening of a five-day Ministerial Conference on Aviation Security and Facilitation in Africa here Monday.
Representatives from all 54 African Union (AU) Commission member States are attending the conference.
He said protecting the aviation mode of transport needed a holistic approach and a multi-disciplinary approach involving all governmental departments and stakeholders.
It was crucial for aviation security and facilitation entities to work hand in hand and to be fully integrated, he noted.
Djibo said that since the Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) between the ICAO and AU Commission, and the MoC between the ICAO and the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) was signed in 2010, the collaboration between the organisations had continued to progressively improve.
In that context, a number of initiatives taken by ICAO in the areas of aviation safety and security had been fully supported by the AU Organs through relevant decisions.
“The ICAO is committed to work with AU Commission and AFCAC in assisting African States to meet their obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention),” Djibo said. -- Bernama