Valletta, 7-9 September 2023 — The annual Special meeting of ECAC Directors General of Civil Aviation (DGCA/72(SP)) gathered more than 80 participants from 36 Member States and key stakeholders, including the European Commission (DG MOVE), EASA, EUROCONTROL and ICAO.
The meeting was opened by the Hon Aaron Farrugia, Malta’s Minister for Transport Infrastructure and Capital Projects. Charles Pace (DGCA Malta) presented an overview of the Maltese civil aviation landscape, and Juan Carlos Salazar, ICAO Secretary General, emphasised the need to advance sustainable aviation fuels to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and to promote innovation to meet the sector’s sustainability, safety, security, and capacity objectives.
As this was the last gathering of Directors General before the upcoming ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3, 20-24 November 2023), strategic discussions focused on the preparations for the conference and on the key European priorities on environmental matters, including the work of the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP).
European representatives to the ICAO Council briefed the meeting on the main outcomes of the 229th Council Session and the priority topics for the next session , while Nicolas Rallo, ICAO EUR/NAT Regional Director, gave an overview of upcoming regional activities.
Participants heard updates from the European Commission on EU aviation developments. David Benito Astudillo (DGCA Spain), whose country holds the EU Presidency for the second half of 2023, briefed the meeting on the key objectives during Spain’s tenure of the presidency, including the implementation of the Single European Sky (SES2+) legal package.
The meeting also served as a platform for Member States and aviation stakeholders to share their experiences and insights into how summer 2023 unfolded, covering the successes, challenges and lessons learnt. Raúl Medina Caballero, EUROCONTROL Director General, provided an overview of the summer season, and Member States shared their experiences of traffic delays, strikes, operational matters, staffing shortages, and the impact of weather disruptions.
Oleksandr Bilchuk (DGCA Ukraine) brought Directors General up to date on the status of civil aviation in Ukraine. He emphasised critical priorities such as funding for aviation infrastructure and the recovery of their aviation sector.
EASA presented the organisation’s recent developments, covering five key topics: its environmental activities, a report on summer 2023, the EASA Annual Safety Review 2023, cyber security, and innovative air mobility.
On ECAC-related matters, ECAC Executive Secretary, Patricia Reverdy, highlighted the particular focus on environmental capacity building and gave an update on the ECAC Quality Assessment Programme (QAP) for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility, a facilitation-related initiative.