Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (Canso), the global voice of companies that provide air traffic control and represents the interests of air navigation services providers, has announced its ‘Middle East Declaration.’

The ‘Middle East Declaration’ is a statement committing the members of its Middle East Office and other aviation stakeholders in the region to work together to improve Air Traffic Management across the Middle East.

It was endorsed on January 25 by all the organisations attending the Canso Middle East High Level meeting.

The representatives included all the members of the Canso Middle East region, key civil aviation organisations and ANSPs, airlines, IATA, ICAO, and several important industry suppliers.

'The Middle East Declaration reinforces the will of all the aviation sectors in the region to deliver improved air navigation services,' said president of General Civil Aviation Authority (GACA), Saudi Arabia, Abdullah MN Al-Rehaimi, who was elected chairman of Middle East Canso CEO Committee (MEC3) at the meeting.

The declaration acknowledges the importance of aviation in the Middle East and recognises the importance of a collective response by all stakeholders – aviation business sectors, States and international organisations – to co-operate to meet the ‘unprecedented’ challenges facing air navigation services in the region.

It endorses the Canso Middle East Redsea vision to “Realise, Enhance and Develop Seamless Efficient Airspace’ through a seven-pillar high-level strategy and four work programmes, and it aims to encourage “the successful transformation of ATM in the region.”

The seven-pillar strategy comprises safety enhancement, airspace management, customer consultation, regional HR development, CNS/ATM improvement, institutional transformation and performance-based ANS, Al-Rehaimi pointed out.

'GACA is determined to help facilitate closer co-operation between the aviation stakeholders in the Middle East and we are committed to supporting Canso and its objectives, he said.

'On behalf of the MEC3, I look forward to a successful implementation of the Canso Middle East work programme, based on our vision and high level strategy for the region,' Al-Rehami added.

Saif Mohammed Al-Suwaidi, director general of UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said: 'On behalf of GCAA I am pleased to see Canso develop to the benefit of the region. GCAA has recently joined the Canso family but we have already seen the benefits that come from being part of a worldwide network of ANSPs.'

'As a progressive and leading ANSP, GCAA is working with our partners to take advantage of the best practices and new technologies developing in ATM and I am sure that in the spirit of this Declaration, the Middle East ANSPs will lift their capabilities to a new level.'

Alan Stealey, division senior vice president: Flight Operations for Emirates, said: “Emirates is delighted to be a part of the High Level Strategy for Middle East ATM which has been agreed today and committed to in this Declaration.'

'As the largest carrier in the region, Emirates recognises that it has a responsibility to work with its partners to improve the air traffic system, and we are pleased that the ANSPs have demonstrated this collective leadership to work cooperatively for the benefit of all,' he remarked.

Ashley Smout, CEO of Airways New Zealand and Canso chairman, said the ME Declaration marks a major step forward in the transformation of ATM in the Middle East.

Graham Lake, Canso director general, said Canso was the global voice of ATM, and today the voice has spoken in the Middle East.

'Together with the vital support of our partners and customers in the region, we look forward to proactively working together to improve the capacity, performance, safety and efficiency of Middle East ATM,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service