The Director General of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA) Mr. Julius D. Dennis. Jr., has returned to Liberia, along with a delegation from the 35th Ordinary Plenary Session of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
The other member of the Liberian delegation included the Deputy Secretary General for Administrative Affairs at the Roberts Flight Information Region – RFIR, Mr. Daniel Johnson.
The conference, held triennially on a rotational basis, dedicated the first two days to the Plenary agenda, while the third day prioritized the celebrations of the Yamoussoukro Decision anniversary, and the High-Level Ministerial Meeting.
At the meeting, the African Civil Aviation Commission – AFCAC agreed to collaborate with Liberia in its efforts to address and mitigate the discrepancies and anomalies identified and flagged in the recent International Civil Aviation Organization Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme – Continuous Monitoring Approach audit results. AFCAC considers Liberia’s situation a priority, and is calling on all stakeholders to join hands and collaborate with the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority to achieve its goals and targets as a matter of urgency.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the LCAA’s boss held several bilateral discussions with various delegations, seeking cooperation in the areas of training and technical assistance for the aviation sector in Liberia.
In a discussion with Mr. Bernard Lim, the Special Envoy of the Minister for Transport and Senior Director (International Relations and Security) at the Ministry of Transport of Singapore, Director General Dennis’s request for training assistance was accepted and the necessary modalities will be worked out between both parties.
Discussions were also held by Mr. Dennis with Eng. Saeed Mohammad Al Suwaidi, the United Arab Emirates – UAE Representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization – ICAO, and it was agreed that Liberia and the United Arab Emirates will continue to pursue avenues of cooperation for the ultimate conclusion of a Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Liberia and the UAE.
Similarly, fruitful discussions were held with Mr. Tarik Talibi, the Acting Director-General of the Morocco Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Amir Elsharkawy, the Chairman of the Egypt Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Kwak, Young-pil, the Senior Director of air traffic management at the Korea Civil Aviation Authority, and Mr. Onuma Toshiyuki, the Senior Deputy Director-General of the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau; during those discussions, it was agreed that follow-up actions will continue.
AFCAC is the African Union’s specialized agency for all civil aviation matters on the continent, and the Executing Agency of the Yamassoukro Decision (YD) as well as the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).
This year’s Ordinary Plenary was held from 26-29 November. After the AFCAC meeting, the delegation of the LCAA traveled to Addis Ababa along with the Minister of Transport, Hon. Sirleaf R. Tyler to join the Ethiopian Airlines Inaugural flight to Liberia on Saturday, 30th November 2024.
