More than 300 top officials of the world's civil aviation industry gathered in Cairo last week to discuss industry challenges to Arab airlines, reports Amirah Ibrahim Twenty-four Arab airlines together with the heads of related international air transport organisations and industry partners attended the Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO) 43rd AGM which took place in Cairo from19-20 October. The summit was organised under the auspices of Aviation Minister Ahmad Shafiq. It was the fourth time for the ACCO to have its AGM in Cairo since its establishment in 1965, with the most recent being in 2000. The summit witnessed the attendance of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Secretary General Raymond Benjamin, International Air Transport Association director general Giovanni Bisignani, AACO Chairman, Hussein Massoud, who chaired the working sessions of the general meeting. AACO Secretary General Abdul Wahab Teffaha presented his report to the AGM about the state of the industry. Teffaha's report focused on the environmental impact of aviation especially following the recent ICAO 37th Assembly resolution on climate change. He also highlighted the importance of air transport liberalisation in removing restrictions on market access and ownership of airlines. "We call world nations and their airlines to stay the course of liberalisation, and not to pick and choose what falls in the interest of their national airlines," He stated. "The greatest benefit derived from that is that for the consumer, who is protected from collusion between airlines which should continue to be the focus of regulators," Teffaha added. ICAO rep Raymond Benjamin addressed the gathering about aviation and climate change, followed by an address by IATA Director Giovanni Bisignani about industry issues. As he finished his speech, Bisignani received farewell mementos from Massoud and Teffaha since this was the last AACO AGM Bisignani would attend before his retirement next summer from IATA. Syrian Arab Airlines Chairman Ghaida Abdullatif, the only woman CEO in the body, was elected as chairman of the AACO Executive Committee which consists of 10 Arab airlines CEOs. During the day, member airlines held a closed session to discuss and decide about internal matters, and joint issues related to the AACO strategic mission to serve member airlines. Discussions covered the latest developments impacting the business of Arab airlines with climate change at the forefront. The AGM also discussed means to boost cooperation among its members, suggesting more joint projects. The Joint Aviation Forum was held with distinguished panelists who shared their views about "Meeting the Environmental Challenge". It discussed the developments related to the civil aviation impact on the environment, especially following the results of the 37th Assembly of the ICAO and the positions announced thereafter. The closing statement came to adopt a resolution that considered the Chicago convention and Kyoto Protocol concerns about limiting emissions of greenhouse gases. It highlighted the ICAO resolution in 2007 on the countries that plan to implement special schemes for aviation emissions by mutual consent. The resolution welcomed the efficiency targets as adopted by ICAO on climate change. "These targets include achieving 2 per cent global annual average fuel efficiency improvement until 2020, a target global fuel efficiency improvement of 2 per cent per annum from 2021 to 2050 and a collective medium term global goal of carbon neutral growth from 2020." The resolution also highlighted the importance of recognition of different circumstances of states and the need to provide necessary support to developing countries including financial support, technology transfer, and capacity building. The vision and mission The Arab Air Carriers Organisation AACO was established in 1965 within the framework of the Arab League of States as the Regional Association of the Arab Airlines who have their home base in member countries of the Arab League. It maintains a vision to stand out globally as the association dedicated to serve Arab airlines and to be instrumental in dealing with an evolving aviation industry. Since the 1990s, the AACO has formed one of the first serious alliances in the world. All members of AACO are party to one or more joint projects that the AACO manages on the basis of the creation of common sets of interest for the members in question. The AGM, consisting of the CEOs of the member airlines sets, on a yearly basis, the strategies and work plans for the organisation. The execution and the follow up of work are done by the Secretariat General. The AACO is located in Beirut, Lebanon, while Amman, Jordan is the base of the AACO Regional Training Centre. AACO member airlines were established in the following sequence: EgyptAir 1932 , Saudi Arabian Airlines 1945, Middle East Airlines 1945, Iraqi Airways 1945, Syrian Arab Airlines 1946, Sudan Airways 1946, Tunis Air 1948, Gulf Air 1950, Trans Mediterranean Airways 1953, Air Algerie 1953, Kuwait Airways 1954, Royal Air Maroc 1957, Yemen Airways 1962, Royal Jordanian 1963, Libyan Airlines 1964, Emirates 1985, Oman Air 1993, Qatar Airways 1995, Palestinian Airways 1995, Jordan Aviation 2000, Afriqiyah Airways 2001, Etihad Airways 2003, Air Arabia 2003, Air Cairo 2003. Masssoud and Teffaha sign training protocol Shafiq, Bisignani and Benjamin joined the official photo for AACO 43rd AGM
