CAIRO - Under the auspices of Egypt's Minister of Civil Aviation Ahmed Shafiq, Egypt hosted the Second Pan-African Aviation Training Co-ordination Conference in Cairo on June 22-24 June. The conference was organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC). More than 200 members from 34 African countries, in addition to China, the US and six other regional and international organisations concerned with the civil aviation industry participated. Head of Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) Sameh Hanafi attended the conference on behalf of Minister Shafiq, who referred in his address to Egypt's leading role in the civil aviation field, which started here in the early 1930s. He stressed the importance of training sector being a crucial factor in drawing up the roadmap related to air security and safety. According to him, Egypt is exerting a lot of efforts to help the African countries reach the best standards and levels of safety. Meanwhile, Hassan Mohamed Hassan, the Head of Egyptian Academy for Civil Aviation, underlined the necessity of training “to narrow the gap between demands and potentials on the basis of setting clear strategy”. He also stressed the role of the Egyptian Academy in boosting aviation training in Africa. For his part, Secretary General of the ICAO Raymond Benjamin highlighted the challenges facing Africa in training. He criticised the lack of skillful pilots in Africa, which he said hindered the development of the air transport industry in the continent. The three-day conference tackled means of co-operation between the African countries to develop and enhance training, being one of the main factors in the air transport industry in Africa.
