Continuing to Develop the Middle East Region

Developing a new Region is hard work – but it is very rewarding at the same time. True to two of our fundamental principles – 'collaboration with all partners in the Aviation Value Chain' and 'providing benefits to our customers'- we have involved all stakeholders – in particular our customers, the Airlines, and one of our main partners, the Airports, from the very beginning.

They have been invited to all our Workgroup meetings, Seminars and Conferences, and they have provided valuable support to CANSO's ME initiatives. With Etihad Airlines, who joined CANSO in April 2010, we are now happy to welcome our first Associate Members. And we look forward very much to welcoming all ME ANSPs and further partners who want to play an active role in making our ME Vision a reality.

CANSO ME was represented at the 3rd Meeting of the Top Level Safety Team (TLST), which was held in Bahrain, kindly hosted by the CAA of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Gudrun Held filled in for me presenting an introduction to CANSOs ME Vision, the so-called 7-Pillar Strategy and our short-term, medium-term and long-term targets in the Safety Area.

We want to thank for the invitation to become one of the Supporting Organisations of the Middle East Aviation Safety Roadmap (MEASRM). This will present us with the valuable opportunity to work even closer with our customers, the Airlines. I will contact Capt. Nikolaos Antypas, the Secretary of the MEASRM and discuss how CANSO and this important group can cooperate in the future to the benefit of the Safety in the ME Region.

The 2nd Meeting of the ME CEO Committee (MEC3) will be held on 16 June 2010 in Oslo. The Chair of MEC3, H.E. Abdullah N.M. Al-Rehaimi approved the agenda, which includes items such as the ME Region’s contributions to CANSOs strategic milestone 'Waypoint 2013' and the workshops / meetings planned for the remainder of 2010.