ACI News

Company ACI (Airports Council International)
Date 15.04.2010

Geneva, 14 April 2010 – ACI World Director General, Angela Gittens, spoke this week at the African Regional Ministerial Conference on Aviation Security in Abuja, Nigeria. She comments, “We are seeing a groundswell of political will in every region to work together to strengthen aviation security. To ensure successful application of international security principles and State regulations, it is vital to gain better understanding of practical issues on the ground. Only then can we efficiently harmonise our efforts to address identified risks. This landmark conference and the resulting Abuja Declaration demonstrate the determination of African nations to contribute to the development of a new global aviation security strategy.”

Gittens pledged ACI’s support in developing and implementing these regional improvement initiatives. She said, “As top priorities for airports, security and safety represent 60 to 70 percent of our operational resources and a central component of our budgets. Airports mean business when it comes to delivering safe and secure travel – every shift, every day, all day. Our customers expect and deserve that assurance.”

The conference was organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in conjunction with The African Union and the African Civil Aviation Conference (AFCAC) and was hosted by the Federal Government of Nigeria, with the newly appointed Minister of Aviation, The Honourable Fidelia Njeze presiding, assisted by the Secretary General, ICAO, Raymond Benjamin. It is the fourth in a series of regional ICAO conferences designed to garner political support to strengthen aviation security, in the wake of the attempt to blow up a US bound airliner on 25 December, 2009. US Secretary for Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has personally participated in all of the security summits.

In adopting the Abuja Declaration, African States commit to strengthen their own national aviation security measures and to work regionally and with ICAO to enhance security, information sharing and cooperation in the African Region. The declaration also calls on international agencies, States and industry stakeholders to provide technical assistance to African States, including funding, capacity building and technology transfer, to effectively address security threats to civil aviation. The importance of the African Ministerial Conference is reflected in the representation: 34 African States, 26 ministers responsible for aviation, and high level delegations from both the US and Canadian governments.

Gittens, who was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Secretary Napolitano in Abuja, comments: “I commend the Secretary’s efforts in reaching out to industry. She recognizes the importance of collaborative international action to strengthen aviation security. I briefed her on the role that airports could play in this initiative, and also emphasized that each airport is unique and therefore a ‘one size fits all approach’ to aviation security is not practicable. We need both high tech and low tech solutions. The Secretary and ACI agree on the importance of expanding the perimeter of the security mission by sharing data across countries and regions. I assured the Secretary that this collaboration will remain a top priority for ACI.”

Gittens concludes, “Later this year, all 192 Contracting States gather for the ICAO Triennial General Assembly in Montreal which will include their review of a new global security strategy. Airports need that strategy to be risk-based, practical and sustainable. In other words, a strategy that every airport will be able to carry out – because every passenger, everywhere, needs to be safe and secure.”

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