ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar delivered a keynote address at the 27th General Assembly of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO) in Rabat, Morocco on 19 May 2022 and also held side meetings with Ministers of government and Directors General of Civil Aviation (DGCAs) from ACAO Member States to explore opportunities and implementation support needs of these States with respect to civil aviation, as well as means to enhance cooperation.
This event, as well as the 65th Executive Council of the ACAO, were also attended by Mr. Mohamed Abu Baker Farea, ICAO Regional Director for the Middle East (MID) Region and Mr. Nicolas Rallo, ICAO Regional Director for the European and North Atlantic Regions (EUR/NAT).
Before the COVID-19 outbreak struck, Arab States, and especially those in the ICAO Middle Eastern Region, were reshaping global long-haul markets while managing the world's fastest growing air passenger and cargo traffic for almost ten years running.
The recovery of this traffic, and the economic potential it represents, was the first priority raised by the Secretary General in his remarks, along with the challenge to significantly decrease air transport CO2 emissions. A third key priority highlighted by Mr. Salazar was the need "to 'build back better' post pandemic, and to make this sector more resilient to future public health outbreaks and other crises."
