The Authority said this at a brief ceremony to mark the International Civil Aviation Day held at the Ghana Civil Aviation Training Academy o Tuesday, December 7 under the theme: “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”.

As the UN and world nations have now adopted Agenda 2030 and embarked on a new era in global sustainable development, the importance of aviation as an engine of global connectivity has never been more relevant to the Chicago Convention’s objectives to look to international flight as a fundamental enabler of global peace and prosperity.

Speaking at a brief ceremony to mark the International Civil Aviation Day held at the Ghana Civil Aviation Training Academy under the theme: “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”, Deputy Director-General of GCAA, Juliet Okae said, in the era of COVID -19, the authority will continue to recognize the air transport priorities confronting the sector.

“GCAA is mindful of the numerous benefits that air transport offers, and the sector’s many other contributions for which it is now appropriately regarded as a veritable economic lifeline for an increasing number of people in Ghana. This recognition has yielded excellent outcomes, as Ghana obtained an Effective Implementation or EI rate of 89.89%, the highest by an African country after ICAO concluded its Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) in April 2019.

As the regulatory agency for air transport in Ghana, GCAA remains committed to its core mandate of licensing air transport operations, maintaining oversight of aviation safety and security, as well as providing air navigation services within the Accra Flight Information Region (FIR), which comprises the airspace of Ghana and a large area over the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. I wish to further stress that within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sectoral recovery we are witnessing across the global aviation industry, we as stakeholders of the industry must recognize the air transport priorities confronting the world,” she said.

The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of ICAO in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind.