Civil Aviation Authority … high operational and professional readiness

The General Authority of Civil Aviation and Meteorology has managed, over five years of aggression and blockade, to maintain the technical operational readiness of civil aviation in a highly professional and impartial manner in accordance with international requirements and the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization “ICAO”.

The Aviation Authority provides air navigation services to international civil airlines that cross the airspace of the Republic of Yemen, humanitarian flights of the United Nations and international organizations that land at Sana’a International Airport.

Because of the importance of the Civil Aviation Authority and its pivotal role in serving the international community in general and the Yemeni people in particular, the aggression coalition led by Saudi Arabia paralyzed the civil aviation movement and stopping the air services provided by the authority with all professionalism, acclaimed by ICAO.

The report of the Ministry of Transport stated that the direct and indirect damages and losses sustained in the civil aviation and meteorology sector over five years of aggression amounted to four billion and 725 million dollars according to the initial indicators, not to mention the human losses.

The report indicated that received a copy of it, that the direct damages and losses in the infrastructure, equipment of the Authority, its airports and branches were estimated at one billion and 700 million dollars, in addition to a decrease in the revenues of air and non-air activities amounting to about 520 million and 500 thousand dollars, most notably as a result of the closure Airspace of the western sector of the Republic of Yemen.

The report showed that the value of losses of future project revenues that were suspended as a result of the aggression was estimated at $ 106 million and $ 500 thousand, and the damages and losses related to the authority in the authority, such as the Yemeni and Airlines airlines, were estimated at one billion and 636 million dollars.

While the losses in the travel and air freight sectors, automated reservation systems and franchise providers reached $ 657 million.

The report pointed out that the civil aviation sector has lost nearly 80 percent of employment, and many important strategic projects have stopped “developing international airports in Sana’a, Taiz, Mukalla and other projects that serve the civil aviation sector.”

He touched on the damages and losses of the economic sectors related to civil aviation, “tourism, trade, investments, balance of payments and movement of capital, which represent a large percentage of the gross domestic product” and that were affected by the result of targeting civil aviation and aggression … pointing out that the losses exceeded all expectations and are difficult to estimate at the present time as a result of the damages The scale of these sectors.

According to the report, from the first day, the aggression coalition aircraft targeted the civil aviation infrastructure and meteorology represented by civil airports, buildings, installations, navigational devices and civil aircraft, and obstructing their activities on the Arab and international levels, in violation of human values, principles and rights, international agreements, treaties and covenants.

The report reviewed the challenges faced by the authority in light of the aggression, the most prominent of which is the systematic targeting and destruction of civil airports, navigational devices and meteorological stations in part and in full, paralyzing civil aviation and preventing the arrival of Arab and foreign airlines to Yemen.

The aggression coalition closed the Yemeni airspace in the first days of the aggression and submitted requests to ICAO to prohibit the airspace of Yemen, and to suspend the movement of civil aviation and bank transfers for fees for providing navigation services, which put the General Authority of Aviation in financial distress, after which it incurred major financial burdens that affected its domestic and international obligations.

The head of the General Aviation Authority, Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Rahman Abdel-Qader said, “The most prominent challenges that faced the authority, the closure of civil airports, restricting the movement of hundreds of thousands of citizens, causing the tragedy of those stranded at home and abroad, and the aggression’s actions of air piracy on flights of a civil and humanitarian nature and the comprehensive destruction of the new Sana’a International Airport project Which is considered one of the largest development strategic projects in the country. ”

He pointed out that the aggression has set obstacles and challenges to the continued recognition by the world and international organizations of the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Meteorology in Sanaa, in addition to attempts to attract its qualified technically and professionally with long experience in the field of civil aviation.

Abdel-Qader added that “despite the great challenges and obstacles faced by the authority in light of the aggression and the blockade, it has survived and continued to exercise its role to manage and operate the civil aviation and meteorology system professionally, competently, with high efficiency, cadres and specialized expertise.”

He affirmed that the Ministry of Transport and the Authority were able to overcome these obstacles and face many transformations in order to preserve the Republic of Yemen’s sovereignty and airspace, and to abort projects seeking to close the airspace and stop civil aviation and to resume providing air navigation services to airlines in the Yemeni airspace and to ensure the safety of air traffic and the lives of thousands Travelers daily.

Abdel-Kader pointed out that the authority has recovered and attracted airlines and motivated them to use the territory of the Republic of Yemen to create new airlines that led to increased air traffic and re-readiness of airports and the restoration of landing runways in some airports with local capabilities and the lowest costs compared to what it cost to complete such projects, which are estimated at millions of dollars in Peace times, let alone during times of war.

And that the Authority, after targeting and destroying navigational equipment at Sanaa International Airport, worked to design advanced procedures for landing system (RNAV) for civil aircraft wishing to land at the airport, and to fulfill the international obligations signed by Yemen contained in the Chicago agreement of 1944 and its annexes.

According to the head of the Civil Aviation Authority, the authority’s technical and professional cadres and expertise worked to develop the air navigation system, in line with the global plan and contribute to improving its performance and providing high-quality air navigation services, as well as a draft of the institutional capacity-building plan, the restructuring of the authority and the approval of a recovery plan for the authority in accordance with the vision National building of the modern Yemeni state.

He stated that the authority is working to implement the State Safety Program (SSP) with self-financing in accordance with the requirements of ICAO and Cabinet Resolution No. (50) for the year 2018 AD, in addition to preparing a comprehensive national plan to develop the civil aviation security system at the level of the Republic to ensure that international requirements and obligations are met according to the plan Global Civil Aviation Security.

And on the meteorological services, the president of the commission clarified that the draft meteorological and lifting law was approved by completing the necessary legal procedures for its issuance, which is considered one of the latest legal projects in this field, improving the services provided by the meteorological sector and taking all precautionary measures to reduce the impact of exceptional weather conditions and weather disasters.

The Aviation Authority also worked to update the regulations and regulations for aviation security and safety, air transport, and air navigation in accordance with international standards and conditions issued by the International Organization (ICAO) and to continue training and qualifying civil aviation and meteorological cadres to keep pace with the rapid international obligations and developments, and to avoid any training gaps that may occur as a result of continuing Aggression.

The President of the Civil Aviation Authority renewed his demand for the United Nations and international organizations to play its role in pressuring the aggressor countries to open all civil airports to air traffic and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni citizen due to the continued closure of civil airports, including Sanaa International Airport.