2nd Meeting of the ECO Working Group on Civil Aviation held virtually in Tehran on 10 May 2022

The 2nd Meeting of the ECO Working Group on Civil Aviation was held virtually on 10th May, 2022 in Tehran which was jointly organized by the ECO Secretariat and the Civil Aviation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The meeting was attended by the delegations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan , Republic of Tajikistan Republic of Turkey and Republic of Uzbekistan. The delegation of the ECO Secretariat was headed by Mr. Akbar Khodaei, Director of Transport and Communications of the ECO Secretariat.

The Meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Hasan khoshkhou, Deputy President of Civial Aviation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Director of Transport and Communications of the ECO Secretariat in his welcoming remarks appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting this important meeting and noted that this platform is of great importance for discussing future plans for the further development of civil aviation in the region. He also briefed the session on the challenges facing the civil aviation in the region and called for workable solutions to enhance regional cooperation.

The meeting deliberated extensively the various topics, inter alia, latest progress in the areas of civil aviation, the challenges and opportunities in the Post Covid world, cooperation on improvement of airports and aviation infrastructure, establishment of an ECO Air Hub in Central Asia, facilitation of travel and tourism through expansion of new air routes, increasing flight frequency and number of connections, access to visitor markets and establishment of preferential air service agreements, as well as facilitation of visa procedures and establishment of network of accredited airlines and travel agencies of ECO.

Also, representatives of the Member countries discussed the capacity building programs (training courses and consultancy services) in different fields and certification of operators of aircraft and airfields (heliports) of civil aviation, licensing of aviation personnel.

Establishing of a Working Group on Civil Aviation was initiated during the 9th Ministerial Meeting on Transport on 1-3 May 2018 in Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan).