The International Air Transport Association (IATA) delegation led by its director general and CEO, Tony Tyler, is set to visit Ethiopia this coming month.

The delegation will arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on April 16 to celebrate World Aviation Day with executives of Ethiopian Airlines and officials of the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Ethiopia. This would be for the first time for IATA to marks World Aviation Day in Ethiopia.

It is also the first time for an IATA director general to visit Ethiopia. IATA will hold its annual general assembly in Cape town, South Africa, in May.

IATA is working to improve aviation safety in Africa.
“I believe that 2013 will present a historical opportunity to fix the continent’s safety deficiencies,” Tyler told  journalists in Geneva recently.

The Abuja Declaration which commits governments to implement better safety oversight, with the goal of achieving world class safety performance by 2015 was presented to the African Transport Ministers Meeting that was held at the headquarters of the African Union in Ethiopia.

Tyler said committing to make the IATA operational safety audit a standard for operating in Africa will be a key contributor in translating the initiatives outlined in the Abuja Declaration into better safety performance.

Source: The Reporter