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Radebe on aviation reform

Montreal - Any changes the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) made to the governance of the airline industry had to promote development and democracy, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe told the world air regulator on Tuesday.

Speaking at the ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada, Radebe told the opening session of the United Nations body's 35th assembly that responses to the challenges faced by civil aviation had to "be consistent with our goals for sustainable economic development, democracy and the principles of sovereignty as enshrined, amongst others, in the Convention on International Civil Aviation".

The 60-year-old treaty, also known as the Chicago Convention, is seen by some, such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), as outdated.

Security issues and greater environmental protection promised to be the key issues at the meeting and Radebe reminded delegates that Africa was a victim of aviation terrorism both before and after the tragic events of September 11 2001.

"South Africa sees the relationship between safety and security in aviation as a symbiotic one, and part of the larger matrix of transportation safety and security in general."

Radebe went on to say South Africa accepted that states had a responsibility to regulate the aviation sector.

"But many states lack adequate resources and require support from the more fortunate countries, such as South Africa, as well as organisations like ICAO," he added.

"At the root of our concern as South Africa is the fact that we interact with the world from the African continent, a region that, as our President recently reiterated at the United Nations, is part of the world that continues to suffer from the ravages of 'hurricanes of poverty'.

"Our participation in multilateral initiatives aims to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development, which is a collective effort for sustainable renewal of Africa as a whole," Radebe said in his allocated speaking time.

In the earlier opening address, Canadian transport minister Jean Lapierre stressed the need for safer air travel, better-protected airports and aircraft less harmful to the environment.

He suggested that while it might be best to leave it to operators to find a way to do so in a efficient and sustainable manner, in Canada this was being done through regulations, negotiations with industry and by encouraging airlines to use more modern, efficient, aircraft.

Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay told the assembled delegates the civil aviation industry was emerging from an "unprecedented period of turbulence" and referred to the events of September 11, 2001, a global recession that followed and last years' Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.

ICAO council president Assad Kotaite also referred to the events in his welcoming address, adding: "ICAO responded quickly and decisively to these challenges. The upcoming assembly will be called upon to adopt resolutions establishing blueprints in six major areas to further strengthen international civil aviation."

Under safety, Kotaite said the assembly would consider the expansion of the ICAO's universal safety oversight audit programme, designed to determine the compliance of member states with the ICAO's standards and recommended practices protocols.

The security blueprint includes carrying forward the world body's Aviation Security Plan of Action of 2002 and the expanded use of machine-readable travel documents with enhanced biometric identification means.

The further liberalisation of the industry would also be discussed, Kotaite said, as would a strategy "for the establishment of a globally harmonised and seamless air navigation system", something many African delegates said was vital for their region.

Under the environmental rubric, Kotaite was keen to address aircraft noise and emissions, while ICAO lawyers were looking forward to further unifying the global framework to meet the evolving requirements of international civil aviation.

IATA plans to use the assembly to lobby for changes in the Chicago Convention, which has governed world civil aviation since 1944.

The association has long sought an end to government control of the industry.

Earlier this week it warned that sky-high fuel costs were keeping air transport unprofitable despite a pickup in traffic.

IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani said passenger traffic rose 10.8% and cargo 13.6% in the year to August 2004 but increased fuel and safety costs have eroded that.

The industry saw $30m in losses last year and expected profits of three billion dollars this year, but the flare-up of oil prices burned up profits.

Oil prices hit $50 a barrel in late electronic trading in New York on Monday.

Every one-dollar rise in the price of oil costs air transporters a billion dollars, Bisignani said.

The industry cannot pass on the costs to consumers, because of overcapacity and stiff competition.

The association also blamed governments for rises in airport taxes, and for the industry having to shoulder the bulk of increased security costs.

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