THE CABINET has approved two new measures for the upgrading of the Civil Aviation Department. The reorganisation of the department and the introduction of six new staff positions to meet flight safety requirements was suggested by the Ministry of Communications and Works.
Communications Minister Haris Thrasou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that investigations by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in 1997, 1999 and 2002 found “deficiencies in Civil Aviation but no one did anything to deal with them”.
Thrasou claimed that there has been a “stage-by-stage upgrading of the Civil Aviation Department over the last several years”, although he added that it is “still not at the levels that it needs to reach”.
“The process of upgrading the Civil Aviation Department did not begin after the Helios accident,” Thrasou said.
“We began from 2003 so that we could become members of JAA [Joint Aviation Authorities]. The 2004 JAA report found that we made substantial progress although it also said other things had to happen.”
Thrasou said that among the efforts to upgrade the Civil Aviation Department, the following measures have been undertaken in recent years:
l A signed agreement with the UK Civil Aviation Authorities so that they can offer Cyprus services until the Cyprus Civil Aviation Department is able to offer the same services.
l A signed agreement giving EUROCONTROL 800,000 euros in exchange for help in various sectors such as Civil Aviation staff training.
l Requests for investigations and reports from US aviation experts from SH & E and European experts from JAA and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency).
l Orders of equipment worth 18 million euros for Air Traffic Control.
l Moves towards the construction of a new area control centre for air traffic management in Kokkinotrimithia, with tenders currently under evaluation.
Thrasou rejected claims in yesterday’s Phileleftheros that the proposal he submitted to the Cabinet was confidential, saying that it was “in no way a confidential document… [but rather] a proposal that I took to the Cabinet for the reorganisation of the Civil Aviation Department.”
Phileleftheros reported that in his document to the Cabinet, Thrasou described the major deficiencies that existed and continue to exist in the Civil Aviation Department, as well as the continuing failure of the department to conduct proper inspections.
But Thrasou refutes the claim that there has been no progress. “We began the upgrading before the [Helios] accident”, Thrasou said. “And there has been an acceleration in the upgrading since then.”
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