ICAO inaugurates dedicated Asia/Pacific ATM facility

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has announced the opening of its first-ever Regional Sub-Office (RSO) in Beijing, China, dedicated to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Asia/Pacific Regional Air Traffic Management (ATM).

The new RSO complements the ongoing work and higher-level regional coordination already established through ICAO’s Asia and Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand. The advanced Beijing facility responds directly to the need for increased resources and the establishment of performance-driven success criteria, directly related to meeting the Asia/Pacific region’s projected ATM and capacity challenges. It will also benefit tremendously from the knowledge and experience gained through ICAO’s Asia/Pacific Flight Procedure Programme Office, which was also located in Beijing.

The facility’s inauguration was attended by a gathering of high-ranking officials from ICAO, as well as Ministers, Vice/Deputy Ministers, Directors General of Civil Aviation and other senior officials from international organizations and ICAO’s Asia/Pacific Member States.

“In close partnership with China, and acknowledging related commitments from India, Japan, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea and Singapore, ICAO will be working collaboratively, along with our mutual colleagues in the operator community, to ensure both the initial and longer-term assistance that will be provided by this new ATM resource,” stressed ICAO Council President, Roberto Kobeh González.

“The new APAC RSO’s establishment is in line with ICAO’s focus on Performance Management approaches,” commented ICAO Secretary General, Raymond Benjamin. “Important near-term objectives to be pursued include the design, validation and deployment of PBN procedures in Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Pacific Islands, a path-finding initiative for airspace optimization in East Asia and regional targets surrounding Flexible Use of Airspace aiding improved civil/military coordination and, lastly, a workshop on and approval of further targets aiding the regional implementation of Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) and Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) capacities.”

“ICAO forecasts presently indicate that the volume of Asia and Pacific international revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs) will be twice the amount of North America’s by the end of the next decade,” noted Li Jiaxiang, Administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). “China is expected to contribute the largest portion of the aforementioned volume and we are very pleased to be able to provide the level of support necessary to assist ICAO in meeting its global safety and efficiency objectives.”