Canada’s Minister for Transport launches second aviation ‘Safer Skies Forum’

Canada and its international partners are united in their commitment to improve the safety of air travel since the senseless shoot down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 by Iran in January 2020.

The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, has officially opened and addressed the second Safer Skies Forum. Hosted virtually by Transport Canada and the Safer Skies Consultative Committee, the Safer Skies Forum is the only international forum dedicated to mitigating the risks of airspace over or near conflict zones. It brings together expert partners, countries from around the world, international organisations, and the civil aviation industry in order to:

• Share best practices to improve international efforts in keeping passengers safe
• Enable information sharing and collaboration between parties on current issues in global aviation and the way forward
• And, advocate for the implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) related to safeguarding airspace in or near conflict zones.

The Safer Skies Forum is a key part of the Government of Canada’s Safer Skies Initiative, first announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in February 2020 to improve the safety of air travel worldwide. The Safer Skies Initiative commits Canada to working with international partners to address gaps in how the civil aviation sector deals with conflict zones.

During his address, the Minister announced that Canada will be collaborating with international partners to draft a Working Paper on initiatives to improve conflict zone risk mitigation practices around the globe. The discussions taking place at the Forum will be reflected in the Working Paper and the Minister urged countries to support it ahead of the next ICAO Assembly. The Minister also announced that the Netherlands and Canada intend to co-host the next Safer Skies Forum in the Netherlands in 2023.

“Canada is proud to host the second Safer Skies Forum, and we look forward to two days of constructive dialogue on how best to manage risks to civil aviation and keep passengers around the world safe. Effectively and efficiently managing airspace in or near conflict zones is more important now than ever. By working together, we can help ensure that tragedies like PS752 and MH17 never happen again,” commented Alghabra.