Mr Mervyn Gerard Fernando appointed President of ICAO Technical Body

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), acting in accordance with its Rules of Procedure, has unanimously appointed by secret ballot Mr. Mervyn Gerard Fernando, of Singapore, to a further one-year term as President of the Organization’s Air Navigation Commission (ANC), beginning 1 January 2011.

Mr. Fernando was initially appointed President of the ANC in 2010. He has been a member of the Commission since 2006 and of the permanent mission of Singapore to ICAO since 2004, in the capacity of technical expert.

Mr. Fernando is an air traffic management expert with 30 years of operational air traffic control and airspace management experience.

Prior to his posting to the Singapore mission to ICAO, he served as the Chief of Singapore Changi Airport Control Tower where he was notably responsible for the provision of air traffic control services in the handling of about a quarter million international aircraft movements annually.

As an air traffic control manager from 1995 to 2002, Mr. Fernando was in charge of various aspects of airspace planning and management, search and rescue (SAR) services, civil/military coordination and airspace coordination with neighboring States.

During his career, he was actively involved as a key member in various ICAO projects, to revamp airway structures for greater airspace safety, efficiency and capacity over the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea, and to develop contingency routes from Asia to Europe through Middle East airspace, arising from the conflicts in the Middle East.

Overall, Mr. Fernando has contributed extensively to the efforts of ICAO and other international fora to improve safety and efficiency in the air navigation field.