South Africa has been recognised for its aviation safety standards, which are amongst the highest in the world and the highest on the continent.
The Department of Transport said South Africa received an award from the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) for its exceptional preliminary International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) audit results.
AFCAC is the African Union agency charged with regulating civil aviation on the continent.
ICAO audited South Africa’s civil aviation safety infrastructure and oversight capabilities as part of their USOAP-CMA Programme.
The preliminary results of South Africa’s civil aviation safety system and supervision capabilities exceeded 90%, earning the country this distinction from AFCAC. Globally, the average rate of Effective Implementation is 67.50%.
“This special accolade gives me immense pleasure. It reaffirms our belief that the aviation authority does tremendous work in keeping our skies safe. This accolade goes to all who ensure safety is priority in our aviation sector,” Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, said on Wednesday.
The final results of the ICAO are expected to be delivered in September 2023, following the conclusion of quality measures.
Prior to the 2017 Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme-Continuous Monitoring Approach audit, the State received a cumulative score of 87.39%.
“South Africa retained its Category 1 Status in 2022 following a safety audit by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States, which determined that South Africa complies with the applicable ICAO standards for civil aviation safety oversight, and received permanent recognition of our cargo aviation security system from the Transportation Security Administration of the United States.
“Having undertaken several of these assessments with the European Union (EU) counterpart of the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), the EU has also recognised South Africa’s aviation cargo system, in terms of their ACC3 programme. As a consequence of this recognition, South African airlines transporting cargo to EU States will no longer be required to submit separate, costly applications to the EU,” the Transport Department said.
Source: South African Government News Agency