The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has removed the Republic of Congo from its black-listed countries following the improvement in the country’s air transport safety measures, Transport Minister Rodolphe Adada has announced.
The minister spoke over the weekend in the capital city of Brazzaville, on arrival from Canada where he attended ICAO’s 38th general assembly, among other meetings.
Congo was placed on the black-list in 2008, after ICAO said the measures being undertaken by the government to improve air transport safety were insufficient.
“The government has made a lot of effort to improve safety measures by carrying out a thorough audit of all the companies that invest in the sector. This is why we adopted a more strict action plan and we intend to execute it. The first result of this action plan is our removal from the black-list,” he explained.
The minister said the government had overcome the most difficult challenges facing the aviation sector, and that the country would continue to reform the sector.
He said the biggest challenge facing for the government was how to certify the airlines operating in the country, especially because the regulatory agency, ANAC, lacked the capacity to ensure that the airlines meet the ICAO standards.
