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The 26th meeting of the Asia Pacific Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group (APANPIRG), chaired by the Director-General of Civil Aviation, Mr Norman Lo, concluded successfully in Bangkok, Thailand, today (September 10).
The APANPIRG, a regional steering body to ensure the effective implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Global Air Navigation Plan in member states/administrations of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, holds a high-level regional meeting annually. This year, more than 140 representatives from 26 states, two Special Administrative Regions of China and five international aviation organisations attended the four-day meeting (September 7 to 10).
The first phase of Asia/Pacific Seamless Air Traffic Management Plan (Seamless ATM Plan), which was formulated to assist states/administrations to align various ATM improvement initiatives to enhance overall air traffic efficiency in the APAC region, will be implemented by November 2015. During the meeting, the member states/administrations in the APAC region agreed to strengthen co-operation and endorsed a number of important guidance documents to support a seamless ATM environment.
The meeting endorsed the Regional Framework for Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) and agreed to a strategic plan as the way forward to streamline ATFM. To support the future requirements in aviation information and data exchange, the meeting also undertook to develop the Common Regional Virtual Private Network to strengthen the regional network capability. The APANPIRG also contributed to the electronic version of the Air Navigation Plan, which would facilitate regional monitoring of progress of development and a more expeditious implementation of air navigation initiatives in the APAC Region.
Reviewing the work of the APANPIRG in the past year, it was found that 96 per cent of the actions agreed at last year's meeting had been completed. Mr Lo said he was pleased with the progress and added that the states/administrations who had submitted their Seamless ATM Plan reports had completed most of the 10 priority targets for the region.
To further enhance the efficiency of implementing various elements of the Seamless ATM Plan, the APANPIRG has reviewed the existing organisation structure and agreed on changes to its structure and mode of operation, which would become effective in 2017.
Looking ahead, Mr Lo will continue to work with the Regional Director of the ICAO Asia-Pacific Regional Office, Mr Arun Mishra, to further enhance air navigation planning and implementation in the region.
Mr Lo was elected Chairman of the APANPIRG in 2010 and was re-elected for another three-year term in 2013.
Ends/Thursday, September 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:03
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