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High flyers: Director-General of Civil Aviation Albert Lam chairs the 11th Air Navigation Conference in Canada. On his left is Council President for the International Civil Aviation Organisation Dr Assad Kotaite. |
Director-General of Civil Aviation Albert Lam has been unanimously elected Chairman of the International Civil Aviation Organisation's 11th Air Navigation Conference by the 529 delegates from 112 countries attending the conference in Canada.
It is the first time in half a century that such a significant international aviation conference has been chaired by a Chinese national.
Mr Lam said the appointment is a great honour to himself and to Greater China.
The United States nominated him as the Chairman and Germany and Japan seconded it.
The conference, which is being held at the ICAO Headquarters in Montreal, Canada, opened on September 22 and will close on October 3.
The Conference is key to establishing a roadmap for future air-traffic management.
It aims to discuss the development planning of the global ATM system in the coming 20 to 25 years, and will guide the development and implementation of an interoperable, seamless and global ATM system for the 21st century.
"In forging ahead the design of the future global air navigation system, the fundamental issues of safety and security will be the major concerns of the international aviation industry," said Dr Assad Kotaite, President of the Council, ICAO at the opening ceremony.
The 18-member Chinese delegation was led by Mr Liu Shao-yong, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, with Mr Zhang Yao-kuan, Deputy Director of the Office of State Air Traffic Control Commission and Mr Lam as the deputy team leaders.
The Chinese delegation submitted working papers entitled "Views on ICAO Global ATM Operational Concept" and "Data Link Flight Information Services (DFIS) Applications" to the conference for deliberation.
From 1953 - when the first ICAO Air Navigation Conference was convened - to 1991, a total of 10 meetings have been held.
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