The ICAO and IATA hail Saudi Arabia's leading role in the field of ground service

November 23, 2019

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) participated in the first meeting of the Airport Design and Planning Group (ASPIG), which was held at the headquarters of the Regional Office of the International Civil Aviation Organization in the Middle East (ICAO), during the period (19-21) of November in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The meeting covered the topics of airport safety.

GACA presented a working paper on the GACAR 151 & 68 regulations, which are concerned with licensing the ground service providers and operators at the Kingdom's airports in accordance to international standards. These regulations are the first of their kind in the world in the field of ground services. GACA is responsible for implementing the highest operational safety standards in the Kingdom's airports, in line with its legislative role, which comes hand in hand with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

For its part, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the countries participating in the first meeting of the Airport Design and Planning Group (ASPIG) praised the leading role of the General Civil Aviation Authority in Saudi Arabia in the field of ground services. The distinctive work that GACA provides contributes directly to raising the level of operational safety and service provided at airports.

It should be noted that the GACA is keen on safety and the application of the highest operational safety standards at airports, a need that made the authority establish the Department of ground services operations in the aviation standards sector. This was due to the urgent need to regulate ground-handling services and licensing of providers and operators of ground services and inspection and airports audit. This in order to implement the regulations of GACARS 151 & 68 and increase the operational safety of airport ground service providers.