As it is known, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), of which our country is a founding member, was established with the Chicago Convention signed on 7 December 1944. This year marks the 77th anniversary of the establishment of ICAO and International Civil Aviation Day has been celebrated for 27 years.

 

Today, the civil aviation sector brings countries closer to each other than ever before, and makes a great contribution in economic and many other fields. By following these developments in the last 20 years in our country, it has come a long way in having a large share in the expansion of the sector.

 

"Innovation" has been determined as the International Civil Aviation Day theme for the 2019-2023 period by ICAO, of which 193 countries are members around the world.  In this context, General Directorate is working hard to keep up with the digitalization of all its business and operations, the importance of which has become even more apparent with the COVID-19 Epidemic. The goal of "innovation" and "digitalization" provides a great opportunity to see the extent of the need and necessity for this goal, as well as the negative effects of the pandemic on the aviation industry.

 

In today's society, where digital transformation is important for all sectors, it is of great importance for the aviation industry to adapt to this transformation, to overcome the crises faced in the COVID-19 epidemic with less damage and to ensure the sustainability of all areas of aviation. The habit of maintaining aviation activities (mobile systems, smart airports, etc.) within the framework of the possibilities brought by digitalization is increasing and becoming widespread.

 

In addition, the increase in digitalization-based services, especially for unmanned aircraft and cyber security, constitutes the main agenda item in the future projection of the civil aviation sector. The basis of establishing these services in a healthy way is the acquisition and sharing of accurate, reliable and meaningful data.

 

However, as a result of the work carried out under the responsibility of our General Directorate, our country is one of the countries that contribute the most to the global aviation system, not only with the growth figures in passenger and airplane traffic, but also with the highest level of compliance with ICAO rules and standards and close cooperation with the organization.

 

Turkey carries out its activities in civil aviation security and flight safety in accordance with the standards of organizations of which it is a member such as EUROCONTROL and ECAC, as well as ICAO.

 

Our country has also started to show presence in the fields of production, design and certification. The recognition of our General Directorate by NATO as the "civil aviation authority" in the last month is one of the best examples of this situation.

 

General Directorate carries out digitalization and corporate transformation studies in order to ensure the sustainable development of Turkish civil aviation. In these works, we try to act with a new vision in terms of training and licensing. The main purpose of the studies is to ensure the same quality of services, to determine the identities of the General Directorate and the sector, to clarify duties, authorities and responsibilities, to increase the number of qualified experts, to increase accessibility, to minimize human-induced effects, to increase the effectiveness of inspections, to ensure equality of opportunity in aviation training. The objective is to provide the data that will form the basis for the establishment of that system.

 

In the difficult process that our aviation industry has undergone in recent years due to the COVID-19 outbreak, I sincerely congratulate the International Civil Aviation Day of our Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Adil KARAİSMAİLOĞLU, who gives all kinds of support to our sector and us, of my colleagues working in our General Directorate, and of our aviation sector operating in the field of civil aviation.