Dhaka seeks int'l pilot body's cooperation

Bangladesh yesterday sought necessary cooperation from International Federation of Airline Pilots' Association (IFALPA) in improving safety standard of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), which faces lack of efficiency.

“We are concerned about the downgrading of CAAB to the significant safety concern marked by the International Civil Aviation Authority. We, therefore, seek necessary assistance from IFALPA to improve safety standard of CAAB,” said Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Quader.

The minister said this at IFALPA's three-day Asia/Pacific regional conference organised by Bangladesh Airlines Pilots' Association (BAPA) at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.

Quader's call came at a time when the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) recently levelled CAAB as 'significant safety concern list' due to poor maintenance of aircraft and runways.

He, however, said the authority concerned has already taken steps to overcome the deficiencies of the civil aviation authority and improve the aviation safety.

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the USA earlier levelled CAAB as Category 2... By this time, we have improved a lot and CAAB will hopefully return to the Category 1 if it approaches FAA,” the minister told reporters after the opening ceremony of the event.

He also informed that the national flag carrier would soon resume its New York flight which was suspended in 2006.

IFALPA President Carlos Limon said improvement of CAAB is imperative for safe and comfortable transport for passengers.

He said, “We are here to help you and work together to upgrade CAAB into Category 1.”

The main objective of the conference is to address aviation safety issues as well as to work out solutions to the technical problems through discussions by aviation experts from home and abroad.