GCAA to get new simulator, will achieve category 1 of ICAO by next year

GINA, GUYANA, Wednesday, December 21, 2016

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) will acquire a new simulator to boost capacity while the authority strives to achieve category one rating of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Director, Air Navigation Services, Rickford Samaroo said the GCAA was granted government’s approval for the purchase of a new state-of-the-art simulator in 2017. Samaroo explained that this new equipment is to perform local training for staff to make the GCAA more efficient.

“Our students will have a chance to practice on it during local initial and recurrent training. The simulator will also be used to simulate the environment and testing of new procedures, and development in the air space,” Samaroo explained.

The Director noted that Air Navigation Services is in the process of implementing automatic dependent surveillance systems in four remote sites in the country, to improve Very High Frequency (VHF) communication with domestic traffic. That project is progressing and is expected to be up and running by the first quarter in 2017 and will be tested for three to four months before implementation.

Additionally, the authority will aim to develop human capacity in quantity and quality next year. Therefore, there will be intense skills training to take the Air Traffic Management System forward. “ICAO has projected that in the next 15 years, air traffic in the world will double, so we want to be prepared to handle the capacity of traffic that will transit Guyana’s airspace in the airport …,” Samaroo pointed out.

Meanwhile, Director-General, GCAA, Egbert Field noted that the authority recently completed an ICAO coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) audit, which showed that Guyana moved from 44.24 percent to 64.66 percent level of compliance.

Field added that GCAA is moving to establish a robust oversight system, by employing qualified individuals who will ensure that oversight can be conducted in a proper manner. “That is where we fell down in the audit because we did not have enough expertise, gaining expertise for full compliance is an expensive process and every country will normally face this but with the support of the government, we are moving strongly ahead,” Field explained.

Within the next six months there would be sufficient staff in the authority so when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) comes in to conduct an audit, “they will say we have the documentation, regulation and the staff to acquire category one,” Field said.

 

By: Ranetta LaFleur