EU - South Asia
Aviation Partnership Project II
Strengthening the partnership in aviation between the EU and South Asia
Press & News
SARI PART M Implementation Visit to Maldives
Male, 21-25 May 2023
EASA AIR Expert Ms. Nadia Konzali conducted the Programme with the participation of Mr. Mahmood Razee, Muhammad Zahid Bhatti, along with Mr. Sonam Tshering SQE from Bhutan CAA & Engr. Mohammad Shafiul Azam from Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh. During the Implementation Visits, the team conducted Audits at Island Aviation Services (Maldivian Airline).
SARI Programme Conducted the First on Site Regulatory Development Workshop for PART 66 & Part 147 in Sri Lanka
Katunayake, 2-12 May 2023
The first on-site SARI Regulatory Development Workshop on AIR Part 66 and Part 147 was carried out by EASA AIR Expert, Asmir Kruhovic, between 2-4 May 2023. Mr. Mahmood Razee, the Project Director and Mr. Muhammad Zahid Bhatti, SARI Coordinator, attended the meeting, too.
EASA Part M Implementation Visit was conducted between 8 – 12 May 2023, with the participation of two SARI Qualified Experts (SQEs) Ms. Mariam Shifzan, Senior Airworthiness Engineer, CAA Maldives, and Mr. Kashan Saleem, Sr. Joint Director Airworthiness, CAA Pakistan.
During the Implementation Visit they carried out Audits at Sri Lankan Airlines, Fits Air & Cinnamon Air.
EU India Aviation Summit
Delhi, 20-21 April 2023
The EU-India Aviation Summit sought to contribute to collaboration between EU and India by opening a dynamic dialogue on shared challenges and opportunities between decision-makers and key stakeholders. The shared objective of the organisers was to ensure stable air traffic in an economically and ecologically sustainable air transport sector as an important enabler of the economy. Accordingly, the EU-India Aviation Summit discussed key aviation topics, examined the existing relations between the two regions, identified areas of further cooperation and explored how to best work towards a genuine aviation partnership between the EU and India.
The Letter of Intent, for which the project pathed the way, has been signed between EASA and DGCA India will during the summit, which will promote further cooperation between the two parties in the area of Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Innovative Air Mobility.
Series of SSP/SMS Workshops and OJTs - #3
Nepal, Bhutan 13-24 March 2023
This was the third set of onsite activities for the EU SA-APP II that consisted of visits to Nepal and Bhutan to provide SMS and SSP Support which involved a series of Workshops that were well attended and high in participation from both industry and CAAs.
In Nepal, the experts had the opportunity to evaluate and provide their feedback on the State Safety Program and National Aviation Safety Plan. They were very satisfied with the progress achieved since the initial engagement. In Bhutan, this was the first SMS/SSP onsite workshop that was carried out, and it was well attended with over 35 participants, including at the CEO level. The secretary to the Ministry was a keen participant, helping to iron out many questions with the experts.
Sustainable Aviation Fuels Workshop
Dehradun, 14-17 March 2023
This workshop focused on reuniting environmental focal points from aviation authorities, relevant organisations, and the EU & South Asia aviation industry to share information and discuss about current and future scalability of SAF in South Asia. The content of the workshop was designed to reunite environmental focal points from aviation authorities, relevant organisations, and the EU & South Asia aviation industry to share information and discuss about current and future scalability of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in South Asia and, in particular, in India.
The workshop included a visit to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR–IIP) facilities in Dehradun, and presentations to cover a broad spectrum of topics.
This session is intended for representatives of civil aviation authorities and key stakeholders in South Asia with potential direct involvement in research and the value chain of SAF. In total over 60 participants joined the activity onsite in Dehradun.
Specific operations risk assessment methodology for UAS
Cologne, 8-10 February 2023
This workshop was open to industry and authorities, to have an overview of the specific operations risk assessment (SORA) methodology. During this event, a summary of the changes that were shown that came with the introduction of SORA 2.5. The workshop was a unique opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to whom has been directly involved in the development of SORA 2.5.
In total, 9 participants from Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh joined the activity onsite in Cologne, sponsored by the project.
EU-SA APP II - Environment matters: State Action Plans tutorial for PCAA
Remote, 7-9 February 2023
The objective of the webinar was to present an overview of the State Action Plans in order to provide an insight into the most important aspects of them.
A remote meeting was hosted with operational stakeholders of the Airworthiness Directorate Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority to inform them about the detailed actions needed of them to support state action plan (SAP). Over the 3 days, the participants discussed about ANSP, Airlines and Airports. An open questions and answers slot was available for participants to interact with the expert, and also to share doubts and experiences among all attendees.
Environment matters: key developments in CORSIA & other updates (webinar)
Remote, 19 December 2022
The webinar provided information on the outcome from the 41st ICAO Assembly that affects CORSIA scheme and practical information of CORSIA related topics such an updated assessment of CORSIA eligible projects in the region. The webinar also included a brief summary of the adopted long-term global aspirational goal (LTAG) for international aviation of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and brief presentation of the 2022 edition of the EASA Environmental Report. The target audience for this session was CORSIA focal points from Civil Aviation Authorities and CORSIA focal points from South Asian Airlines. Over 50 participants participated in this online webinar.
Cybersecurity information sharing and initiatives such as ISACs (webinar)
Remote, 9 December 2022
The webinar discussed cybersecurity in aviation and raised awareness about national, regional, and international initiatives by both states and industry. In particular, it set out the aviation cyber threat landscape, including real-life cyber-attack observations and address means for sharing operational and cyber threat information as well as intelligence.
During the session challenges, issues and limitations with respect to the existing European initiatives were presented as well as the tools and methods used. The target audience/participants were cybersecurity experts of the civil aviation authorities and other organisations dealing with cybersecurity in aviation. Especially, those implicated in cyber threat intelligence and sharing of information or incident reporting activities. Over 40 participants participated in this online webinar.
Coordinated actions with stakeholders - Presentation of AIRBUS's initiatives in South Asia
Remote, 25 October 2022
EU-SA APP II had arranged a virtual meeting on the presentation of AIRBUS’ Initiatives in South Asia. A total of 60 participants attended the meeting. The subjects that were covered comprised of: Implementation of PBN in the South Asian Region, Cyber Security on Information Systems, Airbus support on UAM/AAM, fello'fly Concept, and Helicopter operations in South Asia. The presentation from Capt Shankar Rai summarized the most common reasons behind the accidents and presented their mitigations.
EU-Asia Symposium on UAS/UAM
Singapore, 18-21 October 2022
The first EU-Asia symposium on UAS/UAM was held in Singapore from 18th—21st October at Goodwood Park Hotel. The event was funded by the European Union and co-hosted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The event was organized by EU Aviation Partnership Project in South Asia, South East Asia & North Asia. The symposium covered common regulatory and operational challenges in safely integrating drones and air taxis into the aviation system.
There were over 10 EASA UAS/UAM experts attending the symposium exchanging their valuable and expert knowledge through the presentations. 150 participants from the industry & the Civil Aviation Authorities attended the workshop. It was encouraging to see Mr. Luc Tytgat attending the meeting right after his arrival from Cologne to Singapore and giving his key note address. The Highlight of the event on the first day was the signing of a MoU between EASA & CAAS.
SAFE 360°- Safety in Aviation Forum for Europe 2022
Brussels, 13-15 September 2022
The high-level activity in September was the EASA SAFE 360°- Safety in Aviation Forum for Europe 2022 held in Brussels between 13-15 Sep 2022, offering an all-round perspective on aviation safety. The project invited all Director Generals of CAAs in South Asia States accompanied by another high-level official to attend the event. However, the precarious Schengen visa application process made it impossible for the delegates from some of the states to attend the activity. A lot of supporting documents were requested from the Cologne office to assist the two participants to travel to Brussels. Mr. Carlos Menendez personally got involved requesting assistance from Mr. Dennis Chaibi, EU ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, to mediate with the embassies.
Series of SSP/SMS Workshops and OJTs - #2
Maldives, India, Bangladesh, 8-26 August 2022
This was the second set of onsite activities for the EU SA-APP II that consisted of visits to the Maldives, India and Bangladesh to provide SMS and SSP Support.
The Maldives were visited by Dr Hazel Courteney to focus on the SSP with the Maldives CAA and to provide a safety management workshop for CAA and industry personnel. The first week of the visit to India was by Simon Roberts and primarily focused on SMS assessment including 3 days of OJT training at an airport, a maintenance organisation and a helicopter operator. Finally, both experts visited Bangladesh for SMS and SSP OJT activities including several workshops for CAA and industry.
These visits allowed the regulators and stakeholders to gain knowledge of the SMS as well as to sit in one room to lead the dialogue. On-the-job training provided the hands-on experience, after a long break caused by COVID-19.
SSP/SMS Fundamentals for South Asian Aviation – Train the Trainer Workshop
New Delhi, India, 16-18 August 2022
The workshop was designed to meet the needs of professionals already working in safety and, in particular, those who train others in SMS. Attendees were able to draw on the experience of experts to find out whether their internal SMS training syllabus meets all regulatory requirements. This provided tips and experiences on how to make SMS training relevant and engaging and best practices for developing SMS training that brings concrete and measurable improvements.
In addition, this session also provided the opportunity to enhance the understanding of participants in regard to the expectations and requirements of other stakeholders in the region involved in the implementation of safety as well as to listen to their experiences and to share lessons learnt. In this way, organisations were able to improve the application and understanding of SMS by improving internal own SMS training for staff and other stakeholders.
There were 57 participants onsite and almost 20 participants joining online who interacted in Q&A sessions actively.
Coordinated actions with stakeholders - Presentation of EUROCONTROL initiatives in South Asia
Remote, 27 July 2022
A discussion was held remotely on 27th July together with EUROCONTROL’s Philippe Jopart. The project manager introduced the speaker to the participants. There were 24 participants altogether. Mr Philippe informed the participants that the State’s Strategic Interests have to be done on Legal Basis. He gave multiple options for such.
Accordingly, the SA States can opt for the initiatives through the EU-SA APP II. It was encouraging when Mr Philippe shared that a recent audit had confirmed that global collaboration is required which means that EUROCONTROL will share their knowledge and expertise with the States through the above-mentioned options. His conclusive slide was “What we do, we can Share”.
Aviation Cybersecurity Workshop
Singapore, 27-28 June 2022
South Asia & South East Asia joined forces to mitigate Cyber Security Threats to Aviation Safety. The workshop was held in Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore on 27th & 28th June. It was evident at the end of the workshop that the participants were happy to receive this initial introduction in preparation of the ICAO Trust Framework discussions. The two experts felt that the development of a more comprehensive workshop would also benefit EASA colleagues, satisfies the European Commission, and contributes to the export of the EASA safety system in the two regions.
Framework discussions. The two experts felt that the development of a more comprehensive workshop would also benefit EASA colleagues, satisfies the European Commission, and contributes to the export of the EASA safety system in the two regions.
Project Management Board Meeting
Paradise Island, The Maldives, 2 June 2022
The Environment Workshop has been followed by PMBM on 2nd Jun with participation of Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka onsite and Bhutan and Bangladesh connecting remotely. Newly appointed SARI Coordinator and Ambassador, Africa Abajas, Environment expert, were also present onsite. SMS/SSP experts Simon Roberts and Hazel Courteney joined the session online. Additionally, EUD and EASA representatives also joined via WebEx.
The purpose of the PMBM was to reflect on the progress made so far since the start of the project and reflect on challenges and objectives. The workplan has been shared with the participants before the meeting and discussed during the PMBM in detail with each participating state and also the regional activities. In conclusion, the participating states endorsed the workplan and praised the highly tailored support from EU-SA APP II based on their needs expressed during the bilateral meetings held earlier in 2022 and 2021.
Environment Matters in Aviation: EU & South Asia Reuniting to tackle climate change
Paradise Island, The Maldives, 30 May-1 June 2022
The first Regional Meeting of the EU SA APP II. Civil Aviation Authority Maldives kindly offered to contribute to the organization of the event. The Regional activity was considered a High Level meeting as Ms. Aishath Nahula Minister of Transport & Aviation Maldives & Mr. Denis Chaibi, Ambassador of EU for Maldives & Sri Lanka participated at the inauguration of the meeting. There were 38 personnel in total for the event with the participation from CAA & Industry from India, Maldives, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.
The Official Announcement of Maldives Voluntary participation in CORSIA was announced by her highness Minister of Transport & Aviation Maldives in her welcome speech.
The workshop was conducted by Ms Africa Abajas & Mr. Joonas Laukia Environment Expert - Market-based Measures EASA in person
EU-SA APP II - COSCAP-SEA/EU SEA APP EASA Mandatory and voluntary safety reporting systems
Remote, 25 May 2022
With the kind support of the EU and EASA, COSCAP-SEA organized an online workshop on Mandatory and Voluntary Reporting Systems.
The target audience was, the managers and technical personnel/inspectors from the State Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who are involved in the mandatory and voluntary reporting and managers and technical personnel/investigators from the State Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Authority (AAIIA).
The objective of this workshop was to present the mandatory and voluntary reporting systems as per the enclosed agenda and address States’ questions.
Presentations were made by Mr. Yngvi Yngvason, Safety Risk Manager, EASA.
CORSIA training for aeroplane operators - new entrants
Remote, 17 May 2022
This training was organised to provide aeroplane operators in Maldives the appropriate information to understand CORSIA key design elements and to assess the applicability of the CORSIA requirements. The session was interactive to allow participants ask questions. After the training, tailored activities depending on the specific needs were offered. These included support to the operators by assessing the threshold of emissions using the ICAO CERT tool, based on the operator’s flight data.
CORSIA Meeting with CAASL and SriLankan Airlines
Katunayake, 4 April 2022
The meeting with CAASL and SriLankan Airlines Focal points for CORSIA commenced on the 4th April in the morning and it was held at the DGCA’s Conference room. The meeting was opened by Mr. P A Jayakantha, Additional Director General of Civil Aviation, appreciating the efforts conducted by EU-SA APP II for the development of Aviation in Sri Lanka and said that he supports wholeheartedly the Project Activities and assured Mr. Carlos Menendez that he would give his best to make the Project activities a success in the South Asia Region.
Capt. Anushad Liyanagoda and Mr. Dhanushka De Silva from SriLankan Airlines joined by Mr. Nuranga Adikari, the Focal Point for CORSIA at CAASL, participated at the Training session. The following topics were some of the salient points that were discussed at length at this training session: CORSIA implementation in Sri Lanka and CORSIA offsetting requirements; Role of carbon offsets and Sustainable Aviation Fuel; Carbon Market behaviour; The EU current draft regulations; EU-ETS and ReFuel proposal
CORSIA Training for SLAB and VBs
Negombo, 30-31 Mar 2022
As a continuation of the CORSIA implementation under the project that commenced from 2019, a workshop was organized to be held with the Sri Lanka Accreditation Body (SLAB) and the verifiers to discuss the way forward as Sri Lanka did not have any verifying body to date. Meetings and discussions were held with Africa Abajas, CORSIA Expert, Sampath Wahala and Chandrika Thilakaratne of SLAB along with Nuranga Adikari, the Focal Point of CORSIA at CAASL. The activity was conducted at Ramada Hotel Colombo on 30th and 31st of March.
Series of SMS Workshops and OJTs - #1
Pakistan, Maldives, 20-29 March 2022
The visit by the SMS expert to Pakistan and Maldives consisted of a series of Workshops in SMS domain and in Pakistan also of SMS Assessments of Karachi Airport and PIA. The expert delivered Risk Workshop on 25th Mar as well as SSP overview presentation for top management. The visit to Maldives also consisted of SMS Assessment of Maldives Airport Company and Regional Airports Company.
This visit allowed the regulators and stakeholders to gain knowledge of the SMS as well as to sit in one room to lead the dialogue. On-the-job training provided the hands-on experience, after a long break caused by COVID-19.
SSP/SMS Fundamentals for Sri Lankan Aviation Safety
Katunayake, Sri Lanka, 14-18 March 2022
The first on site workshop was conducted in Sri Lanka with the purpose of reviewing the basic pillars of safety management. As Dr. Hazel, who was intended to oversee the training, was apprehended, Mr. Carlos Menendez, The Project Manager, travelled to Sri Lanka to conduct the Workshop. It was intended for anyone working in aviation including regulators, managers, safety and quality managers from all aviation service providers.
There were a total of 80 participants from CAASL & the industry at this event. Following the Workshop, EU SA APP II hosted a dinner as a means of networking with the higher-ups of the organizations that took part in the workshop.
EU-SA APP II Kick-Off meeting
Katunayake, Sri Lanka, 23 September 2021
The EU-SA APP II launched with the Kick-Off meeting on 23rd Sep 2021 with the participation of the heads of Aviation Authorities of the seven Member States in the Region. The meeting was attended by Mr. Luc Tytgat, Strategy & Safety Management Director – EASA; Mr. Carlos Menendez, Project Manager – EASA; and Mr. Mahmood Razee, Project Director - EASA. Mr. Mahmood Razee represented EASA physically in Sri Lanka for the purpose of the meeting.
This project is implemented by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency - EASA.