Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan will be able to further develop its civil aviation, as the European Commission intends to boost this field in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The European Commission has awarded European Aviation Safety Agency a $5.4 million technical contract to support the sustainable development in the countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Armenia in line with international and European standards.

The EASA will begin implementing the 4-year contract starting this February.

The Agency will provide training, dedicated initiatives on safety management and civil aviation administration management, effectively addressing safety findings, support for the implementation of existing comprehensive aviation agreements, and support for the harmonization of regulations and working practices with international safety and security standards.

Azerbaijan has invested huge funds to develop the civil aviation in the country. It’s an important member of the International Civil Aviation Organization Council. Around $15 billion has been invested in developing the aviation in Azerbaijan over the last 10 years. Four new airports were constructed and two more were modernized, helicopter and aircraft fleets were fully renewed, the most modern planes such as the Airbus, Boeing and even Boeing Dreamliner were put into operation.

Recently the country hosted the 35th session of the Interstate Council on Aviation and Airspace, where ICAO Council President, praised the work carried out by the Azerbaijani government in the aviation sector.

Last year saw the 105th anniversary since the first flight over Baku. The rapid development of civil aviation started in Azerbaijan since the French biplane Farman-4, piloted by Sergey Utochkin, made a few circles above awestruck onlookers and successfully landed with a thunder of applause.

Azerbaijan Airlines is a major air carrier and one of the leaders of the aviation community of CIS countries. AZAL with the newest airplane fleets, consisting of 25 airplanes, does not have a single old plane.

For its services, AZAL received a prestigious "4 Stars" from the leader in air transport research, the world-famous British consulting company Skytrax last June.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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