MONTREAL, NOVEMBER 26 – The 36-member governing body of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the ICAO Council, has elected Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano of Italy as its President for a three-year term, beginning 1 January 2020.
Sciacchitano succeeds Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu of Nigeria, who has held the position for two consecutive terms since 2014.
Mr. Sciacchitano’s candidacy had been endorsed by the 44 General Directors of the European Civil Aviation Conference. His election follows an accomplished 39-year career in aviation, during which he served inter alia as General Director of the Italian Airworthiness Authority (RAI), as Deputy General Director of the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC), and many other international positions including as Executive Secretary of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC; 2010–2018).
He has also participated in several ICAO Assemblies as Chief or Alternate Chief of the Italian Delegation to ICAO, as well as the Chief Delegate of ECAC. He had also recently been appointed to the Italian Delegation to the ICAO Council.
The election of Mr Sciacchitano, the first Italian and the first European to hold the office of President of the Executive Council of the most important Organization in the sector of air transport, “is an acknowledgement of the unarguable competences of the Italian candidate and reaffirms the recognition of the role played by our Country, and more generally by the European Union, in the development of civil aviation”, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a note on its web site.
“The prestigious result, achieved at the end of a particularly competitive election process, was made possible thanks to an intense campaign to promote the Italian candidate carried out by the Foreign Ministry and the diplomatic network in very close coordination with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and with the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile)”, said the note.
Mr. Sciacchitano is fluent in English, French and Italian. He graduated as a Master in telecommunication engineering “cum laude” from the University of Catania, and has an extensive educational background in both aviation and management.
A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 193 Member States. (@OnuItalia)
