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​​The Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) convened its 49th AGM today in Casablanca under the Chairmanship of Mr. Abdelhamid Addou / Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Royal Air Maroc. The AGM was held under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

Participation
The AGM gathered CEOs of AACO member airlines, AACO partner airlines and industry partners from aircraft and engine manufacturers, Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), IT providers and other specialized companies relevant to the Arab air transport industry. The AGM also welcomed the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the European Commission, and a number of regional airline associations, in addition to a number of aviation experts, where the number of delegates surpassed 250.

Arab Air Transport Statistics in 2015
Delegates received AACO’s Annual Report, which reflects the yearly harvest of AACO’s work during the past term and highlights the latest developments and challenges at industry level in addition to the achievements of AACO joint projects over the past year. The delegates also received a copy of the Arab Air Transport Statistics publication (AATS) covering 2015 data. Major statistics included in AATS were as follows:

• The Arab air transport market grew by 5.3% in 2015 compared to 2014, reaching 258 million passengers.
• Passenger numbers using Arab airports in 2015 increased by 8.8% to reach around 324.8 million passengers.
• Cargo movement at Arab airports increased by 11.6% in 2015 reaching 7.31 million tons of cargo.
• AACO members served 457 destinations in 127 countries with 3,618 average daily flights, offering 741,950 daily seats on 1,215 aircraft in 2015.
• AACO members’ operating revenues decreased by (3.8%) in 2015 to record USD 58.2 billion.
• AACO members carried around 195 million passengers in 2015 (an increase of 5.7% compared to 2014) and 5.9 million tons of cargo (an increase of 23.6% compared to 2014).

AACO Secretary General Report
AACO Secretary General presented his report on the state of the Arab air transport where he presented some statistics that show the development of AACO member airlines and their contribution to economic development. The Secretary General referred to the continuous progress recorded by the air transport industry in spite of numerous crises occurring in some areas of the world which have an effect on the air transport industry due to its global nature. Mr. Teffaha also focused on some threats that hinder the development of air transport as follows:

1. Protectionism: The Secretary General highlighted that the reemergence of protectionism is probably one of the biggest threats that may impact air transport and the role it plays in economic development and the creation of millions of job opportunities.
2. Infrastructures’ Capacity: The Secretary General stressed on the importance of airspace development in the region, and highlighted the advocacy efforts done with the concerned authorities in the Arab states in cooperation with international and regional organizations. Mr. Teffaha cited three axes necessary to develop the airspace infrastructure; which are: upgrading navigational aids, implementing flexible use of airspace through civil/ military coordination, and the implementation of regional air traffic flow management mechanism.
3. Security: The Secretary General affirmed safety and security as the top priorities in the aviation industry. He praised the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in holding the first Global Ministerial Aviation Summit dedicated to safety and security, and the Riyadh Declaration on aviation security and facilitation which encompassed several practical measures that the Secretary General hopes will lead to enhancing the level of safety and security of this sector.
4. Government regulations: The Secretary General brought attention to how counterproductive regulations could harm the consumer as well as the airlines. He urged the governments to engage the stakeholders before setting legislations, follow ICAO principles, and to include assigning the responsibility for any disruption in delivering a certain service to the party(ies) which may have caused that disruption. 

The Secretary General also referred to the crisis caused by oil prices, and how could the aviation industry defeat the drawbacks. He hinted to the expected return of a global economic slowdown; this time due to the drop in oil prices. Yet, Mr. Teffaha remained positive and certain that the long-term destiny of air transport cannot but be in favor of growth.
On the environment level, the Secretary General expressed his hopes that the parties of the Paris Agreement would honor their commitments so as not to weaken the agreement reached at the ICAO 2016 Assembly as alternatively, there will be more taxes and charges which do not serve the environment and would slowdown the growth of the air transport industry. 
The full speech of AACO Secretary General is attached to this press release.

Speech by IATA Director General & CEO
Mr. Alexandre De Juniac, IATA Director General & CEO gave a keynote address to the AGM highlighting four priorities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) which revolve around infrastructure, rising costs due to taxes and charges, consumer protection rules, and security.

Speech by the Director General of ACAC
Eng. Mohamed Sherif, Director General of the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC), presented a keynote address about the common issues between AACO and ACAC in the fields of aeropolitics, air safety and security, environment, and air navigation issues, whereby the two organizations have cooperated throughout the years in order to achieve benefits in these areas to the Arab air transport industry.

Special presentation by Mr. Peter Harbison on strategic issues
The Executive Chairman of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) discussed in his special presentation the disruptions that are facing airlines; mainly the Ownership & Control (O&C) of airlines and the “Ownership” of the Traveler and the need for personalization.

Six Strategic Resolutions by AACO 49th AGM 
The second working session was dedicated to AACO members where they discussed the Executive Committee report which covered strategic issues in addition to AACO’s financial and administrative issues.
Based on the recommendations of the Executive Committee, AACO’s AGM adopted six strategic resolutions as follows:
Aviation and the Environment: AACO 49th AGM welcomed the resolution adopted by ICAO 39th Assembly on Aviation and the Environment and reaffirmed that the issue of aviation and the environment must be dealt with through the provisions and principles of the ICAO resolution. The AGM also called upon governments of the world, in view of the recent ICAO resolution on the environment, to avert adopting other environmental measures or approaches to reduce CO2 emissions from international aviation or implementing environmental taxes and levies to avoid double counting of emissions and multiplicity of procedures which will add administrative and financial burdens on airlines and hamper their growth.
The AGM mandated AACO and the Environmental Policy Group to work with the concerned Arab authorities and to coordinate with IATA and other regional and international entities, and the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC) to ensure that mechanisms to be discussed at ICAO will not add further burdens on the Arab airlines. The AGM also mandated AACO to work with all stakeholders to try to develop a methodology that would recognize efficiencies achieved by airlines prior to 2020 known as the Early Movers.
Full resolution is attached to this press release.

Passenger Rights: AACO 49th AGM urged Arab governments and governments around the world to:

1. Dedicate adequate time for consultations with relevant stakeholders before the adoption of passenger rights regulations
2. Give ample time for stakeholders between the date of adoption and the effective date of the regulations to prepare for the implementation of the regulations
3. Recognize that the responsibility for disruptions caused to passengers be shared with other stakeholders where that applies including manufacturers, ANSPs, ground handlers, airport operators, and others…

AACO 49th AGM as well urged the concerned under ICAO to look into adding the following principles to the core principles on consumer protection during 2017:

1. National and regional passenger rights regimes to avoid extraterritoriality in their scope i.e. not to include flights of foreign carriers departing from countries that have consumer protection regulations
2. Regimes adopted by different states to be compatible as much as possible
3. Such regimes to allow the share of the liability of the inconvenience caused to the customer with all stakeholders responsible for the occurrence of that inconvenience.

The full resolution on passenger rights is attached to this press release.
Inflight Unruly Behavior: AACO 49th AGM reaffirmed the urgency of the ratification of Montreal Protocol 2014 by governments to have an international legal instrument come into force that would strengthen dealing with unruly passengers in a more effective way, and would help in preventing future incidents. The AGM also asked AACO to continue its work in this area by contacting governments and in particular Arab governments to encourage them to ratify Montreal Protocol 2014 and to continue working with ICAO, IATA and ACAC to promote the ratification of the Protocol.
Full resolution is attached to this press release. 
Air Traffic Management and Airspace Capacity in the Arab World: AACO 49th AGM welcomed the enhanced spirit of collaboration in the region and commended states for their openness and willingness to collaborate among each other and with stakeholders to enhance the regional airspace infrastructure; the AGM commended ICAO on its efforts to bring together states and stakeholders and to become a platform for regional collaboration across its bodies and specifically through the Middle East ATM Enhancement Programme; and called upon all stakeholders to prioritize and expedite the development of the regional airspace infrastructure through a number of priorities included in the full resolution attached to this press release.
The AGM also mandated AACO to continue its coordination with states, airlines, international and regional associations, its support to regional initiatives, and to work closely with ICAO and in collaboration with all stakeholders to advocate and support the implementation of the priorities listed in the attached resolution.
Aviation Security and Facilitation: AACO 49th AGM strongly condemned terrorist acts in general and those targeting aviation assets and the traveling public in specific and expressed its thanks to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for organizing the Global Ministerial Aviation Summit which resulted in the adoption of the “Riyadh Declaration on Aviation Security and Facilitation in the ACAC and ICAO MID Regions”; and called upon states and stakeholders to work together to formulate and implement a Regional Security and Facilitation Plan which delivers the provisions of the Riyadh Declaration. 
AACO AGM also mandated AACO to work with ICAO and in collaboration with states, airlines and international and regional organizations to advocate and support the implementation of the Regional Security and Facilitation Plan.
The full resolution is attached to this press release.
Recruiting Pilots from AACO Members: AACO 49th AGM confirmed calling upon member airlines to ensure that the employees (pilots, engineers, etc…) they wish to recruit from other member airlines, to obtain the necessary release documents by these airlines in accordance to their rules & regulations.
The full resolution is attached to this press release.

Panel Discussion on strategic issues in the aviation industry
The Third Working Session, as usual, gathered all invitees of AACO AGM and witnessed the “Joint Aviation Forum”, which is a panel discussion that was moderated this year by Mr. Richard Quest, CNN Anchor and Correspondent. The Joint Aviation Forum hosted the following participants.

• Mr. Henrik Hololei / Director General for Mobility and Transport/ European Commission
• H.E. Mr. Akbar Al Baker / Group Chief Executive / Qatar Airways
• Mr. Abdelhamid Addou / Chairman & Chief Executive Officer / Royal Air Maroc
• Mr. Adel A. Ali / Group Chief Executive Officer / Air Arabia

Closing of the AGM 
As the AGM came to a close, AACO members thanked the 49th AGM Chairman, Mr. Abdelhamid Addou, for leading this event and for the generous hospitality of Royal Air Maroc for all delegates of this event.​​​

Date and venue of forthcoming AGM 
The forthcoming 50th AGM will be convened on 28 – 30 November 2017 in Sharjah – UAE by kind invitation of Air Arabia.​​​