ICAO gets Chinese veteran as secretary general

Monday, 16 March 2015 00:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

TORONTO (Reuters): The United Nations aviation body’s governing council elected Fang Liu, a veteran of China’s aviation authority, as its new secretary general last week, the first woman to hold the position in the agency’s 70-year history. Liu, who has worked at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) since 2007, is director of its Bureau of Administration and Services. She ran against candidates from Australia, India and the United Arab Emirates. Liu will start her three-year term on Aug. 1, replacing Raymond Benjamin of France. ICAO’s Secretary General oversees the Montreal-based agency’s secretariat, acting as its chief executive officer, and reports to its 36-member governing council which is currently led by Nigeria’s Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. From 1987 to 2007, Liu held a series of positions at the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s international affairs department, which works with ICAO. The agency is under pressure to improve safety in the airline industry after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and the downing of another Malaysian airliner in Ukraine last year. At a major safety conference last month ICAO member states endorsed a plan to track aircraft flying outside radar, and a proposal to build a website where states can share information about risks to planes in conflict zones. The agency is not a regulator, but its standards typically become regulatory requirements in its 191 member states.

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