Jamaica to Reap Benefits from International Aviation Conference

Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) Lieutenant Colonel, Oscar Derby has said that the country stands to reap significant gains from hosting the third annual ICAO Conference for Air Service Negotiations (ICAN) from June 27 to July 2 in Montego Bay, St. James.
He pointed out that this was despite the fact that Caribbean Airlines had taken over Air Jamaica.
Jamaica is set to sign at least seven new open skies agreements with as many countries, at the ICAO Conference. It is also expected that the country will open the door for another 20 or more contracts, at the conference.
Addressing a JIS Think Tank yesterday (June 18), Lt. Col. Derby noted that the sale of Air Jamaica did not preclude “a one way use of the Agreement from those with whom we (Jamaica) have established agreeements.”
He said that securing such agreements means “business to Jamaica and for Jamaica, whether by our own airline or from other airlines flying to Jamaica.”
“If persons are going to be transiting through Jamaica to other destinations then we must have the connectivity with as many other states or destinations in the region and this connectivity requires that we have air service agreements in place for airlines to operate these routes and allow for connectivity,” the Director General stated.
The JCAA Head said that the reciprocal nature of the agreements gives persons who wish to establish an airline, ready access to pre-secured traffic rights, which eliminates the need to negotiate access on demand and ensures accessibility to a number of states.
“We are very encouraged that there are persons who are interested in utilising those traffic rights and are putting together plans to establish airline companies to operate using these rights,” he told JIS News.
The meeting will see Jamaica hosting more than 40 states, including countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, Central and South America.
The ICAO is the United Nations Agency with responsibility for international civil aviation. To facilitate the ease and convenience of member states negotiating air service agreements, the Agency devised the ICAN Conference, so that delegates could meet annually, at one venue to negotiate agreements.
Over 150 delegates from 42 countries are expected to participate in the third staging of the conference, titled, JAMAICAN 2010, which takes place at the Ritz Carlton Resort. During the six day meetings the JCAA expects to negotiate agreements with countries from Africa, Europe, Asia, North and South America.