International Civil Aviation Week - Mayor of Montréal opens 39th Session of the ICAO Assembly

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 27, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - The Mayor of Montréal, the Honourable Denis Coderre, today delivered an opening speech of the 39th Session of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly, which is held at the organization's headquarters in Montréal, September 27 to October 7. Attending the event were the Premier of Québec, the Honourable Philippe Couillard, the federal Minister of Transport, the Honourable Marc Garneau, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu (Nigeria), President of the ICAO Council and Dr. Fang Liu (China), ICAO Secretary General.

The ICAO Assembly is made up of approximately 191 of the Organization's member states and a number of international organizations. The Assembly is held every three years and brings together transport ministers and foreign experts. It is an opportunity to establish the Organization's world policy for the next three years. The entire work programme of ICAO in the technical, economic, legal and technical cooperation fields is thus reviewed in detail.

"Montréal is particularly committed to ICAO, which has been headquartered in Montréal since 1947. Its presence in Montréal gives the city the status of UN city, a privilege shared by just a few cities in the world, and is responsible for more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs as well as economic spinoffs of more than $100 million annually," said Mayor Coderre.  

Montréal is recognized as the civil aviation world capital. It is in large part due to the presence of ICAO that other international organizations, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI), International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Associations (IFATCA) have also chosen to establish their headquarters in Montréal, thus contributing to the development and growth of aeronautics and aerospace in Québec.

Holding the ICAO Assembly and the annual general meeting of the Airports Council International will bring more than 5,000 delegates to Montréal. The presence in Montréal of these key players of civil aviation will be highlighted during International Civil Aviation Week. This event, which is organized by the Montréal civil aviation capital non-profit organization, will take place September 26 to October 3 and focus on this important sector of the economy. It is also an opportunity to mark the 75th anniversary of the Montréal-Trudeau Airport.

About ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialized institution of the United Nations which has been headquartered in Montréal since its creation in 1947. Together with approximately 200 states and international organizations involved in the field of aeronautics, ICAO establishes recommended standards and practices that enable the air transport network worldwide to operate more than 100,000 flights daily in complete safety and efficiently throughout the world.

SOURCE Ville de Montréal - Cabinet du maire et du comité exécutif

Source: Marc-André Gosselin, Attaché de presse, Cabinet du maire et du comité exécutif, 514 290-1194; Information: François Goneau, Relationniste, Service des communications, 514 868-5859