NCIPs Meeting to Revive and Harmonise Air Spaces Management

The Air Spaces Management Cluster, under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs) and currently coordinated and chaired by Rwanda, convened this week at the Hotel Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda.

This cluster brings together organisations and institutions responsible for civil aviation and airlines from the partner states, coordinated by the National Coordinators of the Partner States, including the Air Spaces Management Cluster.

The purpose of the meeting was to obtain updates on the implementation status of the directives from the 14th Summit on Air Spaces Management, review progress made, and address challenges to be resolved and recommended for adoption at the 15th Heads of State Summit of NCIPs, scheduled to take place in October 2024 in Kigali.

NCIPs partner states are represented at the meeting by technical and senior officials responsible for Air Spaces Management, including Civil Aviation Authorities and coordinating entities.

The Ugandan delegation is led by Dr. Fred K. Bamwesigye, Director-General of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, Amb. Richard Kabonero, Coordinator of the Northern Corridor Implementation Projects at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marion Tibenderana, Manager of Aeronautical Information (CAA), and Eng. Joseph Katongole, Senior Technical Officer (CAA).

Speaking from Kigali, Dr. Bamwesigye stressed the importance of harmonising costs and regulations rationally.

"We are confident that the meeting will lead to the revival of activities of Air Spaces Management in NCIPs and fast-track the monitoring of progress on the implementation of Summit Directives on Air Spaces Management," he said.

Dr. Bamwesigye also expressed concern about the capacity of some partner states to undertake accident and incident investigations in airports across the region according to ICAO standards. He emphasised the need for cooperation among NCIP partner states, including support for existing initiatives to upgrade accident investigation units.

Recalling the directive of the Heads of State in the 14th Summit to reduce aviation costs in the region, Amb. Richard Kabonero, Head of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the Air Spaces Management Cluster was expected to formulate recommendations to meet these expectations during the planned 15th Summit of Heads of State of NCIPs in October 2024.

"The participation of all technical experts will enable us to share status updates from each partner state and fast-track the required progress on Air Spaces Management for the benefit of the population and region," said Kabonero.

Among the documents under review are the MoU on Sharing and Fusion of Air Traffic Control Surveillance Data, the Operationalisation of the MoU on Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, and the consideration of a roadmap for the establishment and operationalisation of a distributed aeronautical database system for Northern Corridor Airspace among NCIP partner states.