Riyadh: The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) signed yesterday an agreement with the British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the field of aviation safety, including upgrading the organizational systems for safety in aviation and improving the national safety program.

The agreement was signed by GACA Executive Vice President of Safety and Aviation Standards Captain Sulaiman Almuhaimedi and Director of the International Group at CAA Ben Alcott. Attending the signing ceremony were GACA President Abdulaziz Al-Duailej and UK Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Neil Crompton.

The agreement will help GACA keep up to date with the constant developments in the aviation sector, including issues related to safety, and create an attractive environment for investments in aviation in the Kingdom that would help the Saudi aviation sector achieve the expected economic growth. It also aims at improving the quality of safety management of all aviation operators and beneficiaries in the Kingdom.

The agreement shows GACA’s keenness to ensure the transfer of knowledge and train national professionals in the field, in line with the objectives of the next stage, which will witness the introduction of new air transport types and with the Saudi Vision 2030.

The agreement also falls within the targets of the national civil aviation strategy, which aims at building international partnerships and signing bilateral agreements aiming at enhancing the Kingdom’s air connection with the world, to reach 250 destinations and serve as a global logistics hub capable of transporting 330 million passengers by 2030.