KUWAIT, Dec 7: Kuwait does its utmost to pursue the best international practices in civil aviation industry, based on its geographical advantages, via open-skies policy only to become a regional aviation hub, said Kuwaiti aviation body's chief Tuesday. The remark was made by Director-General of Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Yousef Al-Fawzan during an event thrown by the directorate marking the International Civil Aviation Day, which falls on December 7. He added that the strategic blueprint for developing Kuwait International Airport is part of the expected air movement growth, noting that Kuwait is interested in overhauling the civil aviation sector as one of the key entities that would contribute to putting Kuwait's 2030 development vision in place.

The International Civil Aviation Day is mainly meant to help boost public global awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to countries' social and economic development, he pointed out. Al-Fawzan added that the celebrations of the International Civil Aviation Day come a couple of years following the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which posed a major challenge to global civil aviation. The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind.

As the UN and world nations have now adopted Agenda 2030, and embarked on a new era in global sustainable development, the importance of aviation as an engine of global connectivity has never been more relevant to the Chicago Convention's objectives to look to international flight as a fundamental enabler of global peace and prosperity. Every five years, coinciding with ICAO anniversaries (2014/2019/2024/2029/etc.), the ICAO Council establishes a special anniversary theme for International Civil Aviation Day. Between these anniversary years, Council representatives select a single theme for the full four-year intervening period. The Council has decided that from now until 2023, the theme will be: "Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development". (KUNA)