UN-body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is scheduled to carry out a safety audit of the aviation regulator this year-end, even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) faces an acute staff shortage, adversely affecting its activities.
Similar safety audits are also carried out on a regular basis by the International Air Transport Association and US Federal Aviation Administration.
"Naturally, the top priority will be safety. All measures to further strengthen aviation safety will have to be taken. We also have staff shortage which has to be attended to," Mishra said soon after taking over the top DGCA post.
He said the quarterly review of safety issues concerning airlines and their financial condition would continue as scheduled.
The aviation regulator has, since the days of Mishra's predecessor E K Bharat Bhushan, been constantly monitoring the airlines to ensure that safety issues are not neglected due to the financial crunch they have been facing.
A conference of the chiefs of civil aviation regulators of 36 countries of Asia-Pacific would be held in Delhi this October. The countries include Japan, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, Mishra said.
The conference, which would be held for the first time in India, would find ways to strengthen international bilateral and multilateral cooperation and improve sharing of data and the best global practices on safety, he said. (More)
