Kigali, 06 August 2018: Minister of State in charge of Transport, Hon. Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye officiated the opening of Airport Excellence in Safety (APEX) assessment that is taking place in Kigali from 6 to 10 August, 2018.

Speaking at the function, Minister of State in charge of Transport, Hon. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye revealed that the Government of Rwanda has earmarked aviation as a flagship project that is being positioned as a strong pillar of the economy which explains the numerous investments stretching across infrastructure, technological and capacity development in the aviation sector.

“Rwanda in her development journey of the aviation sector has always been committed to meeting international safety standards”, said Minister Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, adding that “this is evidenced by Rwanda’s score of Effective Implementation (EI) 72.4% in the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP). In recognition, ICAO awarded Rwanda a certificate for the huge improvement in the USOAP program”.

Minister Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihangaye highlighted that the Government of Rwanda considers the implementation of safety standards a back bone required to make the operations within aviation a success both locally and internationally.

“At the African level, safety targets have been set commonly known as Abuja safety targets, they relate to many players in the aviation sector” he said.

Talking about airports safety targets requirements, Minister of State said that at least one international aerodrome in every State to be certified by end of 2020 while all Airport operators have to participate in the ICAO- recognized industry assessment programme for Airports (APEX) by end of 2022 and at least an international aerodrome in every State to establish a runway Safety Team (RST) by end of 2020.

“Rwanda has already met the two targets related to airport certification and runway safety team Rwanda is meeting the remaining Abuja safety targets related to airports as the assessment exercise kicking off today”, he said.

In his presentation, the APEX Team Leader, Mr Juan Manuel Manriquez underscored that APEX was developed to support airports in identifying and mitigating safety vulnerabilities through peer reviews. He mentioned that APEX Programme provides assistance for Airport Council International (ACI) to improve their level of safety and compliance with the Organization (ICAO) Standards and recommended Practices.

“APEX provides guidance and facilitates improvements through mentoring, training and best practice exchanges to address identified gaps across entire operation”, said Mr Juan Manuel Manriquez.

Under the ACI Developing Nations’ Airports (DNA) Assistance programme, APEX provides workshops, subsidized training and financial assistance for capacity-building activities for ACI members in developing nations

He finally mentioned that APEX is ACI’s response to the call-to-action to improve aviation safety worldwide and the Original Vision focused on supporting airports in developing countries.