The Caribbean high-level symposium on Aviation Safety opened today in Guyana with a focus on building the institutional strength necessary to advance the move towards a single market for air transport services under the CARICOM Multilateral Air Services Agreement (MASA).

Convened by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization (CIAO) at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, the one day forum  brought together key players in the aviation sector with the aim of discussing the role of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips said with changes in the aviation sector, aviation authorities in the region must work together to meet the wide-ranging international obligations amid limited pools of specialized personnel.

He said the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System enables CARICOM to standardize Licensing, Certification, Inspection, and Surveillance, but noted a need for greater support and collaboration to build institutional strength.

“Shared specialist expertise can help an authority meet a technical need that it cannot readily staff alone, and joint training can make better use of scarce resources. Greater consistency in standards can also help operators understand their obligations across the region. While each state retains responsibility for safety within its jurisdiction, regional cooperation gives it more means to discharge that responsibility,” the Prime Minister said.

In its 2026 Safety Report, the International Civil Aviation Organisation indicated that scheduled commercial aviation recorded 85 accidents worldwide in 2025, which was down from 95 in 2024 with the global accident rate also dropping slightly.

Prime Minister Phillips said the decline in accidents in the aviation sector is encouraging, and underscores the importance of maintaining effective oversight and a strong safety culture.

“Sustaining those gains requires vigilance and continued adherence to the highest aviation safety standards, particularly as traffic grows and operational demands change. Our region can learn from cooperation in other parts of the world, while shaping arrangements suited to Caribbean circumstances. European Union Aviation Safety Agency works with national authorities on the common aviation rules and provides support and oversight where responsibilities are shared. ICAO’s Global Runway Safety Action Plan brings airport operators, aircraft operators, air navigation services and regulators into work on runway risks. These are useful examples of institutions making cooperation operational,” the Prime Minister said.

He said a successful partnership should leave local and regional authorities better equipped to perform their duties year after year.

ICAO Regional Director of the South American Office, Luis Fernando Fiallos, said aviation is not merely a convenience, but an indispensable economic and societal bridge.

He said it transports patients to critical care, connects communities across the region, brings local goods to international markets, and sustains livelihoods rooted in trade and tourism.

Fernando Fiallos said regional cooperation, resilient oversight and sustainable development are therefore key to the advancement of the region’s Aviation Sector. 

“Every civil aviation authority, regardless of size, requires a specialized technical expertise to certify operators, inspect aircraft and aerodromes, and assess operational risks. For administrations with limited resources, maintaining that full spectrum of specialized capacity presents a persistent challenge. Yet every state carries the exact same solemn responsibility to safeguard the traveling public. The spirit of international civil aviation is that no state should have to carry that responsibility in isolation. Under the Chicago Convention, ultimate responsibility for safety oversight rests with each sovereign state. Yet regional arrangements do not diminish sovereignty; they reinforce it by pooling resources and coordinating mechanisms through voluntary regional structures, states exercise the sovereign choice to strengthen their collective capacity,” the ICAO Regional Director explained.

He said it was against that background that CASSOS was established. Fernando Fiallos said by deliberating on the draft CASSOS Roadmap and Action Matrix to 2035 and the Georgetown Declaration on Aviation Safety, the regional leaders in the Aviation Sector are renewing their legacy for the decade ahead.

CARICOM Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, Guyana’s Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Economic Infrastructure Division Chief (ag), William Ashby were among the officials who also addressed the forum.

It was also attended by the Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Egbert Field.

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