EASA and Republic of Korea Strengthen civil aviation technical cooperation Letter of Intent signed

The European Plan for Aviation Safety

Early in January the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) Executive Director Patrick Ky and Mr Yong-Seog Kim, Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of the Republic of Korea (ROK), reported that the previous month they had signed a Letter of Intent to strengthen technical cooperation in the field of civil aviation.

This agreement marks an important milestone in fostering EASA’s relations with Asian authorities and, in particular, it will offer European aviation stakeholders new opportunities to get to know better an important economic player in the region.

The agreement outlines the terms of implementation of the Aviation Partnership Project (EU-ROK APP), which forms part of an EU-funded programme running until 31 March 2024. The programme’s aim is to enhance and strengthen the partnership between the European Union and North Asian countries in the domain of civil aviation.

Following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between EASA and MOLIT from 2019, the agreement further reinforces the partnership between EASA and MOLIT. It sets the frame and principles of cooperation in a wide range of domains such as:

  • Air Operations.
  • Air Traffic Management (ATM).
  • Aviation Safety.
  • Sustainable Aviation.
  • Aviation Security.
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM).

More information and details is available on the project page here:

https://www.easa.europa.eu/domains/international-cooperation/technical-cooperation-projects/eu-republic-korea-rok-aviation

The European Plan for Aviation Safety

In mid-January the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published the 11th  edition of the European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS).

EPAS sets out the strategic priorities and main risks affecting the European aviation system, and defines the necessary actions to mitigate them, with the primary objective of further improving aviation safety. EPAS is the regional aviation safety plan (RASP) for EASA Member States. It supports safety management at State level and constitutes the main input to the EUR RASP for the ICAO EUR Region.

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to have significant repercussions for the entire aviation sector. Accordingly, recovering from the crisis without adversely affecting the high level of safety performance is included as a new focus area within the existing strategic priorities.

In addition to addressing the safety issues emerging from Covid-19, this edition supports the further modernisation of the aviation system, in the areas of safety, efficiency, level playing field and environmental protection.

The Plan is available here: https://www.easa.europa.eu/downloads/134920/en