RIYADH: The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) is adopting a set of measures to enhance civil aviation safety and allow crews the flexibility they need in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GACA President Abdulhadi bin Ahmed Al-Mansouri signed the measures at the authority’s headquarters in Riyadh.

The measures include a general exception allowing the extension of license validity, attestations and certificates for aircrew, trainers, examiners and flight dispatchers, in accordance with terms and conditions that ensure an acceptable level of safety.

They are the first of many measures that GACA intends to take — covering airports, air navigation services, aircraft maintenance license holders, validity of airplanes, and service providers — as part of its efforts to mitigate the pandemic’s effects on the Saudi aviation sector.

Al-Mansouri said the safety of aviation and travelers is GACA’s highest priority. He added that it is constantly following updates on coronavirus and its potential repercussions, in collaboration with partners in national airlines, to ensure operational safety during the crisis and the resumption of normal air traffic after it ends.

SPA