U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirms high level of flight safety in Azerbaijan
By Rashid Shirinov
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed the “Category 1” in the field of control over provision of flight safety for Azerbaijan, the State Agency of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan informed on May 17.
This level was first assigned in 2014, based on the results of the assessment of the state of civil aviation of Azerbaijan in ensuring flight safety and allowed to open direct regular flights of Azerbaijani airlines to the U.S.
After the assessment of compliance with the requirements of international standards of the Chicago Convention in 2017 and 2018, the highest “Category 1” was again retained for Azerbaijan.
“The confirmation of the “Category 1” by the U.S. FAA was the result of the close attention of the Azerbaijani leadership to ensuring the safety of flights and the further development of Azerbaijani civil aviation,” the State Agency of Civil Aviation noted.
The State Agency, established in 2006, is the central executive body exercising control, state policy, and regulation in the civil aviation field. The Agency helps form state policy in the field of civil aviation, ensures its implementation, along with overseeing the safety of civil aircraft operations, aviation security and environmental protection from civil aircraft emissions.
Presently, aircraft of the Azerbaijani civil aviation fully meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Today Baku Airport serves about 30 airlines in more than 50 different directions, Azerbaijani aircrafts fly to dozens of the most popular international destinations - Moscow, Istanbul, Dubai, Kiev, Tehran, Antalya, Tbilisi, Baghdad, St. Petersburg and others.
In 2017, Azerbaijan’s flag carrier Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) carried over 2.2 million passengers.
Currently, Azerbaijan Airlines operates such aircraft as Boeing 787, Boeing 767, Boeing 757, as well as Airbus 340, Airbus 320, Airbus 319 and Embraer 190. In June 2015, the company received a prestigious "4 Stars" from the world-famous British consulting company Skytrax, which is the leader in assessing airline service quality.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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