Ecuador will now be able to share information obtained by radar from 3,000 air miles with Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Belize.
This space is used by 120 passenger flights per day traveling between these countries. On the morning of Wednesday, May 9, 2018, the following were signed
two agreements between the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) and the Central American Corporation of Air Navigation Services (COCESNA) to provide joint air safety and assistance. With the first technical assistance agreement, the country’s aviation authorities will be able to assist flights requiring this service departing from any of the international airports (Quito, Guayaquil, Latacunga and Manta) and heading to Central America, or vice versa.
The second agreement is aimed at strengthening flight search and rescue operations in the event of a possible emergency. Juan Trabanino, director of ACNA, a COCESNA agency, indicated that the main beneficiaries of these agreements will be the thousands of users who travel by air between Ecuador and Central America, as they will have safer navigation. “Aviation challenges have to be addressed from a more global perspective because of the high growth of air traffic in the world.”
During 2017, there were 11 371 air operations from Ecuador to Central America and a total of 883 076 people transported between these same destinations. Carlos Álvarez Mantilla, director of the DGAC, added that these agreements are part of a new management strategy of this entity. “We have found in COCESNA an ally to safeguard regional air traffic.”
Source: Diario EL COMERCIO at the following address:
http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/ecuador-convenios-reforzar-seguridad-aerea.html.