Finland elected member of Council of ICAO

Finland has been elected as member of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, for the term of 2019–2021, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The ICAO General Assembly on Saturday elected representatives from its Member States to the ICAO Council for the term 2019–2021. Finland was elected as one of the 36 members of the Council.

The Council exercises the highest decision-making power of the organisation and plays an important role in global aviation solutions. The ICAO General Assembly is currently being held in Montreal, Canada.

Finland's representative in the Council will be Samuli Vuokila, an official of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, Traficom, with a long experience of ICAO.

Vuokila has worked as a flight captain. For the past three years he has served as deputy representative of the Nordic Cooperation Group in the ICAO Council.

“The result of the election is important for Finland and provides a great opportunity to develop ICAO’s activities. The environmental issues of aviation and the introduction of new technologies are of particular importance to us, and we can now more actively contribute to increasing the role of ICAO in solving international aviation challenges,” said Minister of Transport and Communications Sanna Marin.

"The role of ICAO is very important in international civil aviation. I am proud to work for promoting safe and sustainable air transport,” said Vuokila.

“Finland's election to the ICAO Council comes at a very important period. The agenda will include climate issues, cyber security in aviation and introduction of new technologies and innovations. ICAO will be required to take a much more dynamic approach. It is a significant role and we play an active part in it,” said Pekka Henttu, Director General of Civil Aviation at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, Traficom.