The appointment of Georgios Sounatsos to the post of Commander of the Civil Aviation Service was approved by a majority by the Parliament’s Institutions and Transparency Committee, with the positive opinions of ND MPs.

The proposal of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras for the new governor was rejected by SYRIZA, KKE, New Left, NIKI and Pleussi Eleftherias while “present” declared PASOK-KINAL, EL.LY and Spartans.

The issue of aviation security was at the center of attention for all MPswith the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport as well as the new commander assuring that systematic efforts are being made both to further modernize the air traffic safety system and to strengthen the CAA with the recruitment of controllers and employees which are already underway.

As Mr. Sounatsos said, “with a budget of 170 million euros, 10 projects are underway to modernize and upgrade the air traffic system and one is already to be delivered.”

From her side, the Opposition raised the issue of serious air transport security problems due to a lack of modern systems and personnelciting the relevant announcement of the employees of the Civil Protection Service.

“There is a great risk of having Tempi of the air because the safety conditions of air transport are not met” pointed out, characteristically, the president of Freedom of Navigation, Zoe Konstantopoulou.

The MPs also sounded the alarm for the safety of air flights of SYRIZA, Theodora Tzakriof PASOK, Panagiotis Dodonis and Dimitris Biagisof the KKE, Manolis Syntyhakisof the New Left, Petis Perka.

In response, Mr. Sounatsos, to the comments regarding the understaffing of the CAA, stated that “it has already been approved and 174 employees are being recruited while regarding the filling of vacant positions of auditors90 will be hired with a new announcement and 35 from the old announcement”.

From his side, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport appeared reassuring on the issue of aviation securityassuring at the same time that efforts to further strengthen them will continue.

“On January 11, 2024, the country’s assessment of security issues by the two existing global agencies was completed. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). According to their assessment, our country increased the levels of effective application of international standards from 69.1% to 74.89%, when the global average is 69.3%. So, in terms of security, we are now well above the European average. However, this does not mean that we should not strengthen the safety of transport with actions every day. And this is what we are doing, and in this direction we will continue to work in the next period of time” said Mr. Staikouras.

End, the Opposition parties questioned whether there is an issue of incompatibility for Mr. Sounatsos to fill the position of the new governoraccusing the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of not submitting a relevant opinion of the legal council of the state.