Council members of the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO) from 16 Pacific States gathered in the Cook Islands for the first time for the fourth PASO Council Meeting on November 4-6.

PASO is the intergovernmental civil aviation agency that provides specialised aviation technical advisory services and regulatory oversight mentoring to the signatories of the Pacific Islands Civil Aviation Safety and Security Treaty known as PICASST.

Te Mana Tumotu o te Kūki ʻĀirani (Cook Islands Ministry of Transport), led by secretary John Hosking hosted the annual PASO Council Meeting at Crown Beach Resort.

The PASO Council has been preparing for the Third Regional Aviation Ministers Meeting (RAMM) in Suva, 2025, and reviewing the PICASST.

Fui Simanu, PASO Council chair and CEO Ministry of Transport in  Samoa, said the meeting has been very good, very positive and that they are moving forward.

He said basically, the purpose of the meeting was to look at the outcomes from the annual general meeting, and what they have addressed to make some progress.

He said PASO is at a pivotal moment in Pacific aviation.

“The path to sustained recovery from the disruptions of recent years has required each of us to bring forth our utmost resilience and adaptability.

“Through PASO’s strengthened frameworks, member support initiatives, and innovative capacity-building programs, we are better equipped to face future challenges and ensure the continuity of safe, secure, and sustainable air travel for our communities.”

This year The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency which helps 193 countries to cooperate together and share their skies to their mutual benefit, was present at the meeting.

“ICAO has finally established a presence in the Pacific based in Fiji,” Simanu said.

“We can see their presence (usually they are based in Canada)… so to have ICAO sit among us is really positive.”

The Federal Aviation Authority from the US has also come on board to provide support for PASO.

“We have consolidated our plans which is what donors look for,” he said.

Simanu said The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) also continue to provide support to PASO.

The agenda addressed key strategic initiatives - strengthening PASO in providing guidance to have effective tools in place so members can be better supported.

“The matters before us are not only relevant to each of our nations but are also integral to the broader socio-economic progress of our region,” he said.

Simanu recognised the Cook Islands commitment to strengthen regional aviation safety and security.

He is thankful to the Cook Islands aviation security staff who helped out in Samoa during the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October.

“We are very grateful for the officials that came over, we needed the manpower for the 5000 people we had during CHOGM,” Simanu said.

John Hosking, Secretary of Transport, and one of the two PASO Council Deputy Chairs said discussions were also held on safety issues and on their roles as regulators.

“Another issue highlighted was connectivity, meaning we should be working together to try and connect airlines with each other since we rely on each other…  in addition, many document drafts will be sent to Ministers,” Hosking said.

Salaseini Daunabuna, Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation in Fiji chaired the aviation officials meeting on Wednesday that was to prepare for the Ministers Aviation regional meeting in February 2025, in Suva.

“Key discussions were on what the future holds for us in terms of aviation in the region and the key working documents in terms of agreements,” Daunabuna said. “The outcome is an action plan which will go to the Ministers for endorsement.”

Delegates included 13 Council members from 16 Pacific States – the PASO office bearers in Vanuatu, members from national civil aviation regulatory authorities from Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia.

RAMM is the high-level political body for aviation matters in the region with the PASO as its coordinating body. RAMM consists of Aviation Ministers from the 18 countries that are members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).