Country faces challenges from new airspace techs, minister says

PAPUA New Guinea is facing challenges with the integration of new technologies in airspace, including unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or remotely-piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).
Minister for Civil Aviation Davis Steven, speaking during the third aviation conference in Kokopo, said to ensure that safety improvements were harmonised with global air navigation modernisation, advanced hand-in-hand global, regional and state aviation safety and security planning was essential.
“You must all collaborate in your planning and decision-making to efficiently manage air traffic growth while proactively maintaining or increasing safety,” he told conference participants.
“Technology is already here and we must promote its use across the value chain. “The use of small UAS continues to grow rapidly and with it, the risk of unsafe encounters between domestic UAS and manned aviation operations.”
He said the Government believed that as the aviation industry promoted technologies, it would deliver seamless and customer-centred service.
Steven said Casa (Civil Aviation Safety Authority), which recently launched the e-exams promoting the use of technology to improve customer service, would be issuing a draft rule on UAS that was discussed during the conference last week.
“We must keenly explore how we can adopt these and other innovations in our context,” he said.
He said examples of the technological changes that the aviation industry and safety and security regulators were required to adopt to advances in engines, aircraft structure materials, navigational instrumentation, airspace design and aircraft monitoring, aerodrome technical and passenger facilitation requirements.