The Secretary General of ICAO, Dr. Fang Liu (below centre), and the President and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), Mr. Philippe Rainville (centre left), were joined last Thursday by senior officials from the prominent aviation organizations based in Montréal for the unveiling of a new airport monument commemorating the city’s status as ICAO’s Headquarters and the World Capital of Civil Aviation.
Also on hand were officials from the City of Montréal and Montréal International, which works to attract attention to the city’s prominence as a destination for major international organizations.
In thanking M. Rainville and Aéroports de Montréal for their very generous tribute to ICAO, Dr. Liu highlighted that “Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport is Montréal’s primary gateway to the world and a critical engine for local socio-economic development. I am deeply grateful that ICAO’s thousands of international guests each year will now be greeted with such an impressive monument to our Organization’s important mission and role, and I am very pleased as well that this attractive design draws attention to the important aviation organizations which work so closely with us here.”
“The reason for unveiling this ICAO monument today is to underscore the presence in Montréal of the key players in civil aviation, and to celebrate the vitality of Québec’s aerospace industry, which works closely with these global leaders,” commented ADM CEO Rainville. “Aéroports de Montréal, is proud to represent the local community and to demonstrates its appreciation of having your organizations established here and contributing to the local economy.”
Montréal has hosted ICAO since the 1940s. Over the decades the city has attracted the world’s major aviation organizations. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) was established in Montréal shortly after ICAO, and more recently has been joined here by the Airports Council International (ACI), the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), and the main global associations representing aircraft pilots (IFALPA), air traffic controllers (IFATCA), aircraft manufacturers (ICCAIA), and business aviation aircraft operators (IBAC).
It is through the combined presence of this unique cluster of aviation decision-makers that Montréal’s status as the centre of all global civil aviation cooperation and regulation has become so undisputed, firmly establishing it as the World Capital of Civil Aviation.