New aviation authority to hold first meeting |10 May 2005

The meeting will be launched by Vice-President Joseph Belmont in his capacity as the minister responsible for transport.

Earlier this year the National Assembly approved the act creating the SCAA. The body was established to replace the Directorate of Civil Aviation, which was a department under the now scrapped Ministry of Tourism and Transport.

Principal secretary Gerald Lafortune has been named SCAA chairman, with Conrad Benoiton the chief executive officer.

Other board members include: Hans Aglae (technical advisor with the Ministry of Finance); David Hampshire (Seychelles Breweries); Freddy Karkaria (CEO Travel Services); Fionna Laporte (Department of Legal Affairs); Captain David Savy (CEO Air Seychelles); Sylvestre Radegonde (CEO Seychelles Tourism Board); Louis D’Offay (Chairman of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association).

According to a press release from the VP’s Office, the SCAA was formed to give civil aviation affairs a more autonomous body to respond to “dynamic changes taking place in the rapidly growing travel industry.”