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Security Leaders Assemble To Assess Overflight Risks
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: WORC 2024 will to mark the 10th anniversary of the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17
Word Count: 312
Security experts from government agencies and aviation businesses will address the increasingly complex threats to flights at the first World Overflight Risk Conference (WORC) next month. The event is being jointly organized by EASA and security consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions and will be held in the Polish capital Warsaw from July 2 to 4.
WORC 2024 has been timed to mark the 10th anniversary of the shoot-down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine by Russian-backed forces. Proceeds from the not-for-profit event will be donated to victims groups associated with this attack, and also to those who lost relatives when Iranian air defense missiles destroyed Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752 soon after it took off from Tehran in January 2020.
According to organizers, the conference will share the latest thinking from aviation organizations, aircraft operators, regulators, and insurers on how to deal with risks associated with overflying airspace close to conflict zones. More than 250 participants are already booked to attend, as well as more than 20 speakers, including NATO’s deputy commander of allied air command Air Marshal Johnny Stringer, ICAO’s deputy director of aviation security and facilitation, Sylvain Lefoyer, Ukraine’s deputy minister of infrastructure, Serhiy Derkach, and Libby Bahat, head of aerial infrastructure with the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel.
The agenda also features contributions by senior security leaders from airlines including Lufthansa, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Ryanair, KLM, Emirates, and LOT Polish Airlines. In addition to experts from EASA, the discussions and education sessions will include the air safety agencies such as the FAA, Eurocontrol, and the civil aviation authorities of France, Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands, and the UK.
The University of Southampton’s Department of Decision Analytics and Risk plans to produce a white paper to summarize the main conclusions from the conference. Panelists also include executives from several leading aviation insurance providers.