Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Global Aviation Summit 2019, organized by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), kicked off in Riyadh Monday, reported the Saudi Press Agency. Held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, the event was attended by 15 ministers of transport and 140 presidents and directors general of civil aviation authorities, high level government representatives and experts in international and regional organizations. In a speech on behalf of King Salman, Minister of Transport and Chairman of the GACA Board of Directors, Dr. Nabil bin Mohammed AlAmoudi said Saudi Arabia is proud to host and organize the event in cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). King Salman’s patronage of the conference stems from the belief of the global importance of air transport industry, he continued. ICAO President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu expressed his gratitude to King Salman for his patronage of the conference and to Saudi Arabia for hosting the Regional Safety Oversight Organization for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA-RSOO). This cooperation will contribute to assisting Member States to achieve their objectives in the light of the safety of global aviation and the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP), he went on to say. Three air service agreements were then signed between Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Chad and Georgia.