Apia, SAMOA – 10 June 2024 – The Chief Executive Officer and Secretary for Transport of MWTI, Fui Tupai Mau Simanu was re-elected as the Chairperson, of the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO) based I Vanuatu.

Fui was re-elected at PASO’s Annual General Meeting last week and the annual elections returned Tonga and the Cook Islands as the Deputy Chairs.

This year’s meeting was significant as it was the first time that the International Civil Aviation Organisation has attended since PASO’s establishment in 2007.

The meeting featured crucial discussions on the upcoming Regional Aviation Ministers Meeting (RAMM), scheduled for May 2025. This important event has not convened in person since 2019 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Also representing Samoa at the PASO meeting was Principal Civil Aviation Officer MWTI, Ms Venice Roebeck and Samoa Airport Authority Manager for Legal Services, Namulauulu Elemesi Schmidt.

PASO belongs to the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) which was established by the Pacific Island Forum Leaders. It is the sole international organisation responsible for regional regulatory aviation safety oversight service for the 10 Pacific States who are signatories to the Pacific Islands Civil Aviation Safety and Security Treaty (PICASST).

The current PICASST signatories are the Pacific nations of Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Associate Members of PASO are Australia, Fiji and New Zealand.

PASO headquarters are located in Port Villa and its current General Manager is the former General Manager of the Samoa Airport Authority, Silimana’i Ueta Solomona.