US embassy cable - 05ATHENS1123

UNCLAS ATHENS 001123 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TRA 
 
BRUSSELS FOR KURT EDWARDS 
 
FAA HQ FOR MIKE DANIELS 
 
FAA NEW YORK FOR JOHN BARBAGALLO 
 
E.O. 12356: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, ECON, GR, IASA 
SUBJECT: Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority 
Response to FAA Proposal for Technical Review 
 
 
1.  Post has received a response from the Greek Ministry of 
Transportation (MoT) regarding the FAA proposal for a 
technical review of the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority 
(HCAA).  The Government of Greece is requesting a technical 
services agreement to facilitate a technical review, 
preferably to be conducted within the first ten days of 
May.  The Ministry of Transportation has also provided all 
documentation requested by the FAA, which is being sent via 
post.  The full text of the letter is provided in paragraph 
three. 
 
2.  Action Request. Post requests an FAA response soonest 
to respond to the GoG proposal for an early May date for a 
technical review. 
 
3.  Full text of GoG response as follows: 
 
Mr. Charles Ries, Ambassador of USA in Greece. 
 
In response to your letter dated April 1, 2005, the 
Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority would like to request to 
enter into a Technical Services Agreement with the FAA.  To 
this end, FAA could perform a Technical Review of the HCAA 
D2 section according to the IASA program, especially ICAO 
Annexes 1, 6 and 8.  It is understood that all costs and 
expenses will be submitted to the HCAA for reimbursement. 
 
The text of this agreement should be sent to HCAA, Vas. 
Georgiou 1, Hellinikon, Athens 166 04, to the attention of 
Governor D. Stamatis, which after being signed, will be 
sent back by post. 
 
Finally, I would like to propose to schedule the technical 
review as soon as possible, preferably within the first 10 
days of May, taking into consideration that Sunday, May 1 
and Monday, May 2 are Easter holidays in Greece. 
 
Please find attached all three requested documents, that 
is: (a) the latest IASA conducted together with SH and E 
(b) the overall assessment of the situation, as presented 
by the same company, and (c) ICAO audit conducted in 2002. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 /s/ 
Michael Liapis 
 
End text of response.  Note, attachments are 
being sent separately by courier post. 
 
RIES