University of Kyrenia Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences organized an event on 7 December , World Civil Aviation Day.

The event, which took place at the University of Kyrenia Grand Library Congress Hall, was attended by University of Kyrenia Rector Prof. Dr. İlkay Salihoğlu, Dean of the Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences Prof. Dr. Süleyman Tolun, Secretary General Fehmi Tokay, deans, faculty members and students.

University of Kyrenia Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences, Department of Aviation Management Head Assist. Prof. Dr. Nalan Gelirli modarated the event in which Mustafa Sofi, Director of the TRNC Civil Aviation Department, Haydar Yalçın, former Deputy General Manager of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Turkey, Oben Oğultarhan, HAVAK Chairman of the Board , and Aviation Executive Nevzat Arşan attended as speakers.

Prof. Dr. İlkay Salihoğlu: “Civil aviation is an essential part of humanity.”
Making the opening speech of the event, University of Kyrenia Rector Prof. Dr. İlkay Salihoğlu wished all participants a happy World Civil Aviation Day .
Reminding that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a pioneer as he realized the importance of the meaning of civil aviation, which has a history that dates back 102 years, Rector Prof. Dr. İlkay Salihoğlu stated that as University of Kyrenia, they provide education in this field, which is an essential part of humanity under the Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Süleyman Tolun: “The aviation industry is working on models that reduce carbon emissions”
Dean of University of Kyrenia Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences Prof. Dr. Süleyman Tolun, on the other hand, started his speech by thanking all the participants and those who contributed to the preparation of the event and reminded that this special day is celebrated in order to underline the contribution of civil aviation to the world economy.

Referring to the work of the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO, Prof. Dr. Tolun stated that the aviation industry is an important factor in terms of the world economy and was highly affected by the results of the pandemic.

Dean of University of Kyrenia Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences Prof. Dr. Süleyman Tolun stated that the aviation industry is working on ways to develop new models to reduce carbon emissions, which has a severe negative impact on the environment, and gave examples from the work of companies such as Boeing.

Mustafa Sofi: “The new airport terminal building will be the TRNC’s gateway to the world ”
Mustafa Sofi, Director of the TRNC Civil Aviation Department, started his speech by thanking the University of Kyrenia Faculty of Aviation and Space Sciences for their invitation.

Talking about the development of civil aviation in the TRNC in detail, Sofi also metioned on the daily passenger capacity of the Ercan Airport.

Mustafa Sofi emphasized that the new airport ,which is under construction now, with its much larger terminal building and runway, will play an important role for the integration of the TRNC with the world.

Haydar Yalçın: “It is expected that the fully recovery of the sector after the pandemic will come after 2027”
Haydar Yalçın, former Deputy General Manager of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Turkey, started his speech by thanking for the invitation and touched on the meaning and importance of the day.

Stating that the crisis due to the Covid 19 pandemic and the danger of unemployment is the main concern of the aviation as well, Yalçın said that the industry plays an important role from ensuring the safe transportation of the vaccines to the safe travel conditions of passengers.

Haydar Yalçın presented examples of the top 10 aircraft operators’ passenger numbers before and after the pandemic, and shared his predictions on the recovery of the sector based on the best, worst and average-case scenarios of EUROCONTROL .

Oben Oğultarhan: “Aviation is a sector that includes many other activities except passenger transportation”
Oben Oğultarhan, HAVAK Chairman of the Board said that he is happy to attend the event organized on the occasion of this special day.

Referring to the establishment and activities of the Turkish Civil Aviation Foundation HAVAK, Oğultarhan reminded that the aviation sector does not only covers the transportation of the passengers, and stated with examples that there are many different general aviation activities such as air ambulance, agricultural aircraft, fire fighting aircrafts etc. In his speech, Oben Oğultarhan also addressed the students and underlined that English knowledge, personal growth and expertising are very important for their future careers.

Nevzat Arsan : “It is important to progress your career by specifying your goals ”
Aviation Specialist Nevzat Arsan, on the other hand, talked about his academic career and his work in the sector during his speech, addressing the students in particular, and emphasized the importance of experience by saying that theoretical knowledge can sometimes be insufficient in business life.

Arsan touched upon what kind of opportunities they may encounter in their future career and added that they should first determine their own expectations and skills and proceed by setting targets accordingly.