Elections were held today in Montreal for the new President of the ICAO Council, who will replace the Italian Salvatore Sciacchitano from January 2026, after two consecutive three-year terms.
Toshiyuki Onuma prevailed with 22 votes out of 36, former Deputy Director of Japanese Civil Aviation and currently the Permanent Representative of Japan to ICAO.
The other candidate, Sameh Elhefny, Egypt’s Minister for Civil Aviation and Permanent Representative of Egypt to ICAO, received 14 votes.
During the continuation of the session, the Italian Permanent Representative Sergio Martes, acting in his capacity as the semester coordinator, conveyed the European Group’s congratulations to the President-elect, expressing the hope that his mandate may continue along the path of modernization of the Organization set by Sciacchitano. Below is the short speech delivered by Ambassador Martes:
“Thank you, Mr. President Sciacchitano, for the floor,
And, most of all, thank you for everything you have done for our Organization over the past six years.
But we will definitely have time to come back to this!
Now. It was a fair and interesting competition, and for that, I would first really like to thank both of our excellent candidates. Only one could win.
I would therefore like to extend my heartfelt congratulations, on behalf of all my colleagues in the European Group, on the election of our new President, who will have the honor and the responsibility of leading us starting January 1st.
Dear President-elect, dear Toshi,
We are confident that, under your leadership, and with the collaboration of the Secretary General, the process of positive transformation of this Organization will continue with the same vigor and determination.
From our side, you can count on our full and sincere cooperation, as we work together towards achieving all the goals of our Strategic Plan.
Thank you and congratulations again!”.
