Nicolas Rallo

Nicolas Rallo is the ICAO Regional Director for the European and North Atlantic (EUR/NAT) Regions since 3 May 2022. He has over 28 years of progressively responsible experience in civil aviation, including at the senior managerial level.

Prior to his nomination, from 2015 to 2020, he served as Chief, Safety and Air Navigation Oversight Audit Section, Air Navigation Bureau, implementing ICAO’s safety-related audit and monitoring activities under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP). Mr. Rallo conducted more than 100 audit and monitoring activities across the world and led the creation of new activity types, including State Safety Programe Implementation Assessments (SSPIA).

In addition, in 2020, at request of the ICAO Secretary General, Mr. Rallo coordinated the organization’s activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, he led the “Pacific Small Island Developing States Aviation Needs Analysis” (PSIDS Study), which resulted in numerous recommendations to help address the challenges faced by these States in the area of safety, aviation security, air navigation, air transport & economics, accident & incident investigation, legislation and organization.

From February 2021 to April 2022, he served as the Chief Technical Advisor and Programme Coordinator of the ICAO Cooperative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programme (COSCAP) South East Asia. He led the evolution of the Programme into a more cooperative, State-centered, risk-based and result-oriented approach, aiming at enhancing effectiveness, sustainability and resilience in implementation support activities.

Mr. Rallo joined ICAO in 2003 and held various additional positions in the Organization, both at Headquarters and at the EUR/NAT Regional Office, where he served the 56 Member States as the Regional Safety Officer from 2011 to 2015.

Before ICAO, his previous experience includes working as an Accident and Incident Investigator for the French Investigation Authority (BEA), for which he conducted and participated in numerous high profile investigations. Mr. Rallo also worked for civil Aviation Authorities in France (Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile) and in Brazil (Instituto de Aviação Civil), in positions related to aerodrome safety and environmental protection.

Mr. Rallo, a French and Italian national, holds a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a Postgraduate degree in Human Factors for the Design of Aerospace Human-Machine Systems. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.