GOVT WORRIES OVER COST OF APRON, GROUND ACCIDENTS
THE Federal Government has asked stakeholders in the aviation industry to share information and co-operate in several areas of airport operations in other to reduce the cost of apron/ground accidents, on which the global aviation industry is spending about $10 billion yearly.
The call was made by the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Richard Aisuebeogun, at the 45th Board meeting of Airports Council International (ACI) Africa /World Safety Seminar at Marrakech in Morocco, where the Acting General Manager (Airport Safety) of the agency, Mr. Peter Onyeri, became the first African to be admitted as a member of the Airport Council International (ACI) Operational Safety Sub-Committee (OSSC).
The OSSC Committee, which is responsible for drafting a safety blue print is also expected to design and implement suitable safety programmes that would help to improve safety culture, as well as, implement safety management programmes in the African sub- region.
The nomination, which was put forward by Aisuebeogun, was accepted in consideration of the vast experience of Onyeri in airport safety.
Aisuebeogun, who presented a paper on 'Aerodrome Safety in Airports' at the seminar, identified various threats to safe flight operations from the aerodrome and proffered solutions that would eliminate or reduce the threats to the minimum.
He disclosed that the authority had put in place a safety management system called the Graded Integrated Model (GIM), which had been acclaimed and accepted internationally as a global model for airports.
He lauded the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, which over the years, has promoted the culture of Safety Management System (SMS) amongst the airlines, and other industry service providers.
Aisuebeogun, a product of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)/ ACI Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP), called on airports worldwide to develop a safety culture and ensure that they put in place, a safety management system that would not only be adequate, but also adaptable to the different settings of individual airports in a multi-layered airport system .
He expressed joy at the admission of Onyeri as a member of the ACI World Operational Safety Sub-Committee by the world body. He noted also that ACI, being an international body had done so much in the promotion of safety culture and safety management progammes.
The Director General of ACI World, Angela Gittens, who gave the keynote address at the event said the seminar, was an initiative of ACI /ICAO, adding that it was designed to help African airports to develop their safety programmes, and empower them by giving necessary knowledge and tools that would help reduce the accident rate in the African region.
She said the launching of the 'Airport Excellence in Safety' seminar was essential to improve collaboration between ACI World and ACI Africa for the promotion of a safety culture and implementing their safety management programmes.