On Oct. 6, BSI launched a new global Aviation Verification of Compliance audit scheme. This program is designed to help aerospace organizations to prepare for their "next normal" by providing a best practice approach to mitigating public health risks and increasing consumer confidence in air travel.
With increasingly complex requirements across the aerospace industry worldwide, it’s important that organizations can demonstrate to the travelling public that they have been assessed as compliant with best practice. Organizations need to adapt quickly, adopt new working practices and address new regulations and guidelines while ensuring they are trusted to protect people and provide a healthy and safe environment for the benefit of employees and customers alike. This scheme will help to support them with this challenge.
In order to be verified, airports, ground handlers, commercial and cargo airlines will be independently assessed by BSI against one or more of the following publicly available guidelines or requirements:
- ICAO Council’s Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) (For Airlines, Airports and Cargo Modules)
- The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ECDC COVID-19 Aviation Health Safety Protocol (For Airlines and Airports)
- Local Civil Aviation Authority Guidelines deemed appropriate by BSI (For Airlines, Ground Handlers and Airports)
The first organization to achieve this verification from BSI is Hamad International Airport (HIA), in Qatar, an airport that served over 39 million passengers in 2019, comparable in size to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in the U.S. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, chief operating officer at HIA commented, “It is an honor to be recognized for our efforts to maintain a safe environment for our staff and passengers while ensuring operational efficiency. We always strive to provide consistently high-quality services for all our stakeholders. The verification reflects our capability in maintaining HIA’s position as a leading airport in the world, in these unprecedented times. As the world is adjusting to the new normal, the international recognition we get from BSI is important to ensure HIA’s operational capabilities at all times.”
Pietro Foschi, group executive director assurance services at BSI said, “We welcome and congratulate the leadership demonstrated at Hamad International Airport to be the first to achieve this verification. The challenges presented by COVID-19 to organizations, employees and consumers have had a huge impact and as we adjust to the ‘next normal’, organizations around the world are implementing new ways of working as part of a progressive recovery. Organizations need expert guidance on how to maintain business efficiency and resilience, while protecting workers and consumers. They need to ensure that protocols are in place to provide trust to workers, passengers, authorities and all stakeholders that the best practices regarding health and safety in aviation are correctly applied so that such critical infrastructure can be used safely over time. We at BSI are delighted to have been collaborating with the airport management team at Hamad International to provide such trust.”
