Gulf Air renews commitment to safety

The intensive audit is an internationally recognised and acknowledged evaluation system designed to assess the operational safety of an airline. Gulf Air also stated its support for the Enhanced IOSA, an evolved version of the current IOSA Audit that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is scheduled to rolloutby September 2015.

Gulf Air’sfirst IOSA audit was carried out in 2005 and to date it has successfully completed five audits, in-line with IATA’s two-year audit cycle, to renew its place on the IOSA registry. During the latest inspectionGulf Air satisfied more than 900 IOSA standards in eight operational areas, including the organization and management system, flight operations, operational control and flight dispatch, aircraft engineering and maintenance, cabin operations, ground handling operations, cargo operations and security management.

Gulf Air’s acting CEO, Mr. Maher Salman Al Musallam said: “We are extremely proud to have satisfied all of IATA’s rigorous safety requirements to maintain IOSA registration. The IOSA standards exceed the already stringent regulatory requirements that we have to meet. Gulf Air prides itself on operating to the highest global safety standards and levels of international aviation safety practices; giving our customers the reassurance our main priority has consistently been safety. We are constantly looking to raise the bar in terms of our safety standards and renewal of the IOSA registration is just one of many elements that demonstrate the airline’s on-going commitment to ensuring its operations are in-line with strict international safety requirements and that we remain at the forefront of safety developments.”

Five IOSA auditors spent fivedays reviewing Gulf Air’s operational and maintenance practices, ensuring that the airline continues to meet all of the requirements of this comprehensive global standard.

Gulf Air senior manager operations quality assurance, Captain Donald D. Broadfoot, said: “Gulf Air’s Quality Assurance Departments continuously review and appraise internal operational processes to ensure they conform to allregulatory requirements in addition toindustrybestpractices. One of the ways this is achieved is through the biennial IOSA audit. Between these audits, rigorous quality control processes and self-auditing ensures conformity with the IOSA Standards and Recommended Practices.The next development of the IOSA program, currently being introduced by IATA, involves such on-going monitoring in what is known as Enhanced-IOSA.We fully endorse this new initiative and believe that it will further improve the high safety record in the aviation industry.”