Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), the operator and managing body of Bahrain International Airport (BIA), completed the annual Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) Safety Management System (SMS) Audit aimed at ensuring that relevant SMS Aerodrome Certification requirements are met. This year’s audit was focused on the effectiveness of the Aerodrome Safety Management System at BIA, including considerations for COVID-19 management and recovery. The audit required close coordination between the BCAA audit team and BAC Airside Operations, Facilities Management, and Fire Fighting and Rescue Services.
Mr. Al Binfalah said: “Safety is at the top of our priorities and this important annual audit plays a key role in ensuring that we maintain the necessary standards. This is even more vital as airlines operating out of BIA begin to resume regular flights following the slow down caused by COVID-19. We are taking every possible precaution to safeguard the wellbeing of passengers and staff at BIA and continue to comply with all directives issued by the National Task Force for Combating COVID-19. I would like to thank Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs auditors for their hard work in assisting our team throughout the audit process, which is essential to enhance operational efficiency, identify areas for improvement, and build on our solid safety performance.”
Other areas assessed during the audit included safety performance indicators and targets, airport capacity analysis and safety measures including change management interactions, implications of parked aircraft on BIA operations, safety, and infrastructure, human factors in aerodrome safety management, rescue and firefighting capabilities, and wildlife management.
The audit is a proactive safety management activity intended to ensure the timely identification of areas with potential for improvement to enhance safety, and that the Airport Safety Management System complies with applicable safety regulatory requirements.