The International Air Transport Association introduced the Collaborative Aviation Safety Improvement Programme to reduce the number of accidents and serious incidents in Africa towards achieving its objective for the Focus Africa campaign.
In a recent publication, IATA stated that launch partners in the programme include the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the African Civil Aviation Commission, the US Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and the Airlines Association of Southern Africa.
According to the body, the CASIP partners aim to prioritise the most pressing safety concerns on the continent and rally the resources needed to address them.
“The benefits of improving aviation safety in Africa will be spread across the economies and societies of the continent,” it noted.
IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, said, “Improving aviation safety will play an important role in Africa’s overall development. Safe, efficient and reliable air connectivity is a major driving contribution to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. In that sense, CASIP will make it clear to governments across the continent that aviation must be prioritised as an integral part of national development strategies. With such broad benefits at stake, we hope that other parties will be encouraged to join the CASIP effort.”
He added that CASIP partners would identify deficiencies in operational safety and implement corrective action plans; provide safety training and workshops continent-wide; promote a data-driven approach to safety performance with emphasis on making safety data available to decision-makers and ensuring efficient accident/incident reporting.
Walsh said, “Improving safety performance is a priority for Africa. And we don’t need to reinvent the wheel to deliver the needed results. Collaborative safety teams in Latin America have demonstrated that safety improves when government and industry work together to implement global standards. By working together, the partners will pool resources to have a greater impact on areas where risk can be reduced, leading to measurable improvements in safety.”
