ACI’s Airport Excellence in Safety programme celebrates five years of helping airports enhance operational safety

Montreal, 18 January 2016 – Airports Council International (ACI) is celebrating five years of the Airport Excellence (APEX) in Safety programme with the first review of 2016. The APEX in Safety team, along with a group of volunteer Safety Assessors from Safety Partner airports, arrived in Tunis, Tunisia earlier today to begin a review of Tunis-Carthage International Airport which will run to 22 January.

APEX in Safety is ACI’s response to the industry’s call to action to improve aviation safety worldwide. It is designed to help airports identify and mitigate safety vulnerabilities through peer review missions, education, mentoring and best practice guidance. It is an approach that is relevant for all airports, large or small, in developed, emerging or developing markets.

Since 2011, APEX in Safety has evolved into an industry recognized programme that supports airports in their efforts of continuous operational safety improvement. In 2015, reviews were successfully conducted across all regions, underscoring ACI’s credo of leaving no airport behind.

“This is a great milestone for ACI, but more importantly for our members, who have shown a clear commitment to enhancing safety at their airports,” said Danny Boutin, Senior Manager, APEX Programmes at ACI World. “APEX in Safety has proven to be a great success, both for our Host Airports and Safety Partners. I’m pleased to note that the programme also helps airports along the road to aerodrome certification.”

In the coming months, the programme will see increased collaboration with ACI’s Safety and Technical Standing Committee (STSC) in the form of sharing of information about observed best practices, gap analysis and regional trends. Corporación Quiport will also support ACI in regard to technical cooperation for safety reviews in the Latin America-Caribbean region. Additionally, Dublin International Aviation Training Academy, which has twice led APEX missions, recently signed a memorandum of understanding to continue its work as a Safety Partner. Finally, the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria have both agreed to participate in the programme. This is in addition to the collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization, which has championed the programme from the very beginning, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which has also been a strong supporter.

“I  congratulate everyone involved—our Safety Partners and their volunteer Safety Assessors, and  the Host Airports, who have demonstrated that ensuring the safety of the traveling public and airport employees the world over is our number one priority,” said Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World. “I would also note that even as we continue to ramp up activity in APEX in Safety, it has become clear that the peer review formula we have established is beneficial to all players involved. In that regard, we intend to extend the APEX programme to the realm of Security, with two pilot reviews planned for this year.

“APEX is one of the many ways that ACI is delivering on its promise of working with the best interests of its members and the traveling public in mind,” Gittens concluded. “It is heartening to know that the worldwide community of airports and a wide range of stakeholders are moving forward with us every step of the way.”

Notes for editors

1. Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, was founded in 1991 with the objective of fostering cooperation among its member airports and other partners in world aviation, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Air Transport Association and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation. In representing the best interests of airports during key phases of policy development, ACI makes a significant contribution toward ensuring a global air transport system that is safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sustainable.

2. For more information on ACI’s APEX in Safety programme, please click here.

3. To download a pdf version of this media release, please click here.

Media contact

Ryan White
Manager, Communications
ACI World
Telephone: +1 514 373 1226
Email: rwhite@aci.aero