Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air has successfully completed the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and renewed its place on the IOSA Registry until 2011.

“Gulf Air places safety as its top most priority and is fully committed to carry out its operations in line with the industry’s best safety and quality practices,” says Gulf Air chief executive officer Bjorn Naf.

'The IOSA has become a benchmark for global aviation companies and I am delighted that we have successfully met IOSA safety audit requirement and renewed our place in its registry.'

'Considering the fact that IOSA is now a prerequisite for airlines to be an IATA member, it confirms that Gulf Air continues its commitment to operate to the highest level of operational safety.'

Besides the operational safety aspect, it also helps airlines in significant cost savings by reducing the number of redundant codeshare audits, provides continuous update on regulatory revisions and best practices,” Naf added.

In order to renew its registration, Gulf Air has to conform to more than 900 standards in eight operational areas, including flight operations, operational control and flight dispatch, aircraft engineering and maintenance, cabin operations, ground handling, cargo operations and operational security.

'The IOSA standards exceed the already stringent regulatory requirements that we have to meet. Our continued conformity with IOSA requirements is a clear message to our customers that operational safety and quality are our primary concern” says Gulf Air head of Quality Assurance Captain Donald D. Broadfoot.

“Five IOSA auditors spent five days reviewing Gulf Air’s operational and maintenance practices, ensuring that we continue to meet all of the requirements of this comprehensive standard,” he added.

The IOSA programme aims to standardise and promote air safety practices, and includes co-ordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and many aviation authorities around the world.

Gulf Air’s IOSA renewal was carried out by Aviation Compliance Solutions (ACS), ensuring that the highest level of operational safety and regulatory compliance is achieved and maintained.-TradeArabia News Service