KIA receives aerodrome certificate for ensuring safety, efficiency in 2015
The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has presented an aerodrome certificate to the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) for ensuring safety and efficiency in its operations in 2015.
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This means the KIA meets local and International safety, security and quality standards.
The aerodrome operating certificate will expire in 2017, after which a new operating certificate will be issued.
Presenting the certificate to the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) at a ceremony in Accra last Friday, the Director General of the GCAA, Mr Simon Allotey, said the signatory states to the convention of International Civil Aviation Organisations (ICAO) had the responsibility for ensuring safety, regularity and efficiency of aircraft operations within their jurisdictions.
He said the most effective, transparent means of achieving those objectives were to establish a separate safety oversight entity and well-defined safety oversight mechanisms supported by legislation to carry out the required functions.
Aerodrome certification
Mr Allotey said the ICAO required the operator of an aerodrome intended for international air transport operations to be in possession of an aerodrome operating certificate and that provision became applicable in 2003.
“The national aerodrome certification seeks to achieve and maintain a higher level of safety in aerodrome operations, promote standardisation and consistency of procedures and operations and facilitate standardisation within a state and from one country to another,” he explained.
Mr Allotey said the GCAA conducted an in-depth assessment of the facilitation at the KIA to ensure that the aerodrome was maintained in accordance with the required national and ICAO standards.
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He said the audit by the GCAA indicated that the GACL was complying with safety, security and quality standards and commended the management of the GACL for its hard work in keeping to standards at the KIA and urged it to maintain facilities at the airport.
Significant milestone
For his part, the Managing Director of the GACL, Mr Charles Asare, said the presentation marked a significant milestone in the history of aviation in Ghana.
The feat, he said, was achieved with the participation and support of and teamwork from all staff, stakeholder organisations such as the GCAA and the various airlines.
He said the GACL was aware that the intention of an aerodrome certification was not only to establish compliance with regulatory procedures but also meet the needs of the rapid growing aviation industry and increasing global concerns of aviation safety.
Mr Asare said the KIA had demonstrated high standards across all aspects of airport operations, including the construction of new air side infrastructure such as taxiways, runway touch down zones, aprons and an aeronautical ground lighting system.
“I must say that the GACL plays a key role in actualising the vision of the government of Ghana to make the country the gateway to West Africa by providing the required airport infrastructure,” he said.
The Deputy Director General of the GCAA in charge of Technical, Mr Martey B. Atoklo, for his part, said the aerodrome operating certificate was to ensure that facilities and procedures at the airport met international standards.
He said the GACL had met all the international standards in managing the KIA.