The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Airport Services Association (ASA) have intensified their cooperation to elevate safety and efficiency in ground handling operations globally. This partnership aims to advance standardization, bolster safety data sharing, and introduce innovative approaches to increase sector resilience.
Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Safety, and Security, emphasized the importance of this collaboration, stating, “Global standards make aviation safer, and ASA and its members have been instrumental in shaping the IATA ground handling standards we rely on today. By sharing data, we can support this essential activity with data-driven insights and decisions.”
Fabio Gamba, Director General of ASA, echoed these sentiments, describing the partnership as a “significant milestone” that harnesses the combined expertise of both IATA and ASA. “By coordinating our approach, we will better support ground and cargo handling professionals worldwide and establish industry standards and best practices everyone can trust,” he said.
The collaboration between IATA and ASA includes several key initiatives:
- Safety Data Sharing: By leveraging ASA’s Safety Incident Database and IATA’s Incident Data Exchange, both organizations will collaborate on data collection and analysis to proactively address safety concerns in ground and cargo handling.
- Industry Standards Development: ASA will work closely with IATA in refining industry best practices and standards, utilizing key documents like the IATA Ground Operations Manual (IGOM) and the Airport Handling Manual (AHM) to promote consistency and adoption across the industry.
This joint effort underscores IATA and ASA’s commitment to building a safer and more resilient global aviation sector.
