2 March 2020 (Abu Dhabi) – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (UAE GCAA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to enhance aviation safety in the UAE and move towards achieving a single set of internationally-recognized audit standards across the Middle East.
Under the terms of the MoU, GCAA will recognize the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) as an acceptable means of compliance with GCAA regulations to complement their safety oversight function. UAE GCAA is the sixth regulator in the Middle East to recognize IOSA, after Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait.
“Safety is the industry’s top priority and IOSA continues to demonstrate the benefits of global standards underpinning safety operations. We congratulate the UAE GCAA for their continuous leadership in advancing a safe and efficient air transport industry in the region and for helping promote a single set of global safety standards,” said Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and Middle East.
IOSA is the global benchmark for airline operational safety management. The all accident rate over the period of 2015-2019 for IOSA operators is lower than non-IOSA operators in all regions. In the Middle East and North Africa region, airlines on the IOSA registry experienced 1.69 accidents per million flights versus 2.85 accidents per million flights for non-IOSA airlines, over the period 2015-2019.
For more information, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Tel: + 41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org
Notes for Editors:
IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 290 airlines comprising 82% of global air traffic
