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Airports Company participates in Airport Excellence in Security Programme

Airports Company participates in Airport Excellence in Security Programme

In efforts to mitigate security concerns and thoroughly prepare for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) security Audit in 2018, the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) participated in the Airport Excellence (APEX) in Security Programme recently.

The country’s flagship Airport Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) last week hosted officials from the Airport Council International (ACI) APEX Partners from the Airports Company South Africa, Office National Des Aeroports of Morocco, Airports of Mauritius Company, Dublin Airport Authority and Ghana Airports Company, to confirm the commitment and declaration of ACI APEX in form of Peer- review programme held from 11 to 15 December with the NAC.

NAC Acting Chief Executive Officer Lot Haifidi said the exercise, that was an initiative by the Board of Directors, was necessary for them to get an outside view of their Airport AVSEC organisation as well as to host an ACI APEX in safety in 2018.

“This is the first of its kind to happen in Namibia for us to have such a team and we are highly grateful for their participation and subsequent recommendations that we need to address in order to improve the quality of our services. Their observation was an eye opener for us and we take their recommendations seriously and we now mobilise financial and human resources to hit the ground running in addressing the issues,” Haifidi said.

The experts called on NAC to be able to streamline their operations to guidelines and policies to ensure compliance.

“We need to be able to track and avoid incidents and when they happen, what do we do and how do we do it. We need to change our security culture at the airport as well so that everyone of our stakeholder has the responsibility to ensure safety and security at all times. This is not really about the ICAO Audit but more about improving our operations and aligning how we do things per international expectations,” said Haifidi.

Upon request from the host airport, APEX in Security can provide a Security Review of any safety area which usually include a wide range of security key areas and are tailored to the host airport’s environment and needs. The review will also be tailored to the regulatory environment, depending on the areas for which the airport has responsibility.

Benefits for HKIA as the host airport, the programme enhance levels of security through increased knowledge of ICAO guidance, national regulatory standards, best practices and training needs/options: Provides thorough understanding of its own security performance; Identifies areas for improved efficiency and better use of resources; Allows access to a pool of expertise, facilitating the mitigation of any security gaps as required by its specific operating environment and Initiates a cycle of continuous improvement.

The programme was attended by NAC stakeholders such as the airlines, NAMPOL, Immigration, Customs & Excise, Ground Handlers, amongst others. NAC is preparing to host an ACI APEX in Safety Peer-review Programme in 2018.


 

 

About The Author

Mandisa Rasmeni

Mandisa Rasmeni has worked as reporter at the Economist for the past five years, first on the entertainment beat but now focussing more on community, social and health reporting. She is a born writer and she believes education is the greatest equalizer. She received her degree in Journalism at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in June 2021. . She is the epitome of perseverance, having started as the newspaper's receptionist in 2013.