UK firm SAL Aviation Group has helped a major Indian airport upgrade its safety.

Now that licensing and airport certification has become mandatory for all airports in India, Cochin International Airport is the latest to develop, establish, maintain and adhere to a safety management system (SMS).

SMS is the contemporary approach to safety management. It’s a systematic, explicit and comprehensive process for managing safety risks, including safety risk management, safety policy, safety assurance and safety promotion.

At Cochin, SAL Aviation Group was asked to develop and implement a programme which was to be compliant with both ICAO and the Airports Authority of India requirements.

Subject experts from SAL delivered exclusive training programmes at all levels of employees across the business covering: 

• General awareness of CIAL’s roles and responsibilities for safety;
• Safety policy and objectives;
• Safety risk management;
• Compliance with DGCA & National safety requirements;
• Hazard identification, hazard reporting and safety risk assessment and mitigation.

Commenting on the training, V. J. Kurian, managing director of Cochin International Airport, said: “Cochin is acutely aware of its commitments for safety planning, and for measuring our safety performance.

“The safety management system has been introduced and integrated into the fabric of Cochin as it is part of our operational culture, the way we do our jobs at Cochin.

“Today safety is a part of every action and every thought.”