Dubai airport to have safety management manual

Mohammed Ahli, the operations director of DCA, said yesterday that DCA would submit the draft of the new SMS manual to the General Civil Aviation Authority in June, and the response is expected to be positive. Earlier this year, the DCA submitted the new Aerodrome Manual for the consideration of the General Civil Aviation Authority, which is currently evaluating the manual.

Speaking at a press conference to announce the two-day Airport Council International (ACI) seminar on "Safeport", which starts in Dubai today, Mr Ahli said that Dubai International Airport spent Dh2.5 million on safety needs every year.

He added: "Safety is of paramount importance in all aspects of aviation, and nowhere more than in the daily operations of an international airport. In this era of rapid expansion of our own national airline, Emirates, Dubai has one of the most dynamic development programmes of all the world's airports.

"The concerns about control of safety standards and risk management are greatly magnified by such developments, and conferences such as this enable airport managers and safety personnel to engage in highly productive interaction which can enhance our understanding of the risks and plan control them."

He said that for Dubai International Airport this conference was especially important, as currently the DCA is working on an SMS manual.

Alexander Strahl, the secretary-general of ACI said that airports in the Middle East were "100 per cent safe." He added that the forecast for the next 20 years is that the Middle East airports would witness a four per cent increase in passenger traffic.