AIR SEYCHELLES SEEKS IOSA CERTIFICATION RENEWAL
(Posted 14th April 2019)
Air Seychelles has held an intensive gap analysis review of key operational areas of the airline in advance preparation for the upcoming renewal of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification set to take place in August 2019.
The comprehensive aviation industry safety audit reoccurring every two years assesses the conformity of the airline with almost 1000 standards and recommended practices across operational functions.
The aim of the audit is to ensure the airline is abiding and continuously conforming to the most challenging industry standards.
The exercise which covered eight operational departments including flight operations, organization and management systems, operational control and flight dispatch, aircraft engineering and maintenance, cabin operations, security management, ground handling as well as cargo operations was conducted by a team of dedicated individuals from Air Seychelles operational department along with the support of four professionals from Etihad Airways.
Gerard Edmond, Head of Management Systems also the focal person for all audit activities at Air Seychelles said: “IOSA is one of the most important audits for Air Seychelles because it provides the airline the opportunity to benchmark its safety performance and operational compliance status against the latest industry standards and recommended practices. In addition, being an IOSA certified operator assures our guests and partners that Air Seychelles is operating in a safe condition and that safety remains our number one priority. Hence the preliminary review conducted with the support of colleagues from Etihad Airways was a good way to identify areas requiring further improvements, to ensure Air Seychelles is performing as per the required standard and also to ensure that the airline is on track for the external IOSA certification scheduled in August 2019”.
The gap analysis review started on Monday, 8 April 2019 and proceeded throughout the course of last week.
The expert support team from Etihad Airways who participated in the review included Manager Quality Alliances and Suppliers , Dimitri Rybkin , Quality Auditor and Captain Boeing 777, Franco Azzopardi, Safety Risk Manager Enrico Lanni and Quality Engineer, Javier Encinas.
Meanwhile was the airline also represented at the just concluded #WTMA2019, aka World Travel Market Africa, which has over the past 6 years become Africa’s premier tourism trade exhibition and this year added key conference components with the ‘African Tourism Investment Summit‘ just one element besides an impressive array of topical speakers and panel sessions, master classes and an award ceremony for responsible tourism.
Besides learning about the carrier’s products and services including destination Seychelles, the event was the perfect opportunity to promote Air Seychelles daily connections between Johannesburg and the Seychelles set to commence as from 03rd of June, 2019.
This edition of the World Travel Market Africa further provided a great platform for the global travel industry to drive commercial business through networking, media events, and on-site meetings with potential partners in addition to strengthening existing relationship.
Present at the Seychelles Tourism Board stand, visitors at the event were also able to gather more information about the connectivity within South Africa offered by Air Seychelles through its codeshare partners including the seamless connection over the Seychelles to other regional destinations operated by the national airline.
Air Seychelles was represented at the event by Chief Commercial Officer, Charles Johnson, International Sales Manager, Michelle Lafortune and the airline’s general sales agents based in South Africa.
Charles Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer of Air Seychelles said: “South Africa is definitely one of the fastest growing travel market for Air Seychelles. Following the significant increase in the number of guests travelling with the national airline to the Seychelles and beyond, including the continuous demand from the market for more connectivity, our participation in WTM Africa will further build Air Seychelles presence in South Africa and reaffirm our commitment to the market. As from 03rd of June, Air Seychelles will start to operate daily flights to Johannesburg providing an additional 272 seats on the route, therefore it is important for the airline to take advantage of similar events to expand its portfolio and amplify new business opportunities.”
Lena Hoareau, STB Director for South Africa said: “We are happy that Air Seychelles has joined us on the Seychelles’ stand, as the interest in the destination keeps growing and it’s important to inform the trade of the great air accessibility to the islands. Now with the daily flights and increased seats coming up, Seychelles has never been that accessible before. We all hope to see the tourist numbers from South Africa grow.”
With connectivity being the key to bring visitors from Africa to the Seychelles, are the daily flights by Air Seychelles and the daily flights via Addis Ababa by Ethiopian Airlines hugely important to provide daily travel opportunities for African travelers.
