Kenya Airways gets ISO/IEC 17025 certification

KENYA AIRWAYS ATTAINS CALIBRATION ISO CERTIFICATION

(Posted 21st March 2014)

Africa’s premier MRO (Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Organization) conference, which ended in Johannesburg yesterday after three days of intense industry deliberations bringing together key airline and maintenance organization personnel from the continent and beyond, saw Kenya Airways recognized with an ISO accreditation and certification for their own inhouse MRO at the Embakasi side of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. KQ’s Technical Department Calibration Centre has achieved ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation following a lengthy process which according to information received started in 2011 and ended with an audit in 2013 before declared compliant in all areas.

ISO/IEC 17025 was first issued in 1999 by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It is the single most important standard for calibration and testing laboratories around the world. Laboratories that are accredited to this international standard have demonstrated that they are technically competent and able to produce precise and accurate test and/or calibration data.

This accreditation, which is highly regarded internationally, suggests that once again, Kenya Airways is at the cutting edge of aviation in Africa and among the leading airlines on the continent. ISO certification is not only a key indicator of technical competence and a mark of quality, but more importantly it forms part of EASA requirements, making sure that Kenya Airways can now be granted EASA approvals as an Approved Maintenance Organisation. Their tasks (inspection, calibration and certification), personnel and equipment are now able to deliver quality while the test, calibration and measurement data supplied by the laboratory is accurate and reliable. Currently, the Calibration Centre caries out tools calibration covering:

• Force measurements

• Torque measurements

• Pressure measurements

• Precision tools

• Electrical measurements for AC and DC voltage and current

This latest accolade for Kenya Airways, less than two weeks before their first Boeing B787-8 is delivered to them, is highly significant as along with other key certifications and re-certifications – the airline only recently once again passed the IOSA audit – assures passengers of safe operations and safe processes across the entire spectrum.

Watch this space for regular and breaking aviation news from across Eastern Africa.