MANAGING Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Captain Rabiu Yadudu has said that adequate training and retraining of staff is a guarantee to prevent incidents and accidents stressing that safety can not be improvised as it is essential for all stakeholders in the air transport chain to be exposed to constant training in order to sustain business
Yadudu spoke at this years Airport Council International (ACI) safety week with theme: ‘Training, Key for Resuming Activity’ where he was represented by the Regional General Manager, South West /Airport Manager Murtala Mohammad international Airport, (MMIA) Lagos, Mrs Victoria Shin Aba.
He noted that safety remains the key as safety will be guaranteed when everyone is alive to observe safety practices in the aviation industry.
He also said that there was need to start and promote safety conversations between airports and her stakeholders, neighbor, contractors and concessionaires as this will help secure the sanctity of the aerodrome and get everyone involved in protecting national interests.
In her speech, the Regional General Manager, Mrs Shin Aba said the theme of the safety week, ‘Training, Key for Resuming Activity’ was apt and consistent with challenges with challenges faced globally following the COVID-19 pandemic
Mrs Shin Aba disclosed that ACI Africa has chosen the month of September 2021 to celebrate Safety Week in all airports in Africa.
She said the objectives for this year’s ACI safety week was to adopt an inclusive approach by involving all internal and external stakeholders whose activities impacted on safety directly or indirectly and to promote airport’s safety culture by sharing experiences and knowledge
The MMIA boss noted that the safety week was unique as it has provided the opportunity to collectively confront and address safety concerns resulting from the activities on the air side for the safety and regularity of aircraft operations
Shin Aba said the airport was leveraging on the safety week to bring people together, inspire learning, and share values and experiences in a pleasant atmosphere
Training, and she identified, remained a critical requirement in the aviation industry noting that besides, training was also instrumental to the airport restart operations after the lock down
She disclosed that all returning staff went through training after the long period of lock down as a result of the global pandemic adding that stakeholders in the aviation industry must be regularly and adequately trained for safety and business sustainability
She explained that after successfully managing airport operations after the lock down, MMIA achieved the airport health accreditation from the ACI international, an endorsement aligned with the FAAN commitment to protecting the health and safety of passengers, staff and stakeholders during the pandemic and beyond.
Shin Aba urged stakeholders to uphold aviation safety as part of their responsibilities because safety remained everybody’s business
