Aviation Africa: AviAssist inks partnership with Airbus

With air transport growing at more than 4% a year on the continent, investment in safety performance improvements is seen as vital.

“The number one priority of Airbus is safety: a safe aircraft, safely operated in a safe air transport system,” Airbus director for international safety programmes, Hugues Laloë said.

“Africa’s aviation industry is growing. That growth requires lots of well-trained, motivated new aviators in different domains such as maintenance or flight operations. This partnership underlines our commitment to support developing the safety competencies that these aviators need to foster a strong safety culture. Working with AviAssist gives us access to an effective way of promoting safety in the region”.

Director of AviAssist, Tom Kok said: “Airbus invests in current and second century aviation safety talent to help grow the continent’s aviation industry with this partnership. We are keen to work with Airbus towards equipping every African aviation professional with safety promotion skills to help meet future industry needs. The partnership will assist the Foundation in bringing our customers the best possible safety promotion experience”.

Safety promotion will partially be channelled through AviAssist Safety Promotion Centres (ASPCs). ASPCs provide training, learning and research resources to safety champions in Africa and connect research with policymakers and safety professionals. The first ASPC is based at the University of Rwanda.