Strategic Objective A – Safety – Runway and Aerodrome Safety

Runway and Aerodrome Safety

Development of a Runway Safety Team Handbook

The first edition of the ICAO Runway Safety Team Handbook is being developed in conjunction with ICAO’s runway safety partners, and a draft of the document appears on the Organization’s Runway Safety website. The purpose of the Handbook is to provide guidance for Runway Safety Teams at airports. It advises them as to objectives, possible team participants and how to get set up, and it includes examples of meeting agendas and topics that should be covered. Ideally it would involve, among other entities, airlines, air traffic controllers, the aerodrome operator, and the State regulator as a member, observer or facilitator for ideas that may be put forth. The handbook is expected to be published early in 2014.

Regional Runway Safety Seminars

As part of the outcome of the Global Runway Safety Symposium (GRSS) held in 2011 in which the framework for a series of regional runway safety seminars was established with commitment from partnering organizations, the delivery of these regional seminars continued in the ICAO Regions following the themes of the GRSS. These seminars have provided Region-specific dialogue and guidance through the sharing of information and the identification of best practices to enhance runway safety. Four regional runway safety seminars were delivered in 2013 — in Agadir, Morocco; St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda; Istanbul, Turkey; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The primary objective of the seminars is to promote and support the establishment of multidisciplinary runway safety teams (RSTs) at airports.

Adoption of Comprehensive Annex 14 Amendments on Aerodrome Design and Operations

Comprehensive amendments to Annex 14 — Aerodromes, Volume I — Aerodrome Design and Operations (Amendment 11-A, 6th Edition), and Volume II — Heliports (Amendment 5, 4th Edition), aimed at enhancing aerodrome safety and efficiency, were adopted by the ICAO Council on 27 February, with the applicability date of 14 November 2013. The amendments cover a wide range of aerodrome-related disciplines, including aerodrome design, aerodrome operations and services, visual aids for navigation, rescue and fire-fighting, and heliports, and feature new provisions to help prevent and reduce consequences of runway excursions, such as those on runway surface friction measurement and reporting, and runway end safety areas (RESA) and arresting systems.

Development of the First Edition of PANS-Aerodromes

A consultation with States is underway on the draft first edition of the Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Aerodromes (PANS-Aerodromes). The document has been developed to assist States and aerodrome operators in addressing priority issues identified by the ICAO USOAP audits. It contains procedures on certification of aerodromes and the methodology to conduct an aerodrome compatibility study incorporating a safety assessment in order to manage proposed changes to the operations of the aerodrome. It is envisaged that the First Edition of PANS-Aerodromes, along with the associated SARPs in Annex 14, Volume I, will be applicable in November 2015.

ACI/ICAO Aerodrome Certification Course

ICAO and Airports Council International (ACI) continue to expand their cooperation on building airport staff competencies related to the safe operation of airports worldwide. One key example of this cooperation is the ACI-ICAO Aerodrome Certification course that was launched in 2013. The competency-building course uses a blended learning approach combining e-learning and five-day practical classroom training jointly delivered by experts from ACI and ICAO. The course has proven to be most beneficial to aerodrome management and operational level personnel who are tasked with ensuring that the process used to certify the aerodrome is consistent with ICAO SARPs.