Julian Moxon/Paris
Regulation and safety organisations in France, Germany and the UK are forming a new group to offer assistance to countries wishing to improve operational safety standards. India, Mexico and the Philippines have already signed up.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority's international services branch, France's Bureau Veritas and its German opposite number, Germanischer Lloyd, plan to complete an agreement by the end of August under which an Airbus Industrie-style Groupement d'Interet Economique Europèene will be established in Hoofdorf, Amsterdam. Air Eurosafe will be located adjacent to the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), which is supporting the project along with the European Commission and other bodies.
"We want to help countries to upgrade their civil-aviation standards and to get up to date on international regulations," says Bureau Veritas aerospace division vice-president Alain Chapgier. He notes that there are "increasing concerns" about the oversight of operational standards in some airlines, citing as an example the use by developing countries of substandard aircraft which do not comply with international safety regulations. A further problem is the increasing use by airlines of services provided by outside contractors, which may not conform with safety standards.
Chapgier puts the average cost of a one-year assistance programme at "around $1 million for a country the size of Vietnam".
The initiative is aimed partly at providing an alternative to the US Federal Aviation Administration, which according to Chapgier has "hegemony" over the provision of safety and regulatory advice to countries. The FAA categorises nations according to their compliance with US regulations on operations, but Chapgier notes that the organisation provides little or no advice to help put matters right. "Our mission is to help countries implement JAA regulations as an alternative to the FAA," he says.
Source: Flight International
