“Operational” safety, not to be confused with physical security, refers to the possibility of causing damage to the people and/or aircraft who are involved in airport operations. For an airport to be operational, it should be certified, meaning it needs to satisfy requirements that guarantee acceptable levels of safety, i.e., the risks associated with airport operations are reduced and controlled to a satisfactory level.
What safety at airports entails
The main goal of safety management in aerodromes is to be able to identify and mitigate risks before they result in incidents that may cause damage. This requires defining acceptable levels of safety, as well as establishing different types of operational safety indicators in order to identify if any deviations are occurring that result in these levels not being reached.
To manage this effectively, risks are controlled by ensuring compliance with various regulations aimed at this goal and by implementing a safety management system that covers the entire operational lifecycle of the airport. In addition to defining levels and indicators of operational safety, and to detect, assess and mitigate risks, these management systems also place an emphasis on investigating, analysing and reporting incidents, which must be done in accordance with recently updated European regulations.
Safety certification for airports
From a regulatory standpoint, the concept of operational safety was reinforced with the publication a few years ago of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Annex 19 on Operational Safety Management, as well as of the fourth edition of ICAO Doc 9859, the Safety Management Manual. Basically, it was an additional initiative by ICAO to strengthen all aspects related to operational safety, which were spread across several of its annexes, in an effort to give it greater importance.
This strategy was in line with the development of the APEX (Airport Excellence in Safety) concept that ACI (Airports Council International) had been promoting in the field of operational safety for some time; and it was also related to the publication of European regulation EU 139/2014. This regulation lays out the requirements for the competent authorities involved in the certification and supervision of aerodromes, aerodrome operators, and apron management service providers.
This regulation is supplemented by other European standards, such as EU 376/2014, which imposes the obligation to set up systems for the analysis, reporting and monitoring of occurrences as part of operational safety management systems at airports. To adjust the requirements of this standard to those established by EU 139/2014, in late 2024, principles on reporting, analysis and monitoring in civil aviation were approved, as set out in EU Implementing Regulation 2024/894, with effect from 20 March 2025.
Implementation of the safety plan at airports
The purpose of aerodrome certification is to ensure that the facilities, procedures and personnel comply with current regulations and that proper protocols are followed to minimise the risks associated with aircraft operations on the airfield. This is a complex process that requires significant effort and inevitably takes time. It is highly advisable to make a significant investment to achieve aerodrome certification, and it is hardly feasible for airport staff to carry it out due to the workload imposed by daily operations. Therefore, it is essential to have technical consultants who specialise in operational safety, who will seek to collaborate with the airport’s own staff to successfully complete this process.
Operational safety is linked to the entire airport life cycle
In addition, managing the operational safety risks that inevitably arise from this consultancy requires involving the various stakeholders related to aircraft operations on the airfield, such as airline pilots, airport managers, ground handling staff, air traffic controllers, consultants, and so on, in order to implement effective operational safety measures. The advantages of having an airport certification are numerous, ranging from economic benefits to operational efficiency. However, the main advantage is the satisfaction of offering airlines and passengers the opportunity to use a safer airport every day, thanks to having an Operational Safety Management System (OSMS).
Specifically, one of AERTEC‘s strengths in terms of airport operations services is helping to implement the necessary measures to ensure the safety of passengers, aircraft and their operators, and of the airport facilities through the design, implementation, and monitoring of OSMS.
The combination of well-trained personnel, the updating and review of operational procedures and the OSMS, the use of new technologies in the airfield, and the ability to maintain a proactive attitude towards operational safety are the key to success.
The best outlook for the future of operational safety involves a combination of best practices that integrate new technologies (A-SMGCS, LED technology, ILCMS solutions, “follow the green” procedures, A-CDM, etc.), with efficient and safe designs that are necessarily aligned with aircraft ground movement procedures and truly take into account the operational safety experience of other airports around the world.
This combination of technological innovation and effective design must be complemented by continuous improvement through the training and efficient development of the stakeholders who work at the airport every day. Operational safety is associated with the entire airport life cycle (consulting, design, construction, operation, use of effective technological tools and efficient management) and requires everyone to be fully engaged and enthusiastic in its continuous improvement.
