IATA announce 100% IOSA registration

Global- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced all 224 of its member airlines, comprising 93% of scheduled air traffic globally, are listed on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry.  

The IOSA, which now consists of 308 airlines, is the global industry standard for airline operational safety management.

According to IATA, IOSA's 900+ standards, developed in cooperation with the world's leading airlines and regulators represent industry best practice in all aspects of operational safety.

"IATA membership is now synonymous with best practice in airline safety. This is a great achievement and an important mark of quality for all IATA airlines. This in turn is a reassurance for travellers everywhere of aviation's serious commitment to safety," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO at IATA.

Registration for the IOSA is available free of charge to any commercial airline and valid for two years from the date of initial audit.

IOSA is also expected to help airlines focus their safety efforts by reducing redundant and repetitive auditing.

Since its inception, IOSA has helped to avoid almost 1200 redundant audits, saving US$71 million, IATA said.

IATA recently challenged the aviation industry and governments worldwide to bring an aligned global approach on aviation carbon emissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference to be held this December in Copenhagen.

"Environmental responsibility is a core promise of aviation, alongside safety and security.  But we can only deliver on that promise if governments are aligned with all four pillars of our strategy. Copenhagen will test that alignment, especially on positive economic measures," said Bisignani at the annual Aviation and Environment Summit held in Geneva.

Bisignani also highlighted that the aviation industry has been successful in reducing carbon emissions

"This year we expect a 7.8% drop in global carbon emissions from aviation. Of this, 6% is from an expected drop in capacity and the other 1.8% is directly related to our Four Pillar Strategy on climate change, specifically improvement in technology, operations and infrastructure."

Progress in IATA's green efforts were especially pronounced in two particular areas, Bisignani said.

Firstly, IATA's fuel savings efforts saved 15 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2008, as IATA's green teams identified savings of between 3 and 12% of fuel consumption at each airline visited.

In the second area, recent successful tests by Continental, JAL, Air New Zealand and Virgin proved that next generation sustainable biofuels works. "We have made amazing progress. Certification by 2010 or 2011 is a real possibility," said Bisignani.