Gulf Air completes EASA safety audit process
Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, recently completed an audit process successfully for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and maintained its ongoing certification to carry out maintenance on Airbus A320 family and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner including their associated engines and various fitted components. This will allow Gulf Air to expand its maintenance capability to include more regional and European airlines that operate to and from Bahrain International Airport.
The objective of the audit, which is performed once every year, is to obtain assurance that Gulf Air’s planes, engines, associated systems and component maintenance activities are carried out in conformity with the European Civil Aviation regulations and standards as well as complying with additional requirements specifically drafted for organizations located outside the European Union (EU) or non-member states. The audit also assists to ensure that these activities are performed in accordance with Gulf Air’s internal policy and procedures that are pre-approved by EASA. Focused on Gulf Air’s Technical Division, the EASA audit includes inspections on the airline’s processes and procedures, competencies and workmanship, as well as adequacy of manpower with various expertise including the management team, facilities and environment, availability of equipment and tooling, materials, technical manuals and documentation that are required for the type of aircraft, engines and components to be maintained by Gulf Air.
Gulf Air’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Captain Waleed AlAlawi said at this occasion: “This is a testimony of Gulf Air’s strength and adherence to EASA’s regulations and we are glad to maintain our certification year after year. I would like to thank our Bahraini Chief Technical Officer, Jamal Abdulrahman Hashim, and his team of engineers and technicians for their hard work and continuous commitment in serving the National Carrier.” He also added: “The routine audits are performed twice every 24 months and we welcome EASA every time to assist us in preserving the status of being professional with high standards to maintain not only our fleet but also the equipment of other airlines.”
Recently, Gulf Air successfully completed the internationally recognized, biennial IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and has been renewed on the IOSA Safety Audit Registry until May 2023. The audit covered approximately 1,000 standards and practices related to the safety of operations and procedures of the airline. That was the ninth IOSA audit successfully completed by Gulf Air since 2005, in-line with IATA’s two-year audit cycles. aviationpros.com