How APEX Helps Maintaining Sustainable Growth for Airports

Since its inception in 2012, ACI’s APEX in Safety programme has built a reputation among airports as providing the most adequate exercise to enhance Operational Safety Management (OSM).

Based on the overall success of the APEX in Safety programme with 80 reviews conducted to date, this lead to the initiative of the APEX in Security programme. Launched in October 2017 during the 27^th ACI Africa/World Annual General Assembly, Conference & Exhibition, the programme is rapidly gaining recognition among members and industry stakeholders.

Airport Excellence Programmes

The Airport Excellence (APEX) Programmes is offered as part of an ACI Member service. The programme includes a weeklong assessment, where all aspects of OSM are covered by airport peers who identify gaps and vulnerabilities and provide recommendations.

With industry partners such as the International Civil Association Organization (ICAO), European Commission, World Bank, African Development Bank, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), APEX is positioning itself as a powerful resource for airports looking to enhance their safety and/or security standards.

Safety and security initiatives

Over the last three years, the pool of safety assessors has more than tripled its size counting in at 250. To date, the APEX in Security programme contains a total of 50 assessors only six months after its initial launch.  However, it is important to note that ACI World’s capabilities within each region and its success is thanks to the large collaboration of volunteer airports. Their expertise has allowed for the growth of the programme. APEX encourages Airport Members to join the APEX Partners which calls for airport staff to donate time and join in in various missions, improving the overall safety of the world’s airports. 

ACI Airport Members

APEX offers various subject matter expertise to ACI Airport Members. Originating from reviews based on the ICAO Annex 14 and ACI Best Practices, the programme now offers European Certification Regulation (EASA) capabilities as well as, reviews can be tailored to any Member needs – ranging from Safety Management Systems (SMS) to airfield maintenance focus for example. The same principle applies to the APEX in Security programme as the ICAO Annex 17 and European Commission Regulation can be applied to the scope of a mission.

More to come for APEX

With the increasing pressure to enhance safety and security in airports in all regions of the world, it is essential to highlight that for APEX to continue its success airports need to continue sharing and contributing to the overall goal of improving airport standards. All airports can benefit and contribute in building a community within ACI’s Member Airports.

The community of airports and its expertise is a powerful tool. ACI World encourages airports to join in all areas where they feel added value could be provided.

To learn more about the APEX Programmes, to join or to host a review, contact Danny Boutin, Senior Manager APEX Programmes at dboutin@aci.aero or apex@aci.aero .