The Rwandan CAA and IATA have agreed to cooperate on safety, as part of a wider African drive to get all airlines on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) register.
Under the 2015 Abuja Declaration, African governments committed to recognize IOSA as a safety standard and get all of the continents’ airlines IOSA-registered by 2020.
On Aug. 14, IATA said it has signed an MOU with the Rwandan CAA, which will further develop Rwanda’s safety oversight program.
“Rwanda, when this MOU is implemented, will be the second African state after Zimbabwe to fulfill this commitment,” IATA said.
IOSA was established in 2003 as an airline-safety benchmark, which is now held by 440 airlines—including 34 African airlines. IOSA certification is required to become an IATA member airline.
“We hope that our work together will be an inspiration to other African governments to take similar action in fulfilling their Abuja Declaration commitments,” IATA regional VP-Africa and Middle East Muhammad Albakri said.
In 2017, the accident rate among IOSA-registered airlines was four times better than non-IOSA airlines.
“This trend carries through to Africa where the 34 African airlines with an IOSA registration delivered safety performance more than three times better than African carriers not on the registry,” IATA said.
