AIR.L Regulatory News (AIR)

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28 February 2018

Air Partner plc

Baines Simmons and Frazer-Nash Consultancy awarded four-year STEP contract

by the Ministry of Defence

Baines Simmons, part of the Air Partner group, has been awarded the contract for the Safety Training for Error Prevention (STEP) programme by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), in partnership with engineering specialist Frazer-Nash Consultancy. The contract is worth between £2 million and £3 million and will span the next four years, with the option of two one-year extensions. The contract will also serve as a framework agreement to support and facilitate safety-related sub-projects across the MOD.

STEP is the successor to the Defence Aviation Error Management System (DAEMS) contracts, which were technical support initiatives designed to assist cultural change and facilitate the establishment of an effective Safety Management System (SMS) across the Defence Aviation Environment (DAE).

Baines Simmons and Frazer-Nash will provide support within the STEP programme to further embed Error Management (EM) and to support the progression towards the next stage of safety maturity, as an effective SMS is developed across the DAE.

With the formation of the Defence Safety Agency (DSA), there is the potential opportunity for STEP to deliver a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) to identify emerging training requirements across the other MOD regulatory domains and develop appropriate training and technical support solutions.

Mark Briffa, CEO at Air Partner, said: 'This is an extremely important initiative for the MOD and I am delighted that we will be supporting them as they take this next step in further strengthening the safety processes they have in place. This contract win is a great start to 2018, following on from a successful 2017 in which we won a number of contracts with tier one national carriers, international civil airlines, the Royal Air Force of Oman and the European Defence Agency, among others."

Andy Llewellyn, STEP Programme Manager at Baines Simmons, added: "It has been a fantastic team effort to secure the STEP contract, which allows Baines Simmons and Frazer-Nash to build upon the success of the Defence Aviation Error Management System (DAEMS) programmes. Together with the safety professionals within the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) and those across the DAE regulated community (with whom we have worked to establish DAEMS), we have paved the way for the STEP programme. This represents a challenging but exciting opportunity and we will continue to act as trusted advisors to the MOD and assist in any way we can to ensure that an effective SMS prevails, not only within the DAE but across the MOD as a whole".

Real Admiral Paul Chivers, Director MAA, said: "The Military Aviation Authority (MAA) have been working with Baines Simmons over the last 6 years to comprehensively deliver Air Safety training. The awarding of the STEP contract will allow the MAA to continue delivering assured Air Safety training alongside our strategic partner with a common aim of ensuring an increased awareness of Air Safety with the Defence Aviation Environment."

Tim Andrews, Business Manager at Frazer-Nash Consultancy, said: "Working collaboratively, we look forward to providing change management, training analysis and specialist technical support to the programme, which will help the MOD to prevent accidents, reduce risk to life, enhance its operational capability and drive down unnecessary resource expenditure."

It has been a successful period for Baines Simmons, in which it was also announced that it has secured two separate contracts with two NATO operating units, the Heavy Airlift Wing at Papa, Hungary, and the AWACS unit (Airborne Warning and Control System) in Geilenkirchen, Germany. Baines Simmons will help the units to understand the benefits and the challenges associated with EMAR (European Military Airworthiness Requirements) 21, 145 and M implementation.

ENDS

About Air Partner:

Founded in 1961, Air Partner is a global aviation services group that provides worldwide solutions to industry, commerce, governments and private individuals. The Group has two divisions: Broking division, comprising air charter broking and remarketing; and the Consulting & Training division, comprising the aviation safety consultancies, Baines Simmons, Clockwork Research and SafeSkys, as well as Air Partner's Emergency Planning Division. For reporting purposes, the Group is structured into four divisions: Commercial Jets, Private Jets, Freight (Broking) and Consulting & Training (Baines Simmons, Clockwork Research, SafeSkys and Air Partner's Emergency Planning Division). The Commercial Jet division charters large airliners to move groups of any size. Air Partner Remarketing, which is within the Commercial Jet division, provides comprehensive remarketing programmes for all types of commercial and corporate aircraft to a wide range of international clients. Private Jets offers the Company's unique pre-paid JetCard scheme and on-demand charter. Freight charters aircraft of every size to fly almost any cargo anywhere, at any time. Baines Simmons is a world leader in aviation safety consulting specialising in aviation regulation, compliance and safety management. Clockwork Research is a leading fatigue risk management consultancy. SafeSkys is a leading Environmental and Air Traffic Control services provider to UK and International airports. Air Partner is headquartered alongside Gatwick airport in the UK. Air Partner operates 24/7 year-round and has 20 offices globally. Air Partner is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIR) and is ISO 9001:2008 compliant for commercial airline and private jet solutions worldwide. www.airpartner.com 

About Baines Simmons:

Founded in 2001, Baines Simmons is a world leader in aviation safety consulting, specialising in aviation regulation, compliance and safety management. It is a trusted advisor to more than 750 aviation organisations and more than 40 Aviation Authorities. Baines Simmons helps to advance best practice, shape safety thinking and drive continuous improvement to safety performance. This is achieved through its three service offerings: consulting, training and outsourced services. Through these services, Baines Simmons has helped develop the skills and expertise of more than 120,000 aviation professionals across multiple facets of the aviation industry. Clients include: KLM, SAS, Thomas Cook, Thomson, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, The Isle of Man Government, BAE Systems, MOD, Rolls Royce, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Airbus, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA). www.bainessimmons.com

About Frazer-Nash Consultancy:

At Frazer-Nash, our consultants are applying their expertise and know-how to develop, enhance and protect our clients' critical assets, systems and processes. We're renowned for our work in the aerospace, transport, nuclear, marine, defence, power and energy, oil and gas sectors and our security, resilience cyber and information technology expertise.

With around 800 employees, Frazer-Nash operates from a network of twelve UK and Australian offices.

With our background in delivering safety management expertise into Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) air safety initiatives, we are confident that our collaborative teams can deliver exceptional benefits to the DSA and MoD and drive coherency across defence.

The depth of our knowledge base means we can transfer the skills, experience and best practice from one area to benefit our clients in other fields.