february2021 - 8

BUSINESS BUZZ

bility in handling pharmaceutical and life
science shipments with reliability and
efficiency, compliant with international
standards, " said Guillaume Halleux, chief
officer cargo at Qatar Airways. " The validation by IATA is a milestone achievement and an award for all the hard work
done over the past years since the QR
Pharma product launch. "
" The pharmaceutical industry relies
heavily on air cargo for its speed and
efficiency. As an industry, we have a duty
to ensure that global standards and best
practices are in place so that life science
and pharmaceutical products are handled and transported accordingly and in
cooperation between business partners
to provide the high-quality services that
customers demand, to ultimately safeguard patient safety. We are delighted
to recognize Qatar Airways Cargo and
Qatar Aviation Services as CEIV Pharma
certified in Doha, raising the bar in the
industry with a commitment to quality
and continuous improvements, " Nick
Careen, IATA senior vice president,
airport, passenger, cargo and security,
added. " I congratulate both on this
achievement. "

Signature Transitions to New
FBO Facility at Baton Rouge
Metropolitan Airport

Signature Flight Support has relocated
its private aviation facilities at the Baton
Rouge Metropolitan Airport in Louisiana
to a newly renovated terminal and hangar
complex.
" Signature Flight Support is committed to the growth of private aviation at
the Baton Rouge Metro Airport and the
greater Baton Rouge area, " said Signature
senior vice president operations - east

8 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE

Geoff Heck. " We are proud to serve
residents and visitors to the city and
our new facility allows us to grow our
on-field presence in greatly renewed
surroundings. "
" The expansion of private aviation
capabilities at Baton Rouge by Signature
Flight Support is a testament to the
strength and importance of this group
of airport users, " added Mike Edwards,
director of aviation for the Baton Rouge
Metropolitan Airport. " General aviation
continues to be a commercial driver to
both the airport and our city, generating
over 4,500 jobs and an annual $1.1 billion
dollars in economic impact for the Baton
Rouge area. "

Jet Aviation Receives IS-BAH
Stage 2 Registration for its FBO
in San Juan

Jet Aviation announced it has achieved
IS-BAH Stage 2 Registration for its FBO
in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The San Juan
FBO is a full-service handling operation
at one of the most convenient U.S. points
of entry for international flights. Jet
Aviation acquired full ownership of the
FBO at Luis Muñoz Marin International
Airport in February 2019.
As the first FBO in Puerto Rico to
qualify for IS-BAH Stage 1 Registration
in 2018, Jet Aviation San Juan continues
to demonstrate its leadership and commitment to the highest safety standards.
" Between hurricanes, the ownership
change, and all the new systems that
came with it, our team here in San Juan
has had much to contend with the past
few years and yet continues to raise the
bar with new offerings and premium service delivery, " said Hector Vasquez, senior
manager FBO. " The rigorous IS-BAH
Stage 2 audit was a first for most of the
team and I couldn't be prouder of them. "
The International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) estab-

FEBRUARY 2021

lishes criteria for best handling systems,
processes and practices to ensure FBOs
meet rigorous safety and security standards. With this recent approval, Jet Aviation has a total of 29 IS-BAH registered
FBOs around the world, including 10 in
the U.S.A., 12 in EMEA and 7 in APAC.

PEOPLE
Al-Awadhi Named IATA's
RVP for Africa and Middle
East

The International
Air Transport
Association (IATA)
announced
that Kamil H.
Al-Awadhi will be
appointed IATA's regional vice president for Africa and Middle East (AME),
effective March 1. Al-Awadhi succeeds
Muhammad Albakri who will become
IATA's senior vice president for customer, financial and digital services
(CFDS), also effective March 1.
Most recently, Al-Awadhi was CEO
of Kuwait Airways from November 2018
through August. That capped a 31-year
career at Kuwait Airways during which
his positions included deputy CEO
and chief operating officer. At IATA,
Al-Awadhi will lead the association's
activities across AME from its regional
office in Amman, Jordan - reporting to
the IATA director general and CEO and
join IATA's strategic leadership team.
" Muhammad has reinforced IATA's
strong presence in the AME region. As
he moves to take on the challenges of
leading our CFDS activities, Muhammad will leave in place a strong team
for the capable leadership of Kamil.
Kamil is an industry veteran who brings
a tremendous depth of airline expertise
and regional experience. These will be
critical in leading IATA's activities in
the AME region at this very challenging
time, " said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's
director general and CEO.

february2021

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