As part of its ongoing commitment to provide customers with top levels of safety standards, DC Aviation Al-Futtaim, a leading Middle Eastern business aviation services provider, has announced that it has received the International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) Stage III certification for its FBO located at Al Maktoum International airport in Dubai South.

DCAF received its Stage I certification in May 2019 and Stage II in January 2021.

With the Stage III certification, DCAF is one of only two FBOs in the Middle East and among 27 organisations globally to attain this highest level of safety standard established by IS-BAH, which verifies that safety management activities are fully integrated into the business and that a positive safety culture is being sustained.

The accreditation process involved a complete audit of DCAF's FBO safety management systems, emergency and security procedures, organisational structure, training protocols and operating procedures and was conducted by an independent auditor from the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC).

“At DCAF, we are fully committed to providing the highest levels of safety standards and industry best practices. It is front and centre for everything we do,” says Christopher Eden, director of ground operations at DCAF. “Our commitment to continued improvement of safety management activities and positive safety culture was demonstrated and verified during this audit resulting in us accomplishing IS-BAH stage III accreditation. The successful completion of the Stage III audit was a result of around-the-clock hard work from all the teams involved and the continuous support of the management.”

Stewart Macpherson, who conducted the IS-BAH inspection audit, adds: “We can now add DC Aviation Al-Futtaim as part of this elite group of FBOs to attain Stage III (the highest level) registration of the IS-BAH. It should be very proud, as this is an incredible achievement that is no easy feat to achieve. The dedication and devotion of its team to fully integrating its safety management system (SMS) into all areas of its organisation reflects the high value the company places on safety as the top priority in its business model. I appreciated the opportunity to audit this impressive group and wish them well in their continued IS-BAH journey to lead the way in safety.”

DCAF is a joint venture between Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Group and Stuttgart-based DC Aviation Group.