OREANDA-NEWS. May 19, 2011. This is an important event for “Nordavia”. As a result of IATA (International Air Transport Association) audit, CJSC “Nordavia - Regional Airlines” renewed the IOSA (Operational Safety Certificate of the International Air Transport Association) certificate.

In Russia, there are just few more than ten airlines which have such certificate and are included in the number of IOSA operators. "Nordavia" completed the audit successfully for the second time and confirmed the status as a safe carrier for the next two years until May 8, 2012.

It is a voluntary decision for each airline to undertake an audit according to the international operational safety standards. From the point of view of CEO of "Nordavia” Oleg Usmanov- such decision is significant in terms of increasing the trust by the passengers and in terms of economic benefits.

The IOSA certificate is a key requirement for the companies in order to be chosen for business cooperation by the world's leading airlines. In particular, this is a requirement by SkyTeam alliance, which includes the Russian national airline - Aeroflot. Nordavia is linked to Aeroflot by established commercial relations. As a subsidiary of Aeroflot, Nordavia has a code sharing agreement on all the flights operated through the Moscow airport - Sheremetyevo. This agreement includes a number of flights under joint codes Su and 5N and ability to book and sell tickets to the passengers of both parties. Also, Nordavia and Aeroflot are interline partners, what means that they can sell tickets for each other flights. Nordavia has similar agreement with many other airlines, including foreign ones.

“The IOSA certificate renewal is a meaningful signal for corporate clients”- was mentioned by Mr. Usmanov. -  For majority of the customers, the fact that airline was included in the number of safe international operators is a fair advantage when selecting a charter carrier, this also means that the customer doesn’t need to conduct his own audit because IATA audit is trusted worldwide. Recently, for example, “Nordavia” has won the tender to perform the shift transportation for “Rosneft”.

“A decision to conduct an audit in order to renew IOSA certificate is first of all a serious and necessary test for the airline” is an opinion of Ivan Kolpakov, the Deputy CEO in Organizational Development of “Nordavia - Regional Airlines”. There are 900 audit requirements, which are not as easy as exam tickets that need to be answered correctly.

"The company must meet IOSA requirements. That means not simply to demonstrate that we know and have the necessary standards, but also fallow them in our daily work” – was told by Mr. Kolpakov. “Exactly from this perspective the assessment of airline was carried out by the audit team which included the world leading experts". The audit was conducted in 8 areas, starting from the passenger services and ending with flights. “Nordavia” has confirmed that it fallows all the standards in each operational area.

“The reason why the company needs to conduct an audit every two years is because the standards are permanently changing and becoming harder to meet, the level of IATA requirements to the operational safety standards is rising”- said Ivan Kolpakov. For example, in previous years, the Risk Management System was only a recommendation, but now it became a mandatory requirement. "

As believed by “Nordavia” employees - IOSA is not a fashion but a mandatory requirement for each airline which claims to perform a high level of service that meets international standards.