What Kenya could learn from world’s best airport

By DANN OKOTH

That Singapore Changi Airport has been voted the best globally at the 2013 World Airport Awards is no surprise.

The airfield won the same award last year and Singapore is known for many firsts.

The awards held at Passenger Terminal Expo in Geneva also saw Changi bag top honours for the fourth time since 2010. The awards are voted for by airport customers from around the world and this year the survey garnered 12.1 million responses.

But what can Kenya learn from Changi’s achievements following the devastating fire incident at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)?

Even though it is too early to know the cause of the blaze at JKIA and judge whether the country’s emergency response to the incident was adequate it is, however, important to pick a few lessons from Changi.

One would be amazed by the swift manner in which Airport Emergency Services (AES) respond to incidents of fire. In just two minutes, AES fire-fighting vehicles would have arrived at the accident scene at the airport and brought the fire under control within a minute. This is followed by rescue and evacuation efforts to nearby medical facilities.

This quick response is in accordance to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO’s) standards. At Changi Airport, the highly trained AES stands ready to provide rescue and fire protection at all times — providing category 10 level of fire protection; the highest possible fire protection coverage in accordance to ICAO standards.

There is an Airport Emergency Plan at Changi to coordinate the efforts of mutual aid agencies within the airport and its immediate vicinity. 

AES is responsible for managing this plan and takes charge of the rescue, fire-fighting and other crash site operations of the plan.

These plans are tested annually in the form of full-scale aircraft exercise with good support from mutual aid agencies.  AES also responds to other emergency situations within the airport.