State Safety Partnerships is a function of the International Group within the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Working in tandem with two other teams – International Strategy and Engagement and CAA International – we foster strong and lasting relationships with aviation organisations internationally, to lay the foundations for long-term collaboration on safety performance and progression of aviation strategies.
Our primary focus is working with individual states and their aviation industries to improve operational safety performance.
This work is underpinned by a Department for Transport (DfT) funded initiative focused on International Capacity Building (ICB). Through the programme, we provide the DfT and CAA with oversight of current, emerging, future and evolving international risk issues and priorities.
We share the vision of the International Group, to raise the standards of aviation across the globe, to protect those who choose to fly and those who do not.
Our work involves:
- Addressing safety risks arising from non-UK operators in UK airspace, as well as those experienced by UK operators overseas
- Coordinating the right technical support from appropriate stakeholders to address the risks we discover
Both stages of work are strongly supported by the ICB programme, ultimately enabling us to improve the protection of passengers.
We are committed to the role we play helping to shape tomorrow’s international aviation legislation, improving regulatory capacity and efficiency and sustaining society’s confidence in aviation.
Our focus
The Department for Transport (DfT) and UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are working together to engage other countries in State Safety Partnerships. These partnerships focus on two areas:
- Improving the operational safety performance experienced by non-UK aircraft whilst in UK airspace and airports
- Improving the operational safety performance experienced by UK operators whilst overseas
State safety engagements
Engagements are established and defined by a standardised approach:
Phase 1 - Gathering actionable intelligence
Intelligence is gathered from multiple sources, including established relationships (see phase 2) to ensure we have the most complete risk picture.
The risk picture is then analysed and prioritised based on the level of exposure and risk to the UK citizen This phase is reviewed annually.
Phase 2 - Relationship development
UK industry
Relationships are established with a variety of stakeholders within the total aviation system and this is developing and growing each day. Support from UK industry is vital for success and has been well received from airlines, air traffic services, ground handling operations and other bodies. If you fit within one or both of our focus areas and want to be part of this please contact us.
Other States - initial contact
When wanting to establish a relationship with a state and their industry, the team will write to the National Aviation Authority (NAA) requesting an initial meeting. The objective of such a meeting with be to introduce the team, explain our ambition and understand their concerns.
Other States - established contact
A State-to-UK Safety Partnership workshop will take place (either in the UK or in State) with representation from the various key state and industry stakeholders in order that we can openly share and discuss each other's risks and concerns with a view to:
- Generating operational safety improvement targets
- Agreeing priorities, programme of work and action plan (see phase 3)
Phase 3 - Programme delivery
As part of the programme delivery it is important to understand that some projects will have relatively quick solutions whilst others may take several months or years. Whatever the duration of such a project within the programme, this will be taken into account and managed accordingly.
Depending on the agreed outcomes, follow up workshops will take place at agreed intervals where we can measure the success, monitor and review progress, revisit the concern or raise new ones.
The DfT and UK CAA State Safety Partnerships is committed to develop and drive sustainable operational safety improvements experienced by both UK operations and non-UK operations.
Contact us
If you would like to get in touch with us, you can email us here.
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