Serco IFTC first in UK to win ICAO approval
Serco's International Fire Training Centre (IFTC) has become the first organisation in the UK - and only the second in Europe - to receive international approval for its fire training service from the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO).
IFTC, based at Durham Tees Valley airport near Darlington, is one of the world’s leading aviation fire training centres with around 10,000 delegates from around the world visiting and undertaking training at the centre each year. The team has invested significant effort, time and money into developing its systems, procedures and policies to comply with the exacting quality assurance standards needed for ICAO TRAINAIR Associate Membership status.
Serco’s Gary Watson, IFTC business operations manager, said: “ICAO Associate Membership status not only reaffirms our position as one of the world’s leading aviation training fire centres, but more importantly assures our global customers that we meet rigorous international standards in terms of the quality of our training provision. This is an enormous achievement and the whole team should be rightly proud of this recognition.”
The news is expected to be welcomed by airports who - as of last month - are required to ensure that their training providers meet strict European standards.
IFTC has enjoyed a strong start to 2016 with teams from Poland, Greece and Israel choosing to complete their training at the Centre.
This week the IFTC welcomed Geneva airport firefighters who are on a five-day intensive fire training programme. Last week, firefighters from Luxembourg airport further developed their skills at the centre with exercises including black smoke burns with kerosene and liquid propane gas, providing them with truly authentic aviation fire emergency scenarios within a safe learning environment.
Late last year, IFTC hosted a delegation from the United Nations (UN) fire safety leadership team based in Afghanistan who underwent two weeks of intensive training at IFTC which they hailed as 'excellent'.