Membership has its privileges

The AAA was prompted to revise and add additional fact sheets for supplementary species by the release of the ATSB Australian aviation wildlife strike statistics 2004-2013 report. This report listed kites and bats/flying foxes as having the largest overall number of strikes in the 2012‑2013 reporting period, representing a demonstrated risk to safe operations. As a result of this report the AAA, in consultationwith the ATSB, initiated a project to update the existing fact sheets and create new species information fact sheets focused on managing the strike risk of these species at Australian airports.

The resulting Practice Note, developed with the assistance of Avisure, covers 12 of the most common bird species involved in aviation wildlife strikes and provides information on their biology, behaviour, airport attractions, active management and passive management techniques.

The document also provides supplementary information on a number of other issues such as legislative protections, management at off-airport sites, types of dispersal tools, health and safety, as well as species identification and defining wildlife strikes.

The AAA believes that this resource will be particularly valuable to our regional airport members that may not have significant resources devoted to wildlife management. By improving the base knowledge across industry on appropriate bird strike mitigation techniques, the AAA is hopeful that this document can assist in improving the already high level of safety in aviation.

In addition to this latest resource, the AAA has several other Airport Practice Notes under development, two of which are scheduled for release at the AAA National Conference in Hobart over October 12-16. One of these Practice NotesThis resource will be particularly valuable to our regional airport members. will be covering Airside Safety, while the other will be a Small Regional Aerodrome Handbook.

This resource will be particularly valuable to our regional airport members.

The Airside Safety project, developed with the assistance of Global Safety Partners, aims to provide airport members with a comprehensive guide to airside safety at Australian airports to support a safe and sustainable industry. The Airport Practice Note will be of benefit to aerodrome operators by providing them with detailed information on managing airside safety in an Australian context and will cover all of the considerations aerodrome operators must take into account to create an effective, efficient andsafe airside environment.

The AAA and its members consider the safety of people airside to be of paramount importance and we believe this Airport Practice Note will assist in driving industry best practice.

The Small Regional Aerodrome Handbook, developed with the assistance of Bridget Conroy (formerly of Bendigo Airport), is designed to provide our smaller airport members with a broad guide on managing a regional aerodrome. This Airport Practice Note aims to meet the needs of a number of small regional aerodromes, particularly local government-owned and operated aerodromes, where different levels of management may not have prior aviation experience or knowledge.

The handbook aims to provide managers at all levels of theorganisation with a guide to the different considerations that must be made when overseeing the operations of a regional aerodrome.

This document will be the first of its kind in Australia and feedback from our membership has indicated that this level of guidance for small regional aerodromes has been highly sought after and will be warmly received.

The AAA is looking forward to continuing to develop resources that are valued by industry and assist airports to manage and operate these complex and critical infrastructure assets. We particularly look forward to releasing our two new Airport Practice Notes at the AAA National Conference and we hope to see you there.