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Tirana International Airport successfully tests its capacities to handle emergencies
• TIA simulates collision on apron and evacuation of aircraft
• Exercises form part of International Civil Aviation Organization program
At the weekend, Tirana International Airport (TIA) held exercises to test its capacities to deal with ground emergencies. The simulation involved fire, rescue and first aid services and was highly successful and productive in terms of emergency services coordination.
The procedures formed part of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) program to test the readiness and efficiency of the Airport’s teams to deal with an emergency, in this case the simulation of an aircraft striking ground equipment (a bus, passenger stairs, etc.) located on the apron. The exercises involved 24 passengers, five of whom simulated injuries, being evacuated from an aircraft on fire as a result of the collision and given first aid.
“In such exercises both the speed of the rescue services and the precision of the actions taken are very important. The Fire and Rescue Department and First Aid Department of TIA demonstrated very clearly that they can deal with any such situation perfectly and that they are well trained and prepared, though we hope of course that such an incident will never happen at TIA,” said Chief Operation Officer Mr. Rolf Castro-Vasquez.
The actions, precision and speed of Tirana International Airport’s emergency services departments were evaluated as “very satisfactory” by Mr. Daniel Buscher and Mr. Werner Guenther, both international experts, from Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach airports, and by representatives of Albanian Civil Emergency Services, Mr. Alfred Olli and Mr. Sali Kelmendi. The exercises were supervised by Pameca (Police Assistance Mission of European Community to Albania) and the managers of all airline companies operating at TIA.
This testing followed six months of training by the Fire and Rescue Department assisted and supervised by German experts. At the end of this year a full scale emergency exercise is scheduled to take place at the Airport in collaboration with the Albanian government authorities.
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Since 23 April 2005, overall responsibility for the development, operation and management of Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza has been in the hands of Tirana International Airport SHPK (TIA), an Albanian company under German-American ownership. The shareholders are HOCHTIEF AirPort, DEG Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund. Backed by the shareholders’ expertise in airport management and financing, TIA has set itself the goal of expanding the Airport and setting new standards of comfort, convenience and service. By the end of 2007, more than EUR 50 million will have been invested in the Airport. The new passenger terminal started operations on 22 March 2007. A new cargo terminal and a new access road were also completed in the spring of 2007 and are now in operation.
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