European Defence Agency selects Baines Simmons for consultancy project
Baines Simmons has won a new contract with the European Defence Agency (EDA) to assist with compliance regarding new airworthiness compliance measures, and the training of new personnel. The firm was awarded the consulting contract following a number of projects with the Agency.
Air Partner’s aviation safety consultancy company Baines Simmons has been awarded a four-year contract to provide consultancy and training services to the EDA, supporting continued development and deployment of the full suite of European Military Airworthiness Requirements (EMARs).
Baines Simmons will provide EMAR development and implementation advice, guidance and training to the EDA and its 27 participating Member States. The project will include adapting the EDA for evolving European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) baseline requirements, implementing new safety management systems, and integrating remotely piloted aircraft systems.
Baines Simmons has supported the development and implementation of Defence Airworthiness Requirements since 2002, working with MAAs, Defence Forces and Partner organisations in the UK, Europe and Australia. Baines Simmons’ partnership with the EDA and involvement with the European Military Airworthiness Authorities Forum (MAWA) has enabled it to strongly influence the development of the EMARs. It is expected that this will positively affect the airworthiness of military aircraft operated across the EDA’s participating Member States for decades to come.
The focus of the MAWA Forum has recently shifted to addressing new requirement topics and implementation, with the group seeking out the help of Baines Simmons in order to maintain the EMARs to the latest standards, as well as to develop best practices for implementation.
Speaking about the project, Henk Corporaal, Project Officer, Airworthiness, at the EDA, stated, “The EDA has contracted Baines Simmons a couple of times for consultancy support in the last few years. From our experience, we learned that the company is a very knowledgeable and capable partner to support the EDA and its participating Member States in the development of EMARs.”
With commercial airlines alone anticipating the addition of over 10,000 planes by 2027, airline safety is of paramount concern to cope with the growing demand, and one which the consulting industry can play a major role in supporting. In order to prepare for a potential glut of demand in the space, Baines Simmons were recently bolstered by the acquisition of aviation services group SafeSkys, by their parent group, Air Partner.
To date, Baines Simmons has already supported countries including The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia on their EMAR competence development. This year, it has also been awarded a contract to provide aviation safety consultancy services to the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) to help improve and safeguard the airworthiness of all RAFO aircraft.
Mark Briffa, Group CEO of Air Partner, said, “Over the last 15 years, Baines Simmons has built a first-class reputation for safety performance, having helped develop the skills and expertise of over 120,000 aviation professionals at all levels. Having served as a trusted advisor to more than 450 of the world’s leading aviation organisations and some 45 national aviation regulatory authorities, we are extremely well placed to support the EDA as it further develops the EMARs.”
Bob Simmons, Director at Baines Simmons, added, “The award of this long-term framework agreement will bring a level of stability, consistency and cohesion to the requirements, maximising the benefits to the participating Member States and European defence industries alike.”
The contract comes amid a flurry of activity in the airspace sector for the consulting industry. Earlier in 2017, the Functional Airspace Block Central Europe (FAB CE) reappointed aviationconsultancies Helios and Integra Consult to run its Programme Support Office (PSO) for the next three years in order to meet the growing complexity of Europe’s air travel and transport industry, air traffic management (ATM) needs to become more flexible, harmonised and seamless. Elsewhere, the National Air Traffic Service partnered with Altran to implement a next generation conflict detection tool, as consulting firms continue to benefit from innovation in the aerospace industry.
