Security
43
IATA Annual Review 2023
reporting, sharing and analysis
of incidents. This will lead to a
stronger system.
Concurrently and with industry input,
Annex 17 Aircraft Operator Security
Program (AOSP), a standard that
created signicant unnecessary
administrative duplication and
burden on the industry, was
completely overhauled and
streamlined. Under the old standard,
which was in eect for 47 years, each
state required its own AOSP. With the
updated standard in eect, states
have the option of recognizing the
AOSP of an airline from a dierent
state of registry. Instead of the state
requiring the full security program, a
State Supplemental Procedure has
been created to reect any additional
measures imposed on carriers by
that state.
Furthermore, in September 2022,
ICAO publicly shared guidance
material into key security
management functions that all
stakeholders adopt but that was
previously restricted. Additionally
in 2022, Amendment 18 to Annex
17 was published. Signicantly,
this Amendment incorporates a
higher recognition of industry best
practices and expertise than was
previously the case.
Conict zones
Safety and security risks
associated with hostilities within
conict zones are a major concern
for airlines. A prime example
are the wide-ranging airspace
restrictions imposed on civil aircraft
operators in and around Ukraine
following Russia’s invasion. The
broader issueis the unhelpful
mix of politicsand aviation that is
unrelated to safety concerns, but
that has led to the inability of many
airlines to operate over large parts
of Russian airspace.
Africa and the Middle East
remain regions of notable risks,
as illustrated by the destruction
of civilian aircraft during the
2023 hostilities in Sudan. States
continue to issue Notice to Air
Missions (NOTAM) to assist airlines
in managing ight operation risk
exposure and avoidance. However,
this approach remains largely an
after-the-fact notication, lacking
globally harmonized procedures,
and varies between States in the
types of restrictions applied.
IATA continues to support the
development of policy that
supports information sharing
among states and between states
and industry and the harmonization
of restrictions and related areas
via the Safer Skies Consultative
Committee (SSCC). The SSCC has
been focused on updating ICAO
best practices related to conict
zones and capacity development
when conducting risk assessments.
To limit unintended reactive
responses through greater civil and
military information sharing, IATA,
in partnership with the SSCC, hosts
informal unclassied intelligence
industry briengs on situations of
evolving relevance. The ability to
host such unclassied briengs
puts important information into
the hands of people who need it
to conduct risk assessments in
airspace security and safety.
Lastly, in 2022, IATA released
itsAVSEC Insight product, which
is an open-source intelligence
tool(see sidebar above).
Passenger Security
In 2022, IATA renewed its focus
on highlighting redundancies and
ineciencies in the passenger
security checkpoint process. In
line with the IATA Global Passenger
Survey results, IATA released a
clear expectation statement on the
adoption of evolving technology
in passenger screening and
overall improvements in the global
baseline. Challenges remain, and
the patchwork of security measures
that oer zero trust and a lack of
mutual recognition between airports
for international connections on
thefollowing items persist:
● Screening Devices
Passengers pay a high price
in terms of inconvenience at
airport checkpoints—removing
shoes, laptops, and liquids out
of carry-on bags and strict limits
on liquids and gels. States have
been too slow in introducing
advanced screening equipment
that eliminates the need for
these measures. The December
2022 announcement by the UK
Government adds momentum
to a development that has
already occurred at airports
in other countries, including
JapanandBahrain.
● Interstate Cooperation
Cooperation and information
IATA AVSEC Insight
IATA AVSEC Insight gathers risk-related information from a
wide variety of sources, including niche and local-language
news media as well as NOTAMs (Notice to Air Missions)
and other ocial sources. It enables users to manage and
identify business risks at an early stage, monitor them
in real time, and conduct post-event analyses. The tool
covers threats and continuity risks from natural disasters,
civil unrest and protests, geopolitical developments,
transnational crime, and cybersecurity to name a few.
AVSEC Insight incorporates advanced machine learning
and natural language processing capabilities to ensure
the platform becomes more intelligent and robust as the
dataset grows. Information can be customized by the
user to risk prole and operational needs, by country,
city, airport or ight information region (FIR). Better and
faster identication of risk means safer and more secure
operations and resource optimization.