In 2022, INAEC Aviation Corporation became the first air charter operator and ground-handling service provider in the Philippines to obtain the Stage 1 certification for the International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH).

IS-BAH was launched in 2014 to standardize the international best practices for business and general aviation ground handling service providers. This involves bringing safety management system practices and procedures to ground handling, appropriate to the scale and nature of the ground handlers, including fixed base operators (FBO) like INAEC.

INAEC achieved its ISBAH Stage 1 certification following a rigorous audit conducted in August 2022 by Morgan Garlinge of Final Approach Auditing LLC, an auditing company based in Texas. The audit covered INAEC’s ground handling operations in Manila, including aircraft marshaling and towing, fuel supply and catering, aircraft cleaning, maintenance services, flight coordination, baggage and cargo services, and passenger services.
“We noticed that our FBO services have been steadily increasing the past five years. True to our passion for safety and service, we felt it was necessary for our ground handling operations to be in step with the best international practices. That is why we thought of IS-BAH, which embodies the best industry practices in ground handling and fixed base operations. We wanted to demonstrate that everyone at INAEC, throughout each level of our organization, is committed not only to the safety of our operations but also to excellence in our service,” Dexter Ampong, INAEC general manager, said.

For his part, Garlinge made the following observation about INAEC: “They have a great operation in ground handling and customer service. There is a well-put-together training program that includes in-depth indoctrination of staff. INAEC is a very professionally-run FBO. They ensure safety and customer service are number one. I met with several employees during the audit and they are all very happy and feel well-supported by the management of INAEC. First-class operation!”

INAEC will undergo the Stage 2 IS-BAH certification audit in 2024.
(Story/Photos by:Maila Banaag)