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Airports Vanuatu Ltd (AVL) wishes to update all stakeholders on recent events at Santo Airport in relation to airfield management and trees.Tree management is required to maintain the safety and compliance of the airfield
AVL wishes to update Santo Airport stakeholders on recent airfield management works, which has resulted in a number of trees being cut down.
Civil Aviation rules require Air Traffic Controllers situated in the Air Traffic Control Tower to have maximum practicable visibility of all air traffic within an aerodrome at all times. Air Traffic Controllers must be able to clearly view all traffic on the ground operating areas and within the airspace surrounding the airfield at all times from the Tower. Air Traffic Controllers have ultimate responsibility for the safe operations of aircraft when they are on the ground as well as in the air. From time to time all airports conduct tree management, as trees grow and potentially restrict the view of Air Traffic Controllers, compromising the safety and compliance of the airfield to civil aviation rules.

AVL received notification that Tree Management was required for safety and compliance by regulators Reports issued following safety audits/reviews by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vanuatu (CAAV) and the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO) identified tree management was required to be undertaken at all AVL airports, including Santo Airport. Specifically, CAAV/PASO issued their recommendations in response to the Civil Aviation Rule Part 172 – Air Traffic Services Organisation Audit and Civil Aviation Rule Part 139 – Aerodromes Audit.

AVL acted at Santo Airport to ensure compliance with audit recommendations Jason Rakau, CEO commented, “Safety continues to be our priority and our teams are committed to maintaining safety standards at all our airports. Without action, AVL risks being non-compliant with safety audit recommendations. Trees grow constantly, therefore addressing tree management issues raised in the safety audits was imperative. The trees in question were assessed and our team considered whether it was safe to lop the trees and attempt to partially cut them back. Our assessment concluded that the best course of action was to remove the trees altogether as it would not be possible to trim the tops of the trees safely. The trees were cut down and regrettably, this action was taken swiftly, reflecting the compliance risk the trees presented, however that response did not include time for any communication with our community. We recognise we could have done better in this regard and apologise to Santo residents. In the meantime, we assure the community that our intention has always been to replace the trees in question. We commit to planting appropriate replacement trees in the car park area, where the new trees will enhance the environment and provide shade for airport users and parked cars whilst not posing any risk to aviation safety at Santo Airport”.

AVL regrets any distress caused to the Santo Airport community and commits to improve consultation and engagement in future AVL has reviewed the specifics of the actions taken at Santo Airport regarding tree management and the concerns raised by the community regarding the removal of the trees. AVL is an environmentally conscious organisation however safety must always be our top priority. AVL stands by the actions of our staff, who took a course of action which was recommended by independent safety auditors, to ensure the safety and compliance of our aerodrome operations.

Rowland Kalsong, Manager Safety and Compliance of AVL commented, “Following an internal management review, we have concluded that we failed to communicate and consult adequately with our community and stakeholders in explaining the issues regarding tree management. As a result we commit to forming Community Aviation Consultation Groups (CACGs) at each of our airports, where a number of representatives of the community and our stakeholders will be appointed, to act as the primary community forum to receive updates about airport activities impacting the airport environment and provide feedback”.