Panamanian FBO Mapiex Group recently received its International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) Stage II certification, issued by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), confirming its commitment to excellence and achieving the highest possible safety standards in its operations.

"The IS-BAH Stage II certification required us to go through a complex audit that took place over several days, at the station, by an accredited IBAC auditor, says legal counsel and director Maria Victoria Guiraud. "The maturity and mastery of already implemented standards were evaluated: our SMS; AVSEC security; operations; quality in terms of document control, record control, root cause analysis, management review, audit and treatment of non-conformities; occupational health and safety; and environment.

"By maturity we refer to the management of operational safety by which each of the operations is attended. This operational safety standard must be a natural behaviour of all the personnel that works at our FBO and, in order to reach this, we must ensure a highly trained personnel, the correct implementation of an SMS system in which possible risks are proactively reported to avoid their materialisation, AVSEC personnel vigilant in the prevention of security incidents and high-quality equipment and machinery, always in compliance with the requirements of the manufacturers. It's also important to keep a correct document control to ensure records, the promptly update of documents that are applicable to our operations and the effective closure of all non-conformities found externally and internally."

Mapiex scored highly in the Business Air News FBO survey. Guiraud continues: "Our value proposition is based on high-quality operational safety and service standards. Our processes are based on our ISO 9001:2015 quality management system certification, IS-BAH Stage II by IBAC operational safety certification, ISAGO by IATA operational safety certification, TRACE International compliance and anti-bribery certification and KPMG financial audit, which allow us to structure procedures that ensure we meet the expectations of our international clients and suppliers.

"Our FBO and ground handling service is handled by trained customer service executives, certified flight dispatchers and ramp agents who allow us to mark a difference in service and a high-quality technical expertise."

Mapiex is a full service FBO offering flight dispatch, ground handling, fuel supply, aircraft spare parts, charter flights, logistics services and MRO. Additionally, it has been designated as a regional sales representative for Viking Aircraft and Textron Aviation through Mode Aviation, a certified maintenance centre (CMC) by Safran and a designated maintenance facility (DMF) by Pratt & Whitney Canada.

As for what's next, she continues: "We are currently strengthening and expanding our services and facilities in all airports in Panama, and we will continue to develop and grow our network of suppliers, trip support companies and strategic partners with global coverage service agreements. We are also working on developing a loyalty programme for our customers."

And this is done with an eye to the environmental impact of the business. She explains: "We have developed an environmental impact matrix that is at the reach of all the employees of the company. This matrix is based on prevention and in turn has mitigation actions in case of having a problem. This document is constantly reviewed and each case is evaluated in the ASO committee (environment and occupational safety), which is composed of employees from all departments of the company.

"Regarding sustainable practices, we have established policies where the products we use for cleaning aircraft are biodegradable and safe for the environment. We use trays to pick up the oil from aircraft and recycle all oils and lubricants used in our facilities. We have developed a 'paperless policy' by the digitalisation of documents, implementation of electronic invoices and the reduction of the use of paper in our offices. Nevertheless, all paper that is used is also recycled.

We use electric vehicles for transportation inside the airport, and we have upgraded to electric aircraft GPUs."