Metrojet Flight 9268:an inside job?

DECEMBER 2015 VOLUME 21 ISSUE 6

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SECURITY STANDARDSAIRPORT GROUND SECURITY

ISLAMIC STATE VS. AL-QAEDA

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SURINAM AIRWAYS

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ISIS THREAT TO ALBANIA

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Suriname, a former Dutch colony, is bordered by Guyana to the west, French-Guyana to the east,

the Atlantic Ocean to the north and Brazil to the South. It is one of the smallest countries in South America and considered to be, culturally, a Caribbean country.

The development of aviation started around 1929 when Pan American Airways and New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) operated the first flights from Miami to Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flew their first flight, via Cape Verde, to Suriname in 1934, and later decided to launch a direct flight route between Paramaribo and Amsterdam.

The establishment of a Surinamese airline occurred in 1953, and was initially designed to provide transport services

between Paramaribo and domestic cities. In 1962, the airline was taken over by the Surinamese government, under the name ‘Surinaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij’ (Surinamese Aviation Firm), and started its first scheduled international flights to Curaçao, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago, working in partnership with ALM Antillean Airlines and KLM in 1964.

On 2 November 1975, the airline flew under the Surinamese flag with a fully operating Surinam Airways crew in its bright coloured KLM-leased DC-8/63.

Surinam Airways is based at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (also known as Paramaribo - Zanderij International Airport), from where it operates scheduled flights to Amsterdam, Aruba, Belem, Curaçao, Cayenne, Georgetown and Trinidad & Tobago. The airline also operates indirect flights (via Guyana and Aruba) to Miami

and Orlando, with direct services planned to these and other US destinations in the near future. Cargo charters are additionally provided to and from Amsterdam, Aruba, and Trinidad & Tobago, Curaçao, Guyana and French Guyana. The airline is a proud member of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The Surinam Airways fleet currently consists of four aircraft; three Boeing 737-300s and one Airbus A340-300, which will be replaced by a newer Airbus A340-300 in the near future. The airline also provides cargo operations through a ‘wet lease’ on a Boeing B767-300. For the year 2014/2015 the airline has carried 259,682 passengers and a cargo transport of 3,073,898 kilograms (6,776,785 pounds).

SURINAM AIRWAYS: OVERCOMING POTENTIAL THREATS AND CHALLENGESOver the past few months, airline security has become an increasing concern for the industry and its various stakeholders. Whilst most of the incidents appear to be occurring in the Eastern half of the world, carriers based in the West are certainly not being complacent. Shalini Levens met with Surinam Airways, an international South American carrier, to discuss how it is responding to the threats and challenges that the aviation world is facing.

Credit: Surinam Airways

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Safety Assessment of Suriname and the RegionUnder the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Suriname is listed as Category 1, which indicates that the country meets the safety standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Human trafficking is an ever-growing concern in South American countries. The ‘Trafficking in Persons Report’, issued by the US Department of State, highlights the fact that women and children from Guyana, Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic are subjected to sex trafficking in mining communities in the interior and in urban areas.

According to the report, the government of Suriname does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. However, it is making significant efforts to do so. Officials - primarily police and prosecutors - continue to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases and, in 2014, referred more victims to assistance than in 2013.

When it comes to contraband goods, Suriname is recorded as a transit zone for South American cocaine en route to Europe, Africa and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Reports state that traffickers are able to move drug shipments into and through Suriname by land, water, and air.

Contraband measures at the airport are taken by the Opposing International Drug Trafficking team composed of approximately 32 national police officials. The team focuses almost exclusively on searching passengers and cargo on

flights bound for The Netherlands, where it is believed the majority of narcotics trafficked from Suriname is destined.

The latest threat to aviation security in the South American region was issued in February last year, when the US Embassy warned that it had received unconfirmed threat information about a Caribbean flight from Guyana to the United States. In 2007, a former member of Guyana's parliament and a naturalised U.S. citizen from Guyana were both sentenced for their roles in a failed plot by a small group of militant Muslims to firebomb John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The terrorism rating in Suriname has been categorised as low by the Overseas Security Advisory Council and the national carrier has not had any accidents and incidents for the last 26 years.

The CEO of Surinam Airways, Ewald Henshuys, and the airline’s Quality Assurance Manager, Cecil Valies, provide some insight into the mindset of the airline in terms of both the security challenges faced and the economic factors impacting upon their operation.

“The aviation business is a vulnerable business. We had times where the fuel prices were around $150 per barrel. Some of the larger airline companies did not survive the past five years, but we did!” said Henshuys. “I am satisfied that we managed to introduce a number of new routes, such as French Guyana and Guyana, between 2012 and 2013. Additionally, I am pleased to announce that, after a test period of 13 flights, we will be adding Orlando to our destination portfolio.”

Valies highlights the fact that an enlarged route network has resulted in human resource (HR) challenges. “Organisationally, we have also increased our workforce to approximately 700 employees. I am very proud that we have obtained our enhanced IOSA certificate, since it demonstrates that we follow and maintain the best possible practices throughout our whole company. It is quite a big challenge to pass all of the IOSA requirements. I am also proud of the various awards that our catering services have been presented with from several organisations.”

But success cannot be achieved without positively responding to the challenges of the past and embracing those of the future. “A challenge - and a tremendous

Above: Ewald Henshuys, CEO, Surinam Airways

Right: Cecil Valies,Quality Assurance Manager,

Surinam Airways

“…our cabin crew are our unique selling point.

Passengers choose Surinam Airways for the warm

hospitality service and treatment…”

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December 2015 Aviationsecurityinternational

opportunity – lies in the fact that we have a concrete vision of what we want to achieve with Surinamese aviation over the next five years,” said Henshuys, “I call it a ‘challenge’ since everyone needs to contribute to the development of air travel. In five years’ time I want to increase the number of passengers to one million, which is almost a quadruple this year’s passenger movements. To do so, our infrastructure – fleet, crews, finance, information and communication technology, airport base and so on - all need to be in place. Along with that, all the processes at the airport need to become more efficient and automated.”

Being granted permission to operate flights to the US is often seen as a measure of maturity both for airlines and for the states they operate from. “We do not yet have a direct route from Paramaribo to the United States, but it is in development. There are still certain requirements that the airport and the country need to take in order to receive approval from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). But, as an airline we do not have any obstacle to fly directly to the United States,” claims Henshuys.

The security challenges faced by the global aviation community may seem somewhat distant to the South American community. So, how does one introduce a security mindset that is on par with the rest of the world?

Henshuys is clear that Surinam Airways is not going to tolerate complacency. “The security implementations and measures that are taken internationally, apply equally to Surinam Airways. After 9/11, we implemented additional safety measures to be able to fly to the United States and Europe.” Furthermore, he was adamant that, “it is our obligation to ensure that our safety and security programmes meet all necessary international conditions. Surinam Airways has a security programme that maintains a high level of quality, security and legal standards, both at our home bases and for our overseas stations.”

Valies concurs. “We definitely do not underestimate the potential threats. Since European and American regions are implementing tighter security measurements, one might think

that we are a ‘weak spot’ and that we are not able to maintain the standards that

they implement. This is, of course, not true since we are as ready as anyone

- especially since we implement the comprehensive standards of

the IOSA certificate. We have implemented training and taken

the necessary measures.”It is often difficult to

demonstrate an effective security programme since,

fortunately, terrorist attacks are a rarity.

However, criminal acts are commonplace

and here an airline’s programme can

be measured. “ W h e n

passengers travel with

f a l s e

passports, our airport security staff usually detects them,” said Valies. Identifying passengers who are forbidden to even board Surinam Airways flights shows the programme is working.

Cooperation with other security agencies is essential. Valies said that Surinam Airways “works very closely with immigration officers, the anti-narcotics team, customs officers, airport security, the intelligence and the security committee. We also have a national security agency. On top of the airport security screening, Surinam Airways has its

own airline security officers who perform additional

screening and check that security processes are performed according to our standards. We monitor

whether there are passengers on the blacklist and execute our own passenger profiling. If someone looks shady, one of our officers will interview the passenger. On top of that, we have security officers that are always monitoring the area where aircraft are being serviced and loaded or unloaded.”

Effective security is however not just a numbers game. It is also dependent upon staff motivation and training, let alone the efficiency of background checks to counter the insider threat. Henshuys explained that, “potential employees, and especially aircrew, have to undergo screening, which consists of both intense background checks and psychological tests. The national police, as well as the intelligence services, also run a screening programme to make sure that the candidate is competent.”

In respect of training, “we offer internationally acclaimed training programmes to our employees. We fly instructors to Suriname, and we send our employees for training courses at other institutions,” said Henshuys. “We are currently working with IATA on the development of an e-learning portal for the Surinam Airways employees so that new and existing employees can continuously follow the basic training courses.”

To maintain standards, “we try to constantly repeat the rules of our company by sending letters and bulletins internally. One of the rules is that no one is allowed to take goods from third parties, even if it is a lucrative offer. Another measurement is that we have random alcohol checks with our crew - we have been monitoring that for 20 years now.”

Surinam Airways, in cooperation with other companies, invests in health awareness programmes, which include sports programmes, presentations on HIV awareness, diabetes and other medical issues. “Through these activities, we try to keep our employees as physically and psychologically fit as possible”, said Henshuys.

Recognising the value of insider eyes being the best defence against insider threats, Henshuys described that Surinam Airways’ ensures that its “internal security standards are maintained by looking over each other’s shoulders, observing and correcting each other when needed. We are a small airline, where we all know each other, so it is quite efficient to take this approach.”

When it comes to facing up to external threats, Valies states that “we have a rule that applies to our aircrew. None is allowed to transport goods for third parties. If a member of aircrew is threatened or blackmailed to transport contraband goods, this has to be reported to the manager and the airline will adequately protect the crew. If, however, you perform such actions you will be fired.”

December 2015 Aviationsecurityinternational www.asi-mag.com 39

“Additionally, we have intensive training programmes for our cabin crew to detect strange behaviour on board. Usually drug smugglers, or passengers with bad intent, are a bit more nervous.” In terms of unruly passengers, Henshuys said a number of measures are in place. “Our security screening starts at the entry of the airport to ensure that unruly passengers are not transported. If a passenger misbehaves on board, the passenger will be transferred to the national police officers upon arrival.”

But occurrences on board can still happen. “You can always have that one person sitting next to you who cannot stop talking!” Surinam Airways’ crew are highly regarded in the region, so complaints about service are few in number. “I believe that, if a passenger is unhappy with the service or experience, he or she

needs to contact me personally instead of being unreasonable towards my crew and passengers”, said Henshuys. “In our inflight magazine, ‘Sabaku’ - which can also be found online - I always have a ‘Letter to the President’, which allows passengers to speak to me directly. If there is dissatisfaction I will always try to improve the experience.” Then again, there is zero tolerance for unruly behaviour. “If a passenger is unruly and misbehaving, he or she is not eligible to fly with us again.”

So what does keep Surinam Airways’ CEO awake at night? “I do not say this often, but I think that being a CEO is one of the loneliest professions. You have to take decisions; you have to worry about things. People think that I have a glamorous job to perform, but if you look at my responsibilities, it suddenly does not appear glamourous anymore. What keeps me awake at night is that I have the responsibility to have all my aircraft arrive safely at their destination without any incidents or calamities. By incidents I also refer to desperate or irritated passengers on board.”

Beyond the safety and security programmes operating behind the scenes, Henshuys thinks the public image of the company is its best

defence. “Our cabin crew are our unique selling point. Passengers choose Surinam Airways for the warm hospitality service and treatment. Furthermore, we achieve efficiency because of the fact that we are a smaller airline. We achieve efficiency since we are all proud to work for the airline and to provide the best possible service.”

Shalini Levens was born in The Nether lands, but raised in Suriname. She r e c e n t l y graduated from The Hague University of A p p l i e d Sciences as a Bachelor of B u s i n e s s

Administration. Having completed her marketing communications internship at Rotterdam The Hague Airport and written her dissertation on the International Air Transport Association (IATA), she is keen to start her career as an active member of the aviation community. She can be contacted at: shalinilevens@outlook.com

“…we monitor whether there

are passengers on the

blacklist and execute our own

passenger profiling. If someone

looks shady, one of our officers

will interview the passenger…”