IATA, CANSO and ACI launch joint initiative against runway incursions
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), CANSO and the airports association ACI announced on 28 July 2026 a joint initiative aimed at reducing the risk of so-called runway incursions – the unauthorized presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on a runway or in its protected area. The move responds to the fact that such cases appear in IATA safety statistics, and some have recently had fatal consequences.
According to the organizations, this is an issue that requires close cooperation between airlines, airports, air traffic control providers, regulators and operational staff. The initiative therefore brings together three bodies that represent exactly these groups of players in civil aviation.
Three areas of focus
- Improving safety reporting and data collection – covering incidents, near-miss situations, warning signals and observations from operational staff.
- Strengthening Local Runway Safety Teams, which are meant to serve as the main platform where airlines, airports and air traffic control providers jointly assess local risks and agree on coordinated measures.
- Sharing progress and lessons learned so that best practices can spread more quickly to other airports and organizations with similar operating environments.
Nick Careen, IATA's Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety and Security, said that flying is the safest way to travel long distances, and maintaining this record requires continuous improvement backed by global standards, safety data and cooperation. According to him, the initiative brings together airlines, airports and air traffic control providers so they can detect runway risks earlier and act in a coordinated way.
Andrea Sack, CANSO's Senior Vice President for Global Operations, added that runway safety depends on clear communication and aligned decisions across the airport environment, and that strong Local Runway Safety Teams bring together air traffic controllers, airports, airlines and other operational partners to identify risks and find practical solutions.
Darryl Dowd, ACI World's Vice President for Safety, Security and Operations, said airports are at the center of this issue because the entire aviation system converges there. According to him, it is local knowledge of the environment and long-term cooperation that turn safety recommendations into an actual reduction of risk, and ACI is ready to support its members in putting these tools into practice.
The new initiative builds on existing programs, specifically the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions (GAPPRI) – a joint project of ICAO, Eurocontrol and the Flight Safety Foundation, also supported by IATA, ACI and CANSO – and the ICAO Global Runway Safety Action Plan. The goal is to reinforce these global plans using concrete tools the organizations have already developed.
- Announcement date
- 28 July 2026
- Participating organizations
- IATA, CANSO, ACI
- Related plan
- GAPPRI
- Related plan 2
- ICAO Global Runway Safety Action Plan
Concrete tools of the initiative
- ACI's Runway Safety Team Implementation Package, developed under the APEX in Safety program.
- The Runway Safety Checklist, jointly created by ACI and CANSO.
- IATA's Runway Incursion Safety Risk Assessment.
- The GAPPRI gap analysis tool designed for airlines.
- Assessment of airlines' risk analyses and corrective actions within the IOSA program.
In its notes to editors, IATA recalls that it represents over 370 airlines, accounting for roughly 85% of global air traffic. ACI, according to its own figures as of January 2026, represents 811 members operating more than 2,200 airports in over 160 countries, while CANSO states that its members handle over 90% of the world's air traffic.
Readers of map.flights can follow the development of safety standards and specific cases involving individual airports and carriers affected by runway safety issues.