Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) and its partners marked the successful conclusion of a full evacuation and repopulation trial at Bahrain International Airport’s (BIA) new passenger terminal, demonstrating their readiness to handle a crisis scenario, said a report.

 

The exercise is mandatory for all airports and plays a major role in improving safety by accessing the capabilities, readiness, and effectiveness of emergency and rescue services provided by various entities, news agency BNA reported.

 

The mock crisis simulation was centred on a fire breaking out in the Baggage Handling Services meeting room. An evacuation alert was activated and teams from BAC, the Ministry of Interior (MOI), National Ambulance, and Civil Defence took coordinated actions to clear all trial participating passengers and staff from the terminal. The exercise involved 1,000 participants, two ambulances, and three fire trucks.

 

BAC Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah, said: “I would like to thank everyone involved in this exercise for handling the scenario swiftly, efficiently, and with the highest levels of professionalism. The exercise provided an excellent opportunity for us to assess our emergency procedures and coordination before the transfer of operations to the new terminal on 28 January. It also demonstrated that the airport community is fully prepared to handle crisis incidents that may occur.”

 

Acting Director of Rescue and Fire Fighting Services (RFFS) Mohamed AlSayed said: “BAC is committed to the safety of passengers and staff at BIA and has made a number of improvements to the airport’s infrastructure and services as part of the Airport Modernization Program. A new airside fire station was opened in 2017 to provide first response services to all aircraft emergencies and fire alarm activations within the airport boundary. Our highly skilled RFFS team has undergone extensive training, enabling us to respond promptly whenever our services are needed.”

 

BAC team members moderated the exercise, which saw multiple observers and safety officers, assigned by the fire department, positioned throughout the terminal. At the end of the exercise, participants and stakeholders were invited to share their feedback and any suggestions for improvement, the report said.