Alexandria, Va. – The American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and International Association of Airport Executives (IAAE), an affiliate organization of AAAE, are pleased to announce a major airport training partnership program with the Israel Airports Authority (IAA).

The historic agreement, signed on Aug. 6, 2019, in Tel Aviv, Israel, marks the first comprehensive partnership agreement between AAAE/IAAE and IAA to establish an airport training partnership that will include development of an International Airport Executive Professional Program, an IAAE-Israel Airport Executive Membership and an IAAE-Israel Accredited Airport Executive Program.

Through this agreement, IAA and AAAE/IAAE will offer performance-based, state-of-the-art courses and training programs to meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 14 and 17 standards and best practices. The program will cover training in airport safety and emergency management, aviation security, cybersecurity and drone operations.

“AAAE and IAAE are proud and honored to sign this Memorandum of Understanding with the Israel Airports Authority to provide membership and training services to airport executives and professional staff throughout the globe,” AAAE Senior Executive Vice President of Global Operations Spencer Dickerson said. “The Israel Airports Authority is the gold standard for many airport training programs in the world so we are very excited about this partnership.”

“We are very pleased to be part of this important collaboration with AAAE/IAAE and look forward to implementing these top-notch benefits and training for the growing airport workforce worldwide,” Shmuel Zakay, Managing Director of Ben-Gurion International Airport, and Yoram Shapira, Deputy Director General - Commerce and Business Development for Ben-Gurion International Airport, said in a joint statement.