Private carrier Air Astra has started preparations to undergo the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) operational safety audit (IOSA) before starting its operations.

The airline started a five-day IOSA airline auditor training at its training centre in Dhaka Monday.

Imran Asif, CEO and accountable manager), Captain Farhat Jamil, head of flight operations and training, Ghazi Mahmud Iqbal, head of engineering, Md Shafiqul Alam, head of quality assurance, Zafor Uzzaman, head of ground operations and DGR, Captain Khalid Shams, chief of safety, and Hasib ul Alam, head of airline security, attended the training.

The IOSA programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline.

All IATA members are IOSA registered and must remain registered to maintain their membership.

Air Astra’s plan to launch operations by Q1 2022 was affected by the aircraft leasing market uncertainties amid the pandemic.

The airline has secured 3x ATR 72-600 aircraft on lease and is on track to begin commercial flight operations across the domestic network in Bangladesh in September 2022.

French-built ATR 72-600 aircraft are the most advanced turboprop aircraft in production today, according to a media statement.