Murphy Prototypes competes for La Mans glory with bmi regional

bmi regional will spend the week at Le Mans this year with tipped-for-the-top-spot endurance racing team, Murphy Prototypes.

As the team’s official airline, the bmi regional logo will adorn the Murphy Prototype car at 24 Hours at Le Mans, the world’s oldest endurance racing event, held June 22nd-23rd in France.

The sponsorship deal aligns the airline with one of the strongest teams at this year’s 24 Hours at Le Mans.

Fighting for podium spot is the team boasting a driver line-up of New Zealander Brendon Hartley, endurance sports car campaigner, Mark Patterson and former F1 driver, Karun Chandhok.

Last year, Murphy Prototypes led the LMP2 class for five hours, while Chandhok was placed sixth overall.

Hopes are high for further success this year.

Colin Lewis, director of marketing, bmi regional, said: “The eyes of the world are on the iconic La Sarthe circuit and our presence there, as a sponsor of Murphy Prototypes, enables us to engage with global, European and British business decision-makers.

“In addition to the thrill of the race, Le Mans offers us the opportunity to reach business travellers from across Europe as we mark our first anniversary as an independent airline.”

Keep up with the action and follow an hourly ticker during the race here.

Follow the race with bmi regional by searching for the hashtag #murphsywingmen.

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Oman Air hosts IATA and ICAO Middle East Regional Aviation Safety Group initiative

Oman Air’s commitment to safety for all its customers was underlined when it hosted the IATA, ICAO Safety Management Workshop at Hotel InterContinental - Muscat on 11th and 12th June 2013. The event was organised by Oman Air in conjunction with OAMC, Airbus, Nexus and MedAire.

The event was held as part of an initiative by the IATA Regional Aviation Safety Group (RASG-MID) to enhance safety in the Middle East and brought together officials involved in the implementation of the State Safety Program and/or Safety Management Systems (SMS), in the areas of training, aircraft operations, maintenance and airworthiness of aircraft, aircraft design and manufacture, air traffic services, aerodrome operations and Accident and Incident Investigation. It was attended by safety management officials from the Royal Oman Police (ROP), the Oman Ministry of Defence (MOD), the Oman Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO), the Oman Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) and international delegates from the MENA region.

The purpose of Safety Management Workshop was to share best practices and lessons learned for Safety Management Systems (SMS) and State Safety Programmes (SSP), provide break-out sessions for the sharing of safety data and SMS/SSP implementation, promote safety data tools and enhance safety culture.

Following a welcome and opening address by Oman Air General Manager Quality & Safety, Captain Manin Al Said, in which he gave an overview on the history, progress and changes in aviation in Oman, the growth of Oman Air and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead, delegates enjoyed keynote speeches by a number of major figures from the Middle East aviation sector. These included Mohamed Smaoui, Regional Officer ANS/AIM, ICAO;  Abdullah Al-Ojaili, Assistant Director General for Safety, PACA; Achim Baumann, Regional Director SO&I MENA, IATA; and Marthinus Olivier, Serco Middle East Aviation Director.

Wayne Pearce, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Air, said:

“Oman Air was delighted to welcome delegates to the IATA/ICAO Safety Management Workshop in Muscat. This important event has made an important contribution to the safety of air travellers in the region and emphasises both Oman Air’s close co-operation with organisations and agencies throughout the Middle East and our total commitment to safeguarding the safety of all our customers.

“I would like to thank all those who contributed to the event, particularly Captain Manin Al Said, whose knowledge and expertise have helped make this event such a success. I would also like to echo Captain Al Said’s gratitude to ICAO and IATA for holding such event in Oman.”

Captain Manin Al Said added:

“We have been very pleased to host this event and are grateful to all the sponsoring organisations for partnering to support this workshop in Oman and for taking such a positive and proactive approach to promoting safety initiatives.”

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