Finnish aviation safety programme, plan and performance targets and indicators

The aviation safety programme, plan for aviation safety and safety performance indicators and targets are advanced safety management mechanisms at the national level. They help us respond to the challenges of the diverse aviation system and strengthen the resilience of Finland’s aviation system.  Well-functioning safety management structures maintain our high level of safety and ensure safety operations also in rapidly or slowly changing situations.

Finnish Aviation Safety Programme FASP

The updated Finnish version 8.0 for Finnish Aviation Safety Programme FASP was published in 4th October 2022. English version was published in 10th October 2022 and can be found from this web page. Finnish version of FASP 8.0 can be found from Finnish SSP/SPAS (FASP / FPAS) web pages via this link (External link).

What is FASP?

Finnish Aviation Safety Programme (FASP) is the national-level description of our aviation safety management system. FASP consists of four sectors, which also include ICAO's eight critical elements for safety that ICAO requires States to manage effectively. These sectors are:

1. Finnish aviation safety policy, objectives and resources 
2. Safety risk management
3. Safety assurance
4. Safety promotion

FASP has two annexes: Annex 1, Finnish Plan for Aviation Safety and Annex 2, Finnish aviation safety objectives and safety performance indicators and targets. FASP has been published since 2012. Any need for updating the FASP and its annexes is reviewed once a year.

Why FASP?

Safety management mechanisms comprise system-level methods used to maintain and improve aviation safety at the international, national and organisation level. State Safety Programmes (SSP), like FASP for Finland, are a national-level safety management element. Via FASP and it’s annexes, national aviation safety is management in a coordinated and systematic way and a national aviation safety policy is implemented into everyday safety work.

Responsibilities related to FASP and its annexes

Obligations for State Safety Programmes and plans come from EU regulations, ICAO Annex 19 and the Finnish Aviation Act. Traficom is responsible for preparing, adopting and maintaining FASP and its annexes.

Aviation operators and service providers are responsible for the safety of their own operations. They must take the Finnish Aviation Safety Programme and its annexes  into account in their operations and monitor the achievement of the objectives.

Finnish Plan for Aviation Safety FPAS

What is FPAS?

The Finnish Plan for Aviation Safety (FPAS, FASP Annex 1) describes the identified key risks in Finnish aviation along with Finland’s strategic safety objectives and measures taken to accomplish them.

FPAS has been published since 2013, and it is updated once a year. The latest version is The Finnish plan for aviation safety FPAS 2023-2025. It is available in Finnish SSP web pages (External link). English version for FPAS 2023-2025 is also published and is be available in this web page.  

Why FPAS?

FPAS concerns the systematic practical implementation of safety policy in everyday safety work at national level. Via FPAS Finland is implementing the necessary action items for member states recognized at European level under EPAS and also those arising from the national aviation safety risk management process described in FASP chapter 2.6.

Below you can find The latest English version for the Finnish Plan for Aviation Safety 2023-2025 (FPAS 2023-2025). The Finnish version was published on 3rd April 2023 and the English version 19th May. The Finnish version can be found in Finnish web pages (External link). 

Below the FPAS-document, you can find updated FPAS information bulletins. Older safety plan versions can be found from Traficom`s publication web pages. 

Finnish Aviation safety objectives and safety performance targets and indicators (SPT, SPI)

What are SPTs and SPIs?

FASP Annex 2: Finnish aviation safety objectives and safety performance targets and indicators (SPT, SPI) defines the acceptable level of safety performance we are working to achieve in Finnish aviation. The acceptable level is determined by setting strategic safety objectives, and the necessary safety performance indicators and targets.

Updated version 6.0 was published 1st January 2024, and is in force as from 1 February 2024. The English version will be published in February and will be available in this web page. The previous version 5.1. with English translation can be found via this link (External link)

Why SPTs and SPIs?

Strategic safety objectives define safety policy visions and objectives in more concrete and practical form for managing safety. They and their related SPTs and SPIs are required for monitoring the achievement of the targeted level in practice. Ultimately, they are one step in translating safety policy into everyday actions.Why SPTs and SPIs?

Finnish aviation safety - monitoring information available

Monitoring information about Finnish aviation safety is available in Data.Traficom web pages (External link). 

The global chain of safety management

Global Aviation Safety Plan GASP

The Global Aviation Safety Plan GASP (ICAO Doc 10004) was created to facilitate global and coordinated improvement of aviation safety. The GASP is updated every three years and adopted by the ICAO Assembly. The purpose of the GASP is to underline the importance of safety as the main priority in civil aviation and to bring together globally determined key safety objectives and areas of safety performance and to support the achievement of the objectives in all areas. The GASP outlines regional and national safety efforts and the structures of safety management. GASP implementation is supported by the Global Aviation Safety Roadmap (Doc 10161) with more detailed action plan.

European Plan for Aviation Safety EPAS

The European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS) has been published since 2011, and updated annually for a five-year period until 2023 and from 2023 on for a three-year period. It describes the key risks identified in aviation at the European level, as well as strategic safety objectives and action items for attaining them. EPAS takes account of global programmes (the Global Aviation Safety Plan GASP and the Global Air Navigation Plan GANP, both published by ICAO) as well as the regional aviation plans and strategy papers (for more detail, see EASA`s EPAS web pages).

The EPAS is produced as part of the Safety Risk Management process (SRM) at EASA. EASA coordinates the identification of key risks as well as the creation and development of the European aviation risk portfolio within its SRM process. Through the forums of this process that progresses following an annual cycle, Member States and aviation stakeholders can participate in and influence European aviation risk management. The measures specified as a result of the process are published annually in the EPAS and implemented in a coordinated manner at the EU level as well as nationally.