Miami International Airport (MIA) is the first in the state of Florida, second in the U.S. and only the third in North America to be accredited under the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Health Accreditation program.
The recognition means that MIA's health and safety response to the COVID-19 pandemic is in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force recommendations.
ACI's Airport Health Accreditation program assesses a variety of areas, including cleaning and disinfection, physical distancing (where feasible and practical), staff protection, physical layout, passenger communications and passenger facilities.
"ACI's Airport Health Accreditation Program promotes best practices and helps align efforts across the industry to harmonize measures, processes and procedures, and I congratulate Miami International Airport in successfully achieving accreditation," ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said in a statement. "The recovery of the industry from the impacts of COVID-19 will require a coordinated, global effort, and Miami International Airport's accreditation shows that it is committed to high standards of health and hygiene that accord with globally recognized standards and protocols."
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez also congratulated the Miami-Dade Aviation Department for its "aggressive efforts" to make MIA one of the safest airports in the world amid the ongoing pandemic.
"As business and leisure travel to Miami-Dade County continues to steadily increase, achievements like MIA's health accreditation by ACI World is more evidence that our community and our local tourism industry are ready to welcome visitors back to the gateway of the Americas," Gimenez said in a statement.
"From the onset of the pandemic, our highest priority at MIA has been to exceed industry best practices and implement every measure possible to protect the wellbeing of our customers and employees," added MIA Director and CEO Lester Sola. "Accreditation from a global industry leader like ACI, after undergoing its rigorous evaluation process, should provide a high degree of reassurance to our passengers that they can fly safely through MIA."
Last month, Mexico's Los Cabos International Airport became the second in the world and the first in Latin American and the Caribbean to achieve ACI Airport Health Accreditation.
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