Signature Flight Support announced today the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference that its four locations in Italy are the country’s first to obtain Stage I registration under the International Business Aviation Council’s (IBAC) International Standard for Business Aviation Handling (IS-BAH).

In 2016, the BBA Aviation subsidiary entered into a joint venture with local aviation company SEA Prime S.p.A. The FBO chain acquired a 60-percent share of Prime Aviation Services, the European company’s service division, which operates at Milan Linate—Italy’s first dedicated business aviation airport—and at Milan Malpensa, Rome Ciampino and Venice Marco Polo Airports, all of which were rebranded to add four more Signature locations. Each passed the week-long IS-BAH safety management audit process, following an external assessment by a team of IBAC-accredited auditors.

“We are proud to announce that we have accomplished the first IS-BAH certification within Italy, and we look forward to bringing more of our European locations through the accreditation process,” said Evie Freeman, managing director of Signature’s EMEA locations. “Safety is our core value and lived by every one of our employees.”

Terry Yeomans, IBAC’s IS-BAH program director added, “All of us at IBAC commend Signature for this accomplishment and recognize their dedication to a safety culture that embraces global industry best practices for business aviation ground handlers.”