CAA Aerodrome Safety Head receives MBE

Chris Farnaby, the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Head of Operations for Aerodrome Standards, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List. Chris, who receives the honour for ‘services to aviation’, is responsible for ensuring all licensed airports and airfields meet the CAA’s stringent safety requirements.

Chris and his team who are based at Gatwick, Manchester and Stirling, carry out regular safety inspections and audits of all 138 licensed UK aerodromes – from London Heathrow to the beach landing strip at Barra in the Outer Hebrides. These audits, which uncover any issues with safety management systems, runways, aeronautical lighting systems or surface based technologies, such as instrument landing systems, have helped make UK airports amongst the safest in the world.

Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of the CAA, said: “Chris is a role model for all of us in the CAA. He is utterly professional in his approach, an expert in his subject matter, and completely approachable and engaged, both with his colleagues and industry stakeholders. Chris’ recognition in this way is thoroughly deserved and his surprise at the news is a mark of his character.”

Chris, who has been with the CAA for a total of 25 years, since joining the safety regulator from Durham Tees Valley Airport (Teesside Airport), said: “This recognition is totally overwhelming and is still surreal for me and my family. To receive the initial letter from the Cabinet Office and realise that your name will be put forward to Her Majesty the Queen has a very strong emotional effect. Having spent 37 years in the aviation industry I feel utterly surprised and privileged by this honour and my wife and I have been blown away by the recognition from colleagues, friends and the CAA senior management team. In my eyes this honour represents the opportunities that the CAA has given me and it reflects the comradeship I have shared with everyone I have worked with over the years.”