Madang Airport now has the additional nine Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) officers to boost the strength of its ARFF personnel to continue meeting the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) compliance and requirements at the airport. The nine officers, seven males and two females, graduated recently in Madang as fully fledged ARFF officers after completing a serious of training since March 2021. “These officers coming on board will boost ARFF staff capability at Madang Airport to meet the CASA requirements, said National Airports Corporation Acting Chief Operating Officer, Alex Auga. The addition of the nine officers has boosted the strength of ARFF officers in Madang Airport from 11 to now 20. Mark Sahin General Manager Regional Airports at NAC said NAC’s vision is to have smart airports, however the organization must improve its capability of complying with the requirements of International Civil Aviation Organization and CASA, which regulates airport operations. He challenged the officers to read the CASA rules that governs the ARFF operations to better understand their job and to guide them do the right thing when on and off duty. ARFF is an important function at Madang Airport because Madang is categorized as Category 6 aerodrome. This means it has the minimum extinguishing agents, rescue & firefighting vehicles, sufficient ARFF personnel, optimum response capability and communication and alerting system to provide safety for passengers and aircraft in an emergency situation. The boost in ARFF is timely for Madang Airport as it undergoes upgrade and refurbishment to its aircraft pavement, runway extension, new terminal and new fire station buildings.