Ilaria Iacobini and Kevin Ducksbury have joined the BACA council

BACA steers international industry cooperation

BACA – The Air Charter Association had a great EBACE again this year. Our BACA Bikes the Lake event was great fun, and those who cycled it had certainly earned a pint or two at our networking reception at the Mr Pickwick pub in Geneva on the Tuesday night.

As Brexit looms it is important for us all to remember our international reach and membership. It is incumbent on all of the aviation trade associations to continue to work for a better market for the whole of Europe. To this end we are delighted to be working with EBAA on a number of current initiatives.

First of these is a working group looking at ways to standardise charter contract terms. As BACA chair- man, and as a lawyer, I am regularly asked to look at disputes between operators and brokers about liabilities that arise under charters of aircraft. Clearly it is the objective of all market participants to ensure that our flying customers receive as clear and predictable a service, and cost for that service, as possible. It is not in the customer's best interest if brokers and operators fall out over charter costs, particularly unexpected ones, so we are exploring ways in which we can make contracts and charges clearer. I look forward to hearing the working party's recommendations.

Secondly we are cooperating with EBAA to gather data on illegal charters. Market users have become entirely disillusioned with the prospect of any regulator taking action to prevent illegal charters. This has gradually eroded their willingness to report misconduct and may have given a false impression as to how many, or indeed how few, illegal charters are actually flown. As a preliminary step in reversing this trend BACA and EBAA have agreed to collaborate on collecting and collating any reports of illegal charters. We do not intend to report these to the regulatory authorities at this stage, unless of course a really clear and obvious case comes through, but we do want to gather enough data to persuade regulators to take this issue more seriously and, ultimately, to take a case against an illegal charter operator to build confidence in the market.

This issue is particularly important at the moment as we are seeing a number of innovations in the market that appear to blur the distinction between commercial and private operations. This distinction is there for a reason, and BACA will continue to take steps to prevent commercial operations being categorised as private flights.

2018 will also see BACA reaching out further across the globe. We are in contact with colleagues at ACANA, AsBAA and AfBAA and are looking to build relations and seek opportunities to work more closely together.

Our next big event is, of course, ACE18 at London Biggin Hill airport on Tuesday, 11 September. Already it looks likely to substantially grow on the success of our first collaboration with Charter Broker magazine in 2017 and I look forward to welcoming all of our members, industry colleagues and associates to this free-to-attend expo.

New council members

Universal Aviation ground handling sales manager EMEA Ilaria Iacobini and founder of aviation consultancy and management services company Emerge Aviation Kevin Ducksbury have joined the BACA council. Their appointments come following the departure of two of the council's longest serving members; Bernard Keay and former chairman Dick Gilbert. Iacobini has more than 15 years' experience in the aviation industry working with Universal's network of FBOs and ground support locations. She says of her appointment: "I am part of an extraordinary group of aviation professionals who work together to secure our industry's integrity, standards and ethics." Ducksbury's 30 year aviation career includes time with Monarch Airlines and Air Partner before setting up Emerge Aviation in 2012. He says: "Joining the council means I have an opportunity to give back to an industry that I have been involved with for 30 years. To help shape new initiatives and policies that both companies and individuals in the industry can benefit from is an exciting prospect."

Richard Mumford, chairman, BACA