Organization Calls The Meeting "An Important Step Towards
European Harmonization"
The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) concluded a
highly successful "One Europe" Regional Forum last Friday, agreeing
to concrete actions to address the many operational challenges
raised by members of the business aviation community.
Of chief concern was the unlevel playing field that exists
within Europe. “The forum was subtitled 'A Roadmap for
Aligning East and West'," said Rodolfo Baviera, Chairman of the
European Business Aviation Association, “but as the
discussions progressed, it became clear that there was also still
much to do to align West with West.”
Issues included the lack of harmonized rules (most notably in
respect of runway performance requirements and Flight Time
Limitations) for commercial and non-commercial operations. This
often puts AOC holders at a disadvantage, which in many ways
contributes to operators choosing to label their activities as
private when they are in fact commercial. And indeed, from country
to country, the very definition of commercial and non-commercial
can carry multiple interpretations.
Access, particularly to Russia, Kazahkstan and Belarus, was
another focal point. To that end, the Russian United Business
Aviation Association provided updates on new legislation expected
to be passed within the coming months that could ease impediments
such as the importation of spare parts and ambiguous customs rules.
Participants agreed that industry standards such as IS-BAO, plus
EBAA's Emergency Response Planning Manual and FBO and Handling Code
of Practice, are highly effective tools. As such the group debated
whether or not more quality standards should be created for
vendors, such as for example insurance companies and brokers.
Lack of harmony across European States extends to tax, VAT and
financing as well, and participants shared how tax rules are
enforced in their own countries, demonstrating how complex
legislative compliance can be when rules tend to vary every several
hundred kilometers. "This meeting was not all talk and no action,
though," emphasized EBAA CEO and President Brian Humphries. "The
most critical part of the event took place during the final session
when we reviewed all of the issues that had been tabled over the
course of the two days, and drafted concrete action points to
address these challenges."
Within the coming weeks, small focus teams of EBAA members will
be assigned to each action point. These teams will be responsible
for addressing the challenges put to them and for drafting official
positions to be approved and adopted by the EBAA on behalf of the
European business aviation community. Thereafter, EBAA members and
National Associations, working in concert with the EBAA
secretariat, will be encouraged to communicate and lobby these
positions towards National and EU Authorities.
EBAA President And CEO Brian Humphries
"We've demonstrated in the past, for example with tailored
Flight Time Limitations rules for business aviation, that it is
vital that we help officials understand how business aviation
differs in so many ways from the airlines and why it requires
tailored rules," says Humphries. "This argument is of course
supported by the European Parliament's Agenda for Sustainable
Future in General and Business Aviation, which highlights our role
in providing 'tailored, flexible, door-to-door transportation for
individuals, enterprises and local communities, increasing mobility
of people, productivity of business and regional cohesion'. But we
still have a way to go, at both EU and National level. This forum
and the work that will follow is an important step towards
achieving suitable rules and enabling business aviation to benefit
from uniform enforcement across the region."