A Word From Our Director General
Kurt Edwards
The Council and the Air Navigation Commission at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) resumed their work in January. The key task in the near term is deciding how to hold the 41st Assembly of ICAO, a triennial event of nearly 2,500 delegates from 193 member states and 85 international organizations (including IBAC).
Typically held in the fall over a two-week period, the Assembly is an important in-person meeting where the international community of aviation authorities and industry (a) decide on recommendations for Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) for the global system developed in the last three-year cycle and (b) plan ICAO’s policy and work priorities over the next cycle. It appears that this year, given pandemic-driven complications, the Assembly will be held in a hybrid format in Montreal, Canada, over a three-week period starting the last week of September.
Central topics before the Assembly will likely include, among other matters, an emphasis on safety as the global aviation system returns to normal operations, cyber security, and a long-term, aspirational carbon emissions goal for international aviation. You may recall that the global business aviation sector adopted in September 2021 an even more ambitious long-term aspirational goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. IBAC along with the other industry associations will not only urge States to support this goal but emphasize the importance of providing the necessary policy measures to help us achieve it.
IBAC will represent the business aviation community at the Assembly and will keep you updated on preparations. Should you have questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me or Andy Meyer, IBAC’s Director, ICAO Liaison.
ICAO
Andreas Meyer, IBAC Director, ICAO Liaison
The ICAO Council and Air Navigation Commission reconvened after the Holiday season to start their first session in 2022. The most important topic in Council is the discussion around convening the 41st Session of the General Assembly.
IBAC started an engagement with a new subgroup of the Flight Operations Panel, looking at existing technology for onboard equipment to prevent runway excursion and incursion.
Lauren Haertlein from GAMA, who has followed the work of the ICAO Flight Recorder subgroup, has left her role, and will be replaced by Alex Burkett. We thank Lauren for her tireless engagement with this group, and welcome Alex.
ICAO has also released a new version of the North Atlantic Operations Manual, applicable in January 2022. For any questions regarding this manual, please get in touch with us at info@ibac.org.
IS-BAH
Terry Yeomans, Programme Director
January was a busy with workshops that were well attended. The next virtual IS-BAH workshop is open for registration and begins 15 March 2022. Please check our website for more upcoming dates HERE.
We now have 12 IS-BAH Stage 3 registered locations and there have been 264 total IS-BAH registered locations since the programme’s inception.
IS-BAO
Andrew Karas, IS-BAO Programme Director
The IS-BAO Programme registered its first Remote Pilot Aircraft System (RPAS) operator last month. Congratulations to Phoenix Air Unmanned, LLC. See the press release HERE.
In case you missed it, the new 20th edition of the IS-BAO Standard is now available for download. See the INFO for more details.
Beginning 01 February, the IS-BAO document suite and registration fees were increased approximately 10% to align with rising operating costs and inflation.
Register for upcoming workshops HERE. The workshop 28-31 March will be provided in Spanish.
IBAC will be exhibiting at the NBAA Regional Forum at Miami Opa Locka (OPA) airport 2 February and also at HAI Heli-Expo 8-10 March in Dallas, Texas.
SUSTAINABILITY
Bruce Parry, IBAC Environment Director
IBAC will participate in the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) meeting 7-18 February. CAEP is a technical committee that provides recommendations to the ICAO council. Key issues addressed will involve noise, emissions, and CORSIA.
Over the last couple of years, the CAEP has done work on the Long Term Aspirational Goal (LTAG), which was requested by the Member States at the last General Assembly in 2019. The focus for this work has been on technology, operations, and fuels. A report has been finalized for discussion at the CAEP meeting with the intent of submitting it to the 41st Assembly this fall.
In case you missed it: The special 20% discount off the initial CTX membership fee has been extended to the IBAC business aviation community until 31 March 2022 by using the IBAC2021 discount code. For more details about carbon offsetting and this new IBAC EX Carbon Credit Exchange, please go to Carbon Credit Exchange (ibac.org).
Contact Bruce Parry with any questions at bparry@ibac.org
Source: https://mailchi.mp/ibac/ibac-update-february-2022
