Australian Business Aircraft Association

Has increased to19 Corporate and 26 Associate members. ABAA members operate about 50% of the business jets based in Australia.

This year's AGM will be held 28th July 2010 commencing at 3pm at the offices of GE Commercial Capital, Level 13, 255 George St, Sydney.

The global economic downturn over the past 2 years or so, has impacted negatively on business aviation activity throughout the world, with flying down 40% in some countries. Unemployment has risen dramatically in the USA aerospace industry with significantly fewer business aircraft being manufactured in 2009 and 2010 than the previous 5 years.

Australian business aviation activity has suffered less than overseas due to many factors including the ongoing need for our leading companies to provide their own aviation transport due to security issues and the need for privacy.

The National Business Aviation Association, Washington DC, launched a program called No Plane No Gain in February 2009 and the initiative has continued through 2010. Programs from several business aviation manufacturers have also promoted the many benefits of business aviation.

An IBAC delegation made a presentation in June 2010, to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the Challenges and Issues facing business aviation. The presentation was conducted by Don Spruston and other senior IBAC staff. Several representatives from various business aviation associations also attended.

The total population of turbine business aircraft globally has reached 30,000 with 17,500 jets and 12,500 turbo props and about 17,000 operators worldwide.

Business aviation consists of four primary sub-sectors: 1) commercial on-demand charter 2) corporate 3) owner operated and 4) fractional ownership.

A total of 137 business jets were based in Australia late 2009. These included 5 RAAF (2 Boeing BBJs / 3 Challenger 604s) and several US registered aircraft.

Of these, about 105 are actually used for private and charter business purposes. The other 32 are used for duties such as RAAF VIP, target towing, aero medical, freight, law enforcement and airliner training.

Several ABAA members also operate turbo prop aircraft such as Cessna Caravans, Pilatus PC12s, TBM 850s and Beech King Airs. Some ABAA members also operate turbine powered helicopters.

The ABAA negotiated for 3 months with Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) to reduce GA parking charges from the original SACL proposal in March 2010 to charge $35 per15 minutes per aircraft.

Parking charges in the GA area of Sydney Airport of $60 per aircraft per day have not been increased since 2001 and the ABAA agreed that an increase was appropriate, but nowhere near the magnitude proposed by SACL.

Our case centered on CPI increases since 2001, but the negotiations which ensued took some very peculiar turns including statements from SACL that the GA area was not producing an adequate economic return and that our operators could go to Bankstown, Camden, Goulburn and Newcastle - all non viable for our members.

Following many meetings and reams of correspondence, SACL finally agreed to our proposal dated 21st May for GA parking charges for the year commencing 1st July 2010 to be:

This was reasonable result, considering SACL's original ambit claim. We had also asked that the1st two hours parking be free of charge. This will be subject to further consultation with SACL early next year.

SACL has also notified the industry of proposed GA parking charges for the years commencing 1st July 2011 and 1st July 2012. The ABAA advised SACL that these charges are not acceptable to our members and SACL has since agreed to further consult early next year. We will be seeking CPI increases only.

The Australian Government’s Aviation Green Paper was released December 2008. This was preceded by a Discussion Paper, which was released April 2008. Our submission included matters such as: access to airspace and airports; ageing aircraft and the need for an investment allowance; security at regional airports and the Sydney Airport curfew.

The ABAA provided additional written feedback to Minister Albanese in our submission February 2009. The National Aviatian White Paper was finally released December 2009.

The ABAA thanked Mike Mrdak, Secretary, Department of Infrastructure and Transport for the efforts of all those involved in the preparation of the White Paper. This was done at an ASTA meeting in Canberra February 2010, which was attended by Mr Mrdak.

Unfortunately, the size and importance of the Aviation Industry has been understated in the White Paper.

The ABAA is a council member of the Australian Strategic Air Traffic Management Group (ASTRA), which is headquartered in Canberra. ASTRA is sponsored by Airservices Australia. The ASTRA Council also includes RAAA, AOPA, Australian Sport Aviation Confederation, Board of Airline Representatives, Qantas, Virgin Blue, Airservices Australia, Department of Defence and Bureau of Meteorology. ASTRA also has several permanent observers from CASA, Department of Infrastructure, CSIRO and Jeppesen Australia.

The ABAA is represented on three of the ASTRA working groups. These are Future ATM requirements, Surveillance Technologies and Performance Based Navigation.

Submission to Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee concerning Aircraft Noise.

Our submission was sent to Canberra 23rd February 2010. The purpose was to highlight the many inconsistencies regarding the current processes for approval of business jets to operate at Sydney and Adelaide during curfew hours.

A totally negative political response to our submission was received from Minister Albanese mid April 2010.

The ABAA then sent two emails regarding the approval process and the definition of type. Mr Mrdak, Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure and Transport responded 10th May, again negatively.

The letters from Minister Albanese and Mr Mrdak both contained the same paragraph i.e. “The Australian Government is of the view that the current curfew arrangements strike the right balance between industry and community needs. The National Aviation White Paper 16th December 2009 states that the Government is committed to maintaining the existing curfew arrangements at all Government imposed curfew airports. Dispensations will continue to be granted in exceptional circumstances and will be assessed against the existing exceptional circumstances criteria.”

“the Government is committed to maintaining the existing curfew arrangements at all Government imposed curfew airports.” It is our clear understanding that this includes the review process, which was acknowledged and acted upon by previous Liberal/National Governments but is being ignored by the current Labour Government.

Following meetings with Airservices Australia, the ABAA is pleased to report that ATC staff now have an improved appreciation of the high performance characteristics of business jets and their ability to adapt quickly to changing ATC circumstances. This will enable better flow of airline traffic and business jets in Australian airspace.

The ABAA was represented at the Airservices Australia Industry Consultation Forum in Canberra, June 2010. An important outcome of these meetings was the need to improve efficiency in Terminal Manoeuvring Areas (TMA), particularly at Sydney. Also, it was noted that Airservices Australia intends to implement technology improvements more rapidly in order to improve flow rates.

The ABAA has been represented on the CASA Standards Consultative Committee since 2003. Activities mainly relate to the review of Australian Aviation Regulations.

Following a recommendation by the ABAA, CASA has indicated that two new Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASRs), would be dedicated to business/corporate activity. These will be CASR Part 94 for fixed wing aircraft and CASR Part 96 for rotary wing. These new CASRs have low priority and will receive attention after all other CASRs have undergone regulatory review.

IBAC introduced the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) in 2002, with the aim of fostering standardised, safe and highly professional aircraft operations. Since then, more than 300 companies have received IS-BAO registration.

IS-BAO is a set of performance based standards which has a safety management system as its cornerstone. IS-BAO addresses operations, maintenance, training and other related issues. The standard also provides linkages to the regulations and recommended practices as specified by ICAO and national aviation regulators.

Ms Kathy Perfetti, IBAC Standards Manager conducted an Introduction to IS-BAO Workshop 25th May and an Auditor Accreditation Workshop 26th May in Melbourne. Attendance was excellent at both workshops and we anticipate several Australian business aviation flight departments will be IS-BAO registered in the next year or so. Our first IS-BAO registered company in 2009 was Revesco Aviation in Perth.

With sponsorship from FlightSafety International, the ABAA took the initiative in 2007 to arrange for a USA National Air Transport Association approved fingerprinting service to be available in Australia for pilots and crew members who plan to attend USA flight school, ground school and simulator training.

Ms Toni Remedios of Sydney completed her training in July 2007 and was then approved by the USA National Air Transport Association to collect and process fingerprints needed to comply with USA security requirements introduced in 2002.

Toni is still carrying out the fingerprinting service for the Australian aviation community. 20 candidates have been "printed" over the past 6 months, bringing the total to 154 candidates since this ABAA project was commenced. So far, all candidates have been approved by the USA authorities, with an approval time from TSA usually less than 5 days.