EBACE Expected to be Perfect Venue to Air Host of Regulatory Differences

Today's Opening Session and ensuing seminars at EBACE will bring together business aviation advocates and regulators from both sides of the Atlantic in a non-confrontational way, says Bob Blouin, operations VP for the NBAA in Washington.

At the top of the "hot button" list: single-engine operation, and the thorny matter of aircraft noise and hush kits.

Tackling those issues in Geneva this week are the top guns of NBAA and EBAA, the Montreal-based International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), as well as officials of the FAA and JAA, and the European Commission and its new European Aviation Safety Agency.

The opening EBACE session on Wednesday, to be moderated by NBAA chief Jack Olcott, will be a serious discussion on The Impact of Regulatory Issues on Business Aviation. "That'll set the tone for the whole three days," Blouin predicts.

Heavy hitters at the session will include:

• JAA Secretary General Klaus Koplin;
• Dan Hawkes, chairman JAA's CNS/ATM working group;
• Michel Gouet, chair- man of JAA's AWGAS (Ariel working group for general aviation services);
• Don Spruston, IBAC director general;
• Christian Eigl, regional director for Europe and North America with the UN's ICAO;
• Frederik Sorensen, head of the EC's economic regulatory section;
• Eckard Seebohn, head of airport policy, EC environment section;
• Claude Probst, an aviation regulation expert with the EC; and
• EBAA Chairman Brian Humphries.

Thursday will see morning sessions on equipage for worldwide operations, covering RVSM, ETOPS and RNP hardware; a JAR Ops II update; and a session on International Standards for Business Aircraft by the International Business Aviation Council.

By Rich Piellisch