Leading Business Aviation Groups Form Alliance Against Illegal Charters
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Today, a global group of leading business aviation organizations announced a coordinated effort to combat illegal on-demand charter flights in the sector. The group, called the Air Charter Safety Alliance, will raise awareness among potential customers, charter brokers, ministries of transport, and national aviation authorities regarding the use of unauthorized aircraft operators for on-demand flights.
While the overwhelming majority of on-demand charter flights comply with national and international safety standards, there have been instances of unauthorized aircraft operators actively avoiding aviation authority oversight, placing at risk the safety of unwitting passengers and hurting the economic health of approved charter operators.
In the past, several associations worked actively on reducing illegal activity by setting up dedicated websites to educate and engage aircraft owners and national authorities on proper compliance with charter regulations. Over the next three months, the coalition hopes to collect best practices from the various associations, create an online platform and initiate an online educational campaign to make main stakeholders aware of the dangers of illegal charter.
The coalition will develop and promote several safety programs that assist on-demand charter operators while continuing to improve their already impressive safety performance. Industry-led programs focusing on Safety Management Systems, flight data recording and safety reporting, along with a focus on safety culture have aided in bringing greater value to state-approved charter operators. Creating more discerning customers, in addition to efforts that will help to identify illegal charters, will hopefully dissuade those seeking to compromise safety for profit.
Ali Alnaqbi MEBAA Founding & Executive Chairman stated, “Illegal chartering continues to have a huge negative impact on the business aviation industry worldwide. Unless a global approach is taken to fight to eliminate the illegal chartering, this issue cannot be solved at an individual scale. An international coalition is the need of the hour to put our hands on the routes of illegal chartering and work together to come up with a global constant process to eradicate this issue.”
Going forward, the coalition is committed to upholding the business aviation industry’s highest safety standards and codes of best practice for passengers and crews alike. The coalition looks forward to engaging with and educating regulators, the industry, and public, at all levels, of the risks of these fraudulent activities.
