As a resident of the same town as EBAN I have watched it grow since its inception to the most respected magazine on business aviation in Europe and beyond. It has developed alongside the massive increase in civil aviation movements that has been demanded by the public.

At the same time the business aviation industry has moved from strength to strength against some expectations that information technology would replace the need for so much travel by businessmen. These demands have put a considerable strain on the resources of the whole civil aviation industry.

A major concern is the finite dimension of the airspace and airports. Just so much can be squeezed into these and it is taxing the brains of the airspace authorities on where to get more; in January 2002 it is hoped to gain an additional 20 per cent upper airspace with the introduction of the European RVSM Airspace. However business aviation is being restricted to access to the major airports and this will be exacerbated in the UK by the Deputy Prime Minister’s recent declaration that he planned to create a market for airlines to trade take-off and landing slots.

Technology has played its part in helping to make the industry safer and more efficient. There appears to be no bounds for the creation of avionics and the associated flight deck displays. In the time that EBAN has been around VLF/Omega has been and gone and left a gap in long-range navigation aids that satellite systems are slow to close albeit there is action to retrieve the situation. \r

The operating range of medium size business jets has increased more than threefold and now the latest large business aircraft are aiming to fly in excess of 6,000 nautical miles. This has created a problem with the rules under which they should operate and it is hoped to resolve this shortly after a 5 years debate on the subject. Following this there is a proposal that all long-range operations should be looked at.

The regulatory authorities have attempted to create a ‘level playing field’ within Europe and to harmonise more closely with the USA by instituting the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA). A tremendous amount of effort has gone into this project and is still ongoing but many problems have beset it from the outset not least of which is that it has no ‘teeth’ to regulate. It is anticipated that this will be overcome by the creation of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the adoption of the Joint Aviation Regulations (JARs) by the European Commission as EU-OPS. Meanwhile JAR-OPS 2 is being developed for non-commercial air transportation which heavily involves industry inputs from the corporate and aerial work fields.

The advent of JAR-OPS saw the requirement for quality assurance systems and greater emphasis on human factors within the cockpit and on the ground. However over the last 10 years there have been no fatal accidents involving passengers in the UK to any air taxi or corporate aircraft over 5,700kg mtwa which says a considerable amount about the way business aviation operators have conducted themselves. \r What the business sector must be aware of is the problem of recruiting suitable personnel, especially pilots and engineers. The source for these, the armed forces, has virtually dried up and the problem is concentrating the minds of several organisations. The airlines are also in desperate need for such people and have the financial clout to take the pickings. Successive governments have never acknowledged the true value of aviation to the country by creating and supporting aeronautical training establishments – maybe this is now time to do so.

EBAN has done a great job over its 100 editions in highlighting several of the topics outlined above; may it continue to carry on the good work for at least another 100. Good luck!

Captain John B Robinson, AFC*, FRAeS