The BACA Spring Lunch took place at Merchant Taylors Hall in London recently, and a record number of guests saw past chairman Richard Mumford officially hand over the chain of office to new chair Nick Weston. The Spring Lunch has become so successful that to cope with the demand for tickets there was a secondary annex, with screens linked to the main hall.

Mumford summed up his three years in office while Weston took the opportunity to outline his vision for The Air Charter Association's future as he takes on his new role: lately the association has featured in the national media for its hard work in highlighting the risks of illegal charter flying, and to continue this exposure is one of Weston's key objectives.

Weston told the audience: “I am delighted to take up the role of chairman of BACA - The Air Charter Association, and it is particularly gratifying to do so in the year that it celebrates its 70th anniversary. As an association we are facing very exciting times, and we are now established as the global voice and authority on aircraft chartering.”

Weston went on to talk about Air Charter Expo at Biggin Hill, the association's presence at EBACE and how he will continue to grow membership of the association. He added that it had been an amazing Spring Lunch and that it was gratifying to welcome the highest-ever number of attendees to the event. He concluded: “I would like to thank Richard for his outstanding work as chairman over the last three years. I relish the prospect of implementing and continuing the initiatives we have in place, to deliver exceptional value to our members and ensure that the key issues impacting their business are known to governments and authorities globally.”