European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) president Brian Humphries says he is worried that the market sector is going to be saddled with security regulation in Europe that could wipe out the viability of much of its business there. Speaking at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva on 22 May, Humphries says he fears that business aviation could be subjected to security requirements designed for the scheduled airlines, despite the huge difference in the volume of people handled and the radically different relationship between the business aviation customer and the aircraft operator.
The European countries that pose the greatest threat to regulating security for business aircraft disproportionately to the risk are the UK, France and Germany, according to the EBAA. London City Airport’s service delivery director Alan Medlock says his airport has to pay Pounds 7 million a year for a police presence in addition to costs for providing normal airport security arrangements. London City runs its own fixed base operation for business flights, which make up about 15% of the aircraft’s movements total, he says.
Confirming the EBAA’s concerns, the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) has signalled that “industry self-regulation on security is not acceptable in Europe”, comparing it with what it sees as an unsatisfactory US model for business aviation security.
Humphries says the EBAA does not expect self-regulation, but it does hope for a solution that is proportionate and effective. The EBAA wants to see European regulators provide the framework rules for security provision, then allow state transport departments to work with the business aviation industry to ensure that security is delivered proportionately where it is needed. According to Humphries, one of the core problems is that, under the present rules, security operatives are required to be full-time specialists, because that is what makes sense when handling the passenger traffic volumes the airlines process. For the business aviation community, which handles ad-hoc operations and manages comparatively tiny numbers of people, suggests Humphries, dispatchers or fixed base operator staff should be trained and authorised - in addition to their primary role - to carry out security screening and baggage scanning. He explains that hiring staff purely in a security role would see them severely under-employed. Humphries contrasts this with the approach of the US Transportation Security Administration officials who were attending EBACE: they made their requirements known to the EBAA and are prepared to work with organisation to ensure that the appropriate measures are applied.
ECAC’s deputy executive secretary Gerry Lumsden, addressing the opening session at EBACE, said the agency is working with the European Union on appropriate regulation. He also made clear that the EU does not approve of the US way of providing for business aviation security, but he carefully avoided specifying what Europe has in mind and did not make himself available for questions on the subject.
The EBAA’s Pedro Vincente Azua says it looks as if there is a chance that the European Commission will settle on regulations that exempt aircraft of less than 10t weight or put them in a lesser security category.
Source: Flight Daily News
