The US Federal Aviation Administration has extended to 14 July the deadline for owner/operators to submit paperwork to remain in the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) programme.
The US Department of Transportation still plans to implement the revised system on 2 August despite strong opposition from business and general aviation industry bodies including the Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).
BARR allows requestors to have their registration numbers removed from publicly available flight-tracking systems, an option that more than 3,000 operators now use for privacy, safety or competition reasons.
Last month, the FAA decided to remove the tail-number tracking-exemption, although exceptional cases will be considered. NBAA and other trade bodies have taken their battle to the US courts to preserve the BARR.
"Without citing any abuses in the programme, inefficiencies, administrative burdens, undue costs, or any other pragmatic rationale, the FAA has declared that privacy concerns - categorically - no longer justify blocking private flight information from the public," said the NBAA. It argues that the FAA's action is arbitrary and capricious, and will cause irreparable harm to private aircraft owners and operators.
Meanwhile, NBAA and the Shanghai Airport Authority have finalised a five-year agreement to host the annual Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. The last ABACE was held in Hong Kong in 2008.
Source: Flight International
