The 2025 BBGA Annual Conference in London

This year’s Annual Conference of the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) took place on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at the Leonardo Royal Hotel - London City. The aim of the conference was to discuss pertinent subjects in UK business aviation and to hold the Association's annual meeting.

The event started with a scene-setting presentation by Richard Koe of WingX (part of JetNet). Koe is past master of business-aviation market analysis, and he didn’t disappoint with a series of slides that illustrated how the industry had fared since 2019—in particular since the Covid pandemic, which saw it picking up slack as airlines withdrew many routes—they are evidently still some 20% down on routes compared to 2019, leaving business aviation to prove its worth.

The U.S. has fared better than Europe. For both, fractional ownership has been the stand-out performer, whereas corporate flight departments have seen declines in activity—Koe speculated that this could reflect pressure on executives and boards not to be seen using business jets.

Overall, the business jet market is up a third since 2019 “and staying up,” said Koe. The sector is still very much US-centric, with two-thirds of the fleet being based in North America. The past 12 months have seen a “turnaround,” with “the obvious turning point being the U.S. election,” though at the time of the conference, sudden U.S. tariffs were threatening to topple the world into recession.

Per-aircraft utilization has been “tailing off” in recent months, said Koe, which he admitted could reflect market weakening. The decline in the charter market since 2022, the part of the market that usually leads such declines, is marked.

Across Europe, the west (the UK) is strongest while the east (Eastern Europe nearest Russia) has “fallen off a cliff;” much of the Russian fleet has shifted to Turkey, and even the German market has felt the chill, being 18% down compared to 2019, while Italy and Spain have increased by around 30%.

“In 2024, the UK market grew while Europe went backward,” said Koe, adding that both grew since 2019, although nothing as strongly as the US. In the UK itself, domestic business aircraft flying has decreased compared with 2019; but international activity has increased, with airports around London such as Biggin Hill, Oxford, Northolt and Farnborough seeing the highest growth. UK-Portugal traffic was a good performer, he said, with a 60% increase since 2019.

London leads the European cities by a long way overall, although in charter, it is only just in first place, ahead of Paris. “London was really dominant in Part 91 [private] flights,” said Koe, who said there were 310 business jets based “in and around” London, 121 of these being ultra-long-range aircraft.

Regarding registrations, the N-register accounts for 65% of the world’s fleet, while the UK’s G-reg stands at only 1%. It is now in 18th position, down from 12th, while the 9H (Malta) and T7 (San Marino) have seen strong growth. Simon Williams, director of civil aviation in the Isle of Man, which operates the M-register, pointed out that it continued to perform strongly but has only private aircraft, not those on Air Operator Certificates.

The number of G-registered business aircraft was approximately halved between 2013 and 2024. This was the subject of the first panel discussion (see below).

Koe suggested that instability and security concerns could prompt more people toward business aviation, along with a continued increase in the number of Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, while the shift to the next, younger generation could see fractional ownership continue to increase in popularity. “Ultra-wealth creation correlates with business aircraft activity,” said Koe. The UK doesn’t come very high on the list for creating billionaires, but the numbers have been increasing in China, India and Brazil, for example. On top of that, it is estimated that more than 16,000 millionaires left the UK between 2017 and 2023.

Koe’s final thought was towards the number of possible ‘metro area’ connections that are viable with business aircraft compared to airliners – in Europe alone, this stands at over 2,000 compared to around 500 the airlines can serve.

G-Reg Opportunity?

While Koe said he would find out how many of the 310 business jets based in the UK were on the CAA-run G (‘Golf’)-register, the first panel of the day discussed whether there was an opportunity for the G-register to recover its numbers of business aircraft. Chairing the session, The Air Law Firm partner and current BBGA chair Aoife O’Sullivan said, “The data shows that there’s a huge opportunity for the G Reg.”

Mark Bisset, lawyer/partner with Clyde & Co. in London, said there were some 700 operators in the UK and three airports in London are in Europe’s Top10 for business aviation. Yet the G-Reg has been in decline in this sector. Bisset asked, “How do we reverse it, and do we want to?”

Graham Williamson, managing director of Farnborough-based Gama Aviation, suggested that aircraft owners are encouraged to “go down the path of least resistance,” meaning a registry in an EU member state/under EASA. “And we’ve got out of the habit of recommending the UK.”

Andrew Hoy of Affinity Aviation said he’d lost his flying license in 2003 when diagnosed with diabetes but, under the UK CAA, was able to manage that and have a medical again – he is currently flying a private Bombardier Global G7500, which is on the G-register. “Thanks to the G, I am still flying,” he said. He added that it is “a lot harder flying on the G, [with] a lot of regulatory issues including training. But I’d like to see the G reg come up – need flexibility from the CAA. A difference in approach to inspections, spares etc. So, we need a change at Gatwick to see that happen, but I have some ideas…”

Bisset said, “In an ideal world, the CAA would have a dedicated business aviation team,” rather than lumping it in with the airlines that always take precedence. O’Sullivan said that Ben Alcott at the CAA wanted to listen (he spoke that afternoon). She was BBGA chair starting just before COVID-19 but was also very involved with advising BBGA members through Brexit. She thinks the G-reg can still work in Europe – as it certainly works globally. “The G-reg works, but we’ve talked ourselves out of it,” she said.

Bisset noted that offshore registries (e.g., Malta, San Marino) have “been selling themselves very well, but the G-reg [CAA] doesn’t do that sort of thing.” Hoy concluded, “I’m selling aircraft out to Asia and they’re all T7, but why can’t they choose G?”

The next part of the conversation turned to Brexit a little more, led by BBGA Board member (and Hon. President of the General Aviation Awareness Council) Charles Henry. More accurately, the talk turned to the UK’s membership of EASA, which should not, arguably, been ended due to Brexit given the global ‘de-coupled’ nature of aviation.

Henry reflected on a time when EASA and the G-reg were “totally accepted and reciprocated.” Bisset added, “The UK not remaining part of EASA was a mistake!” And adding to the throng, Williamson reminded everyone of the UK’s role and the fact that some 40% of EASA employees used to be from the UK. The session ended with a clear, if very ambitious, call to see if UK aviation could return to the EASA fold. This would, of course, require political-level buy-in from the UK government, the panel recognized.

Ben Alcott, the CAA’s group director for professional services, then gave an update on the Authority’s efforts to engage with the industry and modernize its practices. At present, ATC licensing has been streamlined on a new electronic system (with digital licenses), and Alcott said flight crew licensing would be next, rolling into 2026.

“So how does this all fit with BBGA and us being a jurisdiction of choice for bizjets?” he asked. He said the CAA wanted to listen and to take on board all the issues the industry was having. In fact, the CAA has all this in mind starting with licence reciprocity, with an initial workshop taking place in mid-May. The BBGA has had a lot of input into the initial work, he said. “We won’t identify the solutions until we really understand what the problems are,” he noted. Asked by O’Sullivan if business aviation should be a priority for the CAA, Alcott concluded that the priority was to improve the customer experience “right across the piste” while admitting, “It’s not the right moment to say whether or not the CAA should create a dedicated business aviation unit.”

CAA head of airline licensing David Kendrick said that the CAA did have “a dedicated forum for business aviation, and the BBGA is a part of that.”

Sharing Airspace

Switching to a somewhat different subject—drones—the next panel session was led by Graham Brown, chair of ARPAS-UK, billed as “the collective voice of the drone industry.”

Brown was joined by Philip Binks, head of ATM (Ait Traffic Management) at Altitude Angel, which now has a hugely successful app that is helping drones fly safely, called Guardian UTM.

It is generally accepted that having segregated airspace for drone operations doesn’t work, so the focus is on sharing airspace, “So we look at airspace as one sky with a single objective.” He said some 350,000 people use the Guardian UTM platform in the UK for awareness of airspace and ground hazards; in fact, there are around 100 million interactions with the platform every month, said Binks, who was formerly at NATS helping Altitude Angel to develop its system. There are 10s of 1000s of drone flights every month now, a huge increase from only four years ago, he said.

Altitude Angel is involved in a current effort to develop a network of 10-kilometer-wide drone corridors supported by an array of ground sensors, which will eventually allow organs and other small, high-value items to be transported quickly and cheaply. Project Skyway is starting with a drone corridor from Reading to Coventry, aiming “not to impact other airspace users.”  It involves a “Skyway controller in the Cloud to avoid collisions,” said Binks, while flight is automated, and drones can join anywhere along the corridors. He admitted that “integration into existing airspace is tricky and difficult to do.”

This more commercial system aside, there are many challenges still related to drones. A lot of effort is going into ‘detect and avoid’ systems. In addition, ARPAS-UK are hoping that the current 45-page long ‘Drone Code’ can be simplified in the hope that more recreational drone users can be educated in safe and legal operations.

Graham Brown’s key take-home message for BBGA delegates was that drones are usually not what most people consider to be ‘aviation’, in that numerous industries are operating them for multifarious reasons.

These are commercial drones, and the industry is hugely valuable in offering safer, more affordable, and often more effective ways to do things, from inspections to transportation. But as Mark Bailey, BBGA CEO, pointed out, on the recreational side, “There are always idiots around.”

Bailey was moving the conference along to his CEO’s report, giving a quick update on some key initiatives. He said the UK Airworthiness Strategic Forum, which the BBGA has been leading, has been proving effective in giving the regulator a single touchpoint to deal with the industry. Meanwhile, a European Continuing Airworthiness Group has also been formed.

BBGA has also been active over the past couple of years with GA for Business (GA 4 Biz) along with AOPA UK, the British Helicopter Association (BHA) and ARPAS-UK, the aim being to provide a single voice to the Department for Transport (DfT) on general aviation matters.

On Parliamentary matters, Bailey lamented that the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group for Aviation) was not as effective or active as it used to be but that fewer MPs were involved with aviation compared with the last Parliament before the 2024 election. That is, around 30 compared to around 100 based on BBGA’s outreach efforts. BBGA is still engaged nonetheless with the Aviation APPG, primarily being involved with its taxation, airfields and ‘next-gen’ (as in careers) working groups.

Aviation training is very much on BBGA’s agenda, including the Aviation Skills and Retention Platform, although Bailey said there is no funding for that now from the UK government. Bailey said it would evolve into an industry forum, acting as a “dealing house” for aviation training activities that aims to link universities etc, with industry and industry groups. BBGA is also becoming closely involved in a Masters program, providing the teaching for a module that forms part of the Masters degree.

During the lunch break at the BBGA Annual Conference, a media session was held where a panel of BBGA member company representatives discussed their own recent experiences with recruitment and staff retention. (See below.)

Bailey also mentioned other issues BBGA is working on, including the UK Air Passenger Duty, which in 2026 will be hiked by 50% for business jets, suggesting that BBGA had accepted the government wouldn’t change its mind while it was struggling financially, but BBGA is hoping the weight limit at which the charges kick in won’t be lowered from 20 metric tons (higher APD has been proposed for aircraft over 5.7t but this threat seems to have subsided). “We’ve done good work on this, but it’s not gone so well [as was hoped],” he concluded.

Night slot restrictions are another issue causing problems as they restrict access to airports such as Luton, but Bailey said despite a consultation and feedback, things haven’t moved forward “as nobody was prepared to listen.” According to one BBGA Board member, getting any meetings with UK ministers at present is impossible—even the aviation minister. “There’s two years until the next consultation [on night slots],” said Bailey. “It’s really disappointing.”

IBAC – Connecting Business Aviation, Worldwide

The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) brings together 15 business aviation associations worldwide. Captain Claude Hurley, IBAC’s director of environment and flight operations since 2023, was introduced by IBAC director general Kurt Edwards (fortunately and coincidentally, IBAC was due to convene a 2-day Council meeting in London just after BBGA’s event).

Hurley explained how ICAO, the UN aviation agency with 193 nation members, works. IBAC has official observer status at ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission (ANC). The 14th ANC took place in the summer of 2024 as part of ICAO’s triennial cycle, the current one being 2025-2027.

Hurley leads IBAC’s environmental involvement in areas such as SAF (Synthetic Aviation Fuel) and is also involved on the AAM side, where ICAO has formulated an AAM strategy with seven pillars. He also sits on ICAO’s CAEP (Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection) as an NGO observer. Hurley said the latest CAEP cycle concluded recently and that, unusually, it had agreed to treat noise and emissions together. He added that IBAC’s view on the relatively new area of ‘non-CO2’, e.g., contrails, “the science should lead.”

Hurley concluded by saying that the next ICAO General Assembly, at its HQ in Montreal, would take place September 23-October 3, 2025. This will see a torrent of activity with more than 400 working papers and, of course, a lot of invaluable debating and networking.

Leo Knappen, well known by many for his years as a Bombardier executive, was also in London for the IBAC gathering. He said IBAC had been growing its Industry Partner Program (IPP), which he oversees. Knappen pointed out that while the airlines (through IATA) seek a “one size fits all” approach, this doesn’t work for business aviation. “We punch above our weight [though],” he said, “we’re a pretty small but powerful group.”

“We aim to get ahead of the curve, help shape the standards so they don’t bite you later. It will always cost you money and time.”

Knappen said there are many meetings around the world that IBAC is involved in, with its member associations providing expertise for many of these.

He finished by saying he’d “just signed” IBAC’s 20th industry partner for its IPP, which includes OEMs, service providers, operators and others. This industry advisory forum is relatively new and will hold its third meeting in May 2025 (it has two meetings a year). “It’s open, confidential and non-partisan and [aims to] exchange views and information—and put differences aside!” The aim, added Knappen, is to develop activities and strengthen IBAC and ICAO.

In conclusion, Kurt Edwards said that although IBAC started as North America-centric, it now has member associations from around the world and is “spreading out beyond the USA and Canada.” Its Board includes two representatives from the UK, one from Europe and one from Brazil now, for example.

After the main IBAC session, Terry Yeomans and Andrew Karas gave updates on IS-BAH and IS-BAO, respectively. These programs aim to raise safety levels and awareness in business aviation ground handling and flight operations in a structured way. Many companies in these areas have this IBAC accreditation now, though they have to constantly keep on top of things to keep that accreditation.

While IS-BAO was established in 2002, IS-BAH was created after the European Commission started to formulate a Ground Handling Directive in 2011. Three years later, IS-BAH was presented to ICAO and EASA. “So we were proactive and didn’t have to play catch-up,” said Yeomans.

IS-BAO is now fully established as an industry standard, with more than 1600 flight departments worldwide having implemented it, said Karas. It continues to evolve, not least due to regulations evolving and being enhanced, while IS-BAH has seen a significant event recently with the EU’s new Ground Handling Regulation, which was published on March 7, 2025, said Yeomans.

This sets a three-year window for compliance, and by March 2028, ground handlers will have to have Safety Management Systems. With this affecting 530 aerodromes in Europe, “it’s a huge task,” said Yeomans.

IBAC does want a standard way of doing things and has put a strong emphasis on gathering data to focus its efforts. Yeomans said there had been 7,000 ground-handling incidents in Europe over 10 years, 39% of which (3639) led to aircraft damage. Some 75% occurred when the aircraft was not under its own power, and 28% involved towing. “And that doesn’t include the near misses!”

Factors include pressure (e.g., on ground-handling agents and pilots) and task saturation. “The industry is getting busier,” said Yeomans. Also, with a high staff turnover in some places and organizations, it is often difficult to keep things going.

Yeomans said IATA has conducted a review of ground-handling agreements, and Europe’s EBAA (an IBAC Council member association) is working on a standard ground-handling agreement for business aviation.

What About Net Zero?

Moving on, the next conference panel looked at Net Zero in the context of business aviation, against a recent backdrop whereby some in aviation seemed to be ‘abandoning’ the 2050 target. Is it unobtainable?

Reflecting in part on the recent changes from having a new administration in the U.S., Dr. Naomi Wise, sustainability adviser at OXCCU Tech, said, “We need stability to help drive innovation and establish the supply chain” for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). OXCCU has established a pilot plant at Oxford Airport to produce synthetic SAF. Having reliable funding is critical, however, and any regulatory and other changes can have a “shock effect” on start-ups. In her company’s case, it needs a reliable supply of green hydrogen, but Wise believes with the demand for hydrogen fuel growing at airports—hydrogen-powered aircraft ultimately—their business case has an added advantage. However, she welcomed the UK and EU SAF mandates as helping to underpin the business case at the moment.

Maureen Gaultier, formerly of EBAA and now aviation sustainability expert and European program manager with 4AIR, focused on the need for offsetting to be permitted if SAF use is to grow properly. Although it means money going out of the industry, it may be able to be used to fund things like eSAF, which she describes as “amazing.” “As long as the carbon credits are legitimate [in offsetting],” added Gaultier.

Otherwise, she believes things are going in the right direction. “On policy, we are getting there, e.g., the SAF mandates. The regulators are doing a good job, especially Europe and the UK, and are pushing us in the right direction.”

Asked if the goal of Net Zero in aviation by 2050 is “still achievable,” Wise replied that goals are always “useful. It’s brave to say you’ll get there, but you then need to reassess and set new goals, maybe? We should keep working towards them.”

Session chair James Hardie of Course Correction Consulting said, “It’s up to us to set the narrative [on sustainability and goals] for our own industry.

Stuart Algar then took to the stage. He is chief surveyor, airworthiness for the UK CAA and is concerned about the aging population of licensed engineers in aviation (60% are now aged over 45). “How do we encourage the next generation? We need to get back to the volume of apprenticeships we had in the late 1980s.” He also said that only 2% of LAEs are female. He noted that the CAA does STEM events, but parents sometimes say girls can’t be pilots or engineers, he said.

He listed various initiatives aimed at increasing the supply of engineers and technicians, especially for those coming from the military, where the transition needs to be better supported.

Algar also said the CAA would like to move towards mutual recognition of licenses again. He suggested progress was slow, and a possibility was for the CAA to unilaterally accept EASA licenses. “We would need the political position to shift for mutual recognition of Part 66 licenses,” he continued. This would require either a change to the EU/UK BASA (Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement) or a change to the Trade & Cooperation Agreement (TCA) that came in post-Brexit.

MEDIA SESSION

Business Aviation is Experiencing an Acute Skills Shortage

Setting the scene, Andrew Middleton of Zenon Recruitment expressed that he’d “never seen the global market so tight in aviation”, with his company seeing a 38% increase in commercial and sales roles recently, and a 32% increase in vacancies for pilots and engineers. Zenon has “never seen such high demand” and is being approached by many new companies. “Supply is just not meeting demand, and opportunities are constantly being thrown at people [with scarce skills and experience].”

Middleton suggested that a lack of investment in training since 2000 has come back to bite the aviation industry, which is now also facing an aging workforce “with nobody to take over.” With Boeing’s much-quoted forecast that the industry will need 674,000 new pilots (and 716,000 maintenance technicians) over the next 20 years, the industry is simply unprepared.

Another problem this causes for business aviation is that “salaries are increasing unbelievably,” said Middleton, especially for pilots and engineers. “Brexit and the [Covid-19] pandemic have exacerbated this too.” And it’s not just pilots and engineers. “Charter broker salaries have gone up very quickly,” he said, “But is this sustainable long-term? Now, the situation is that companies have to step up. But is it going to be quick enough?”

Paul Cremer, head of aviation delivery at Gama Aviation, said one approach is to “grow their own talent,” as Gama is attempting to do. The Farnborough-based company, which also has a large maintenance base at Bournemouth and a network of FBOs worldwide, continues to grow its apprenticeship scheme into other aspects of the business. He lamented that “young people can’t really hang around on airfields like they used to,” as Cremer did as a youngster at Fairoaks Airport, just NE of Farnborough. Yet the first thing is usually to find people who have some interest in aviation, for whatever reason.

Anna Atkins, HR business partner at Bombardier, London Biggin Hill Airport, said the company has an apprenticeship scheme “to combat the skills gap. On average, we take 15 [per year] now.” Apprenticeship schemes are becoming more of an accepted route and people can see a long-term career. Bombardier has also launched a program for ex-military personnel, with 10 on that course now.

Jason Hayward, general manager of Universal Aviation UK, said his company “went 10 years without losing anyone but the pandemic changed everything. We’ve had to change our approach to recruitment a lot.” He noted that the most important skill for workers at FBOs is “people skills,” so Universal looks to the hospitality sector to recruit people. This now represents 30% of its current staff.

Middleton said young people are different now, too. “They have different expectations and only expect to stay in a job 2-3 years, and it’s perceived as negative to go beyond this.”

While Jason Hayward asserted that “aviation is exciting.” Paul Cremer followed up with, “But we have to get the message out,” something Gama tries to do with things like internships and career events such as the one held at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge.

Atkins suggested people needed to use social media to “reach the younger generation,” while Middleton said there still needed to be more roadshows to reach schools and colleges.

Running Together

Rounding off the BBGA event was guest celebrity speaker, Olympic gold medallist Roger Black. He won gold with the Great Britain team at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, winning the 4x400m event with his three teammates. The team went against protocol as Black, the fastest 400m runner of the four, went last rather than first. It worked, and they beat their U.S. arch-rivals. Black also won silver in the 400-meter race, beaten into second place by the legend Michael Johnson.

Black retired at the age of 32 and did reality TV in the early days before becoming a motivational speaker. He has had a heart valve issue all his life, diagnosed at the age of 11, and came to the BBGA even only six weeks after major heart surgery. His first event back working. And he brought his gold medals!