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As a community we have invested a lot of time in developing our legislation with EASA to provide both a safe environment and keeping the competitive framework in a global context. Many of our operators coming into Europe utilise both different legislation and different states for aircraft registry dependent on their owner’s preferences and their business model, i.e. third party charter or just private use. European legislation is heavily focused on AOC operations for scheduled airlines and only now are we starting to look at a more proportionate approach for those focused on GA commercial activities, undertaken by SME’s. The USA and the FAA regulations are in some ways far more advanced than their European counterparts using Part 135 and Part 91 versus Part 121 for scheduled Air Carriers. EASA legislation tends to look more like Part 121, However, the important thing to understand is that no system is perfect and it is very difficult to cherry pick parts from one code to read across to another. This is because the systems have evolved from a different starting point. Our sector is not simply centred on UK activities and many of our members have interests that spread internationally. As a consequence the choice about what legislative code, or which registration to use, will actually be driven by how well the combination works in a specific market. When you start to consider potential outcomes from any decision that the British public might make, it is likely that our community would react in a way that would provide the best solution to meet the market conditions. There is no better example of this than the emergence of the Isle of Man Registration (for privately operated aircraft) which has grown in a few short years from less than 50 aircraft to 861 to date. We will shortly see the first Guernsey registered business aircraft, joining the recent ZJ Jersey registry. As a European community we have already invested heavily in EASA legislation, so there is merit in retaining the status quo and continuing to develop that to assist our sector. Switzerland, however has chosen to accept the EASA legislation without being a member of the EU. Accordingly, the Swiss are more than able to ensure their requirements are recognised by EASA and the European Commission through their industry bodies. Therefore, in terms of our core legislative requirements, I believe that we are more than capable of dealing with either eventuality and are well positioned to ensure that should the vote be for Brexit, any disruption to our sector is minimised. A significant question mark remains, and that is the government’s desire to negotiate a bilateral agreement to accept EASA legislation as a separate requirement, where perhaps other legislation controlled by Brussels would be rejected. That is of course assuming that the other member states would wish to see the UK participating in the EASA requirements as they do today. Given that a significant proportion of the EASA funding is taken from industry fees, then the central funding argument used for many other areas where member state contribution is required can be discounted for our sector. There are many who think that exchange rates would be significantly impacted and in some scenarios that change could cause dollar driven fuel prices to increase fuel uplift prices in the UK by as much as 20%. However, for many of our global members those very same exchange rates could well lead to opportunities in emerging markets on the other side of the equation. Depending on your perspective and where your markets are established will of course colour your own business decisions. Also the size of your organisation and the scope of your current network will, without question, cause you to feel more comfortable with one direction over another. With members ranging from SME’s through to multi-national businesses, the expectations associated with the result of today's referendum vote will look very different. Pretty much like the CBI, it is not up to the BBGA to promote a preferred outcome from the electorate. One thing is for sure. We will be fully engaged as a consequence of the decision taken and whichever way the coin falls, our relationships nationally and internationally will not be diminished because aviation is a close knit as a community. As such we will continue to work together, irrespective of the decision.
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