The Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) has organised its first safety day at TAG Aviation’s flight training resources centre in Hong Kong.
The event brought together flight operations practitioners from major Hong Kong business aviation operators – including Sino Jet, Metrojet, and Gama Aviation – with a number of these giving presentations, including Hong Kong air accident investigation bureau chief inspector Darren Straker.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of the inaugural safety day. We had a capacity of 60 seats and it was fully subscribed,” said AsBAA vice chairman and TAG Aviation Asia maintenance director Phil Balmer.
Illegal charter was highlighted as an important topic with its own panel discussion, during which Diana Chou pointed out that, as charter operations are so new in Asia, operators and clients still do not understand Part 135 and Part 91 clearly.
“Operators are selling Part 91 flights to make a profit, as times are bad,” said the Dragon General Aviation Group founder. “A lot of operators walk the grey line and the industry should get together and address the issue, or the consequences will be severe.”
She added that there should be a standard procedure by charter brokers to check if operators are flying on Part 91 or 135, as well as if they have the necessary certifications and training.
AsBAA are planning to hold their next safety day in the Philippines in November.