Industry peers increasingly ask us how we, the recognised voice of the British business and general aviation sector, are responding to acts of trespass / vandalism of executive jets. Just last month one prominent activist, fresh from spraying orange paint over Stone Henge, Wiltshire’s iconic monument, cut through a security fence at London Stansted Airport, entered a private aviation terminal and did the same to two, privately owned, visiting business jets.
The answer is – we are telling our own story with the launch of our UK specific Did you Know? campaign. We are kicking it off with a series of 20 contemporary short videos from around the UK. You can find them under the hashtag #Bizavenables.
Produced by GearupMedia, in conjunction with a viral social video specialist agency, these vertical videos are being rolled out on the major social media platforms – Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube. They can also be viewed here: https://bbga.aero/bbga_links/
We are also canvassing our members with new #Bizavenables LinkedIn and X platforms, inviting them to share their sustainability, innovation stories; how they are effectively recruiting new employees into aviation to highlight how we continue to lead by example.
The perception of private aviation as all champagne and caviar is wrong. Many of our aircraft have such small cabins you can’t stand up in them, but they do connect city pairs which scheduled airlines do not. Around 10% of business jets flying are air ambulances. (One leading London Stansted FBO handled 85 medical repatriations last year). We have King Airs, Pilatus PC-12 turboprops repositioning crew; delivering AOG parts for stricken airlines or cruise lines.
Business aviation connects 3,150 city pairs in the United Kingdom; 120 metro areas and 124 airports; versus 506 connections; 30 metro areas and 30 airports served by the top 16 airline (A4E and Wizz) holdings in Europe, according to latest data analysis by WINGX. (See chart).
Each business aircraft landing in the UK (Europe’s second biggest market behind France), supports an average 100 jobs – pilots; customer service representatives at FBOs; refuellers; aircraft cleaners; inflight catering companies; concierge; hotel staff (many of our FBOs have adjacent hotels); trip planners; etc. As for clientele flying, they are diverse and invariably on a strict schedule. They may not be playing to 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, but they may well be opening a business in the UK, visiting a remote facility or closing an important deal.
