As the Ebace 2023 trade show comes to a close, it is clear that business aviation, in Geneva as elsewhere in the world, is flying higher than ever, surpassing its pre-COVID activity levels, and must also participate in debates on its environmental impact and solutions to continue reducing it.
The first ‘normal’ show after two years marked by Covid-related health measures, EBACE 2023 brought together the majority of business aviation players in Geneva.
While environmental issues were at the heart of conferences and expert panels, the exhibition organisers put their words into action by offering an event that was exemplary in terms of its carbon footprint.
For example, 100% of visitors’ air travel was carbon offset, as were shuttle journeys between 22 partner hotels and Palexpo, an exhibition venue that is also exemplary in terms of sustainable development.
For the Swiss Business Aviation Association, while its members are busy securing contracts to maintain their skilled jobs in Geneva, the event is also an opportunity to speak publicly about the importance of business aviation for Switzerland as a diplomatic and economic hub.
Present on site for several days, RTS La Première radio also highlighted that business aviation users, accounting for ‘30% of movements’ at the airport, include clients who are ‘very different from one another’, notably ‘large companies, governments and international organisations’.
Interviewed on the 12:30 news programme on Switzerland’s leading public radio station, Walter Chetcuti, president of AGAA, the SBAA’s partner in French-speaking Switzerland, reinforced this analysis by pointing out that business aviation is first and foremost a work tool and highlighting some of its concrete advantages: ‘What a private aircraft allows you to do is to have 100% of your time available for work.’