TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER REPORT
Beautiful Barcelona – ERA general assembly 2014 – begins
ERA returned to Barcelona for the General Assembly 2014. For golfing enthusiasts the first day of the three-day conference began with the traditional golf tournament and beginners’ golf clinic, this year held at Club de Golf Llavaneras just 34km outside Barcelona. Although weather conditions were not ideal, golfing enthusiasts were undeterred and enjoyed a challenging tournament and spectacular lunch with views over the Mediterranean courtesy of sponsors ECC Leasing and Flight Safety International.
Club de Golf Llavaneras, founded in 1945, is one of Catalonia’s oldest golf clubs and was originally designed by British architect F W Hawtree. The golfing enthusiasts were challenged by the 18-hole, par 70, course, set in 34 hectares.
The winners who overcame stiff competition to take the trophies were:
Winning team
Richard Pitt
Geoffrey Dillon-Leech
James Carroll
Arni Gunnarsson
Runner up team
David Skeldon
Steve Knackstedt
Peter Connolly
Angus Von Shoenberg
Longest drive, men
Andre Robert
Longest drive, ladies
Monica Palmer
Nearest to the pin, men
Richard Pitt
Nearest to the pin, ladies
Monica Palmer
Those in search of a less energetic pass time chose to join the three-hour Barcelona city tour in the afternoon which took in famous sights including the maritime city, the cultural city, the Olympic city and the historic city. Delegates visited Casa Batlo, Casa Milla, the Sagrada Familia, the Museum of National Art, Plaza Espana and Camp Nou.
Registration for the general assembly 2014 began early afternoon and continued until the conference opening welcome reception.
The first day of the conference also featured an ERA operations advisory group session. Hosted by Nick Mower, general manager regulatory affairs, ERA, the session included three presentations. Victor Alvarez of the European Satellite Service Provider considered how the use of space-based navigation, such as the EGNOS European satellite system, can enhance regional operations, particularly for Europe’s more remote areas that are lacking ground-based systems.
Hervé Julienne, rule-making officer at EASA, then led an informative discussion about the proposed changes in flight data monitoring systems. The session focused on the future requirements for flight recorders and underwater locating devices following the number of high-profile aviation accidents. Julienne then led a review of a new rule-making task regarding the use of electronic flight bags to replace existing manuals and paper-based documentation.
The results of ERA’s recent safety group meeting was also discussed during the session with a review of how to manage international flight paths over conflict zones and how to deal with lithium battery fires inflight.
Journalists attended a media briefing/drinks reception late afternoon at the congress before the official welcome reception which saw a packed event with delegates enjoying canapés and cocktails, visiting exhibition stands, meeting up with established friends and colleagues and taking the opportunity to network and forge new business relationships.