Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and a period of mourning for the U.K., organizers of the Air Charter Expo 2022 postponed the one-day event for two weeks to September 27, 2022. Despite the delay, the event held at London’s Biggin Hill Airport again continued its upward trend with a record number of well over 1,000 delegates.

The expo featured a full day of conference sessions and over 90 exhibitors with 15 aircraft included in the static display. The program featured key industry topics from the state of the industry to challenges in the air cargo and helicopter charter sector. Air BP presented on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and a discussion on single-engine aircraft in the charter market.

The Air Charter Association (ACA) also announced its partnership with 4Air, offering ACA members a carbon offsetting scheme. “ACE '22 was a great success, and we're delighted by the record levels of attendance,” ACA chairman Kevin Ducksbury. “We are also pleased to have announced our partnership with 4Air, extending the sustainability opportunities available to our members.”

Air Charter Guide and ACUKWIK representatives Michele Markarian and Shelli Hitchins attended and reported that the event was indeed bigger than previous years, but both were mostly impressed with the overall and energy and enthusiasm of ACE 22.

“Post-pandemic, the show has come back really strong,” says Markarian. “Our industry is all about real-world face time interactions and social connection. This is a great opportunity. People come from all over Europe for the show now, which it used to be more U.K. attendees only.”

Both also mentioned how popular the Air Charter Guide and AC-U-KWIK print books were for attendees, which they attributed to the quality of the attendees. They noted that attendees were clearly there to generate business.

“The majority of people that came into the booth were in the aviation business and were looking at avenues for marketing,” says Hitchins. “I do feel this show had more genuine attendees in the aviation business as opposed to other shows where we sometimes see people with a more casual interest in aviation.”

Markarian agreed and noted that ACE tends to have more of the independent or smaller operations that are not normally in attendance at some of the bigger industry tradeshows.

If you missed the 2022 event, don’t worry, ACE 2023 is already scheduled for September 23, 2022, again at London Biggin Hill airport. For more information on the event, visit www.aircharterexpo.com.

ACE 2022 Highlights

The 2022 Air Charter Expo included a robust conference agenda for one-day with the following sessions as the highlights:

Passenger Air Charter Update - Balancing demand with supply

Moderator: Richard Koe, WINGX. Panelists: Karl Mills, Commercial Chief Officer – TAG Aviation Europe Alex Harrington, Commercial Director – Titan Airways; Jessie Howes, Director, Private Jets London – Air Charter Service; Daniella Flierl, Founder & CEO – AirGo

Rotary Air Charter - The status quo and future outlook

Moderator: Callum Cooper, Executive Charter Broker - Hunt & Palmer PLC. Panelists: Chris Gerskowitch, Head of Flight Operations (Rotary) - SaxonAir; Michael Hampton, MD and founder - Capital Air Services; Alana Burns, Operations Director - Atlas Helicopters

Cargo Air Charter – New era or a bubble that will burst?

Moderator: Dave Connor, Managing Director – RVL Aviation. Panelists: Simon Watson, Director and Co-Founder – CharterSync Edward Micallef, General Manager – Challenge Air Cargo; Steve Downing, Head of Group Projects – Priority Freight; Sam Heather, Founder & Managing Director – 26AVIATION

Sustainability in Air Charter: A guide to solutions and emissions offsetting – How does it work & The ACA recommendations

Moderator: Kate Beveridge, Operations Director - 8020 Communications. Panelists: Chris Mace, Owner - MaceAero; Alina Minaeva, Director, Private Jets – Volanteus; Kennedy Ricci, 4Air, TBC

Single Engine Operations – Myth-busting and safe operations

Moderator: Kevin Ducksbury, Chairman - The Air Charter Association. Panelists: Glen Smith, Accountable Manager - Oriens Flight Operations Edwin Brenninkmyer, founder and CEO - Oriens Flight Operations; Jonathan Shooter – Oysterair (PC12 trainer); Aoife O’Sullivan, Partner – The Air Law Firm

Alternative fuels - SAF, hydrogen, electric

Presenter: Laura Bowden, Global Marketing Manager – Air BP

The ACA Broker Qualification – An introduction

Presenters: Glenn Hogben, CEO - The Air Charter Association; Julie Black, Deputy Chair - The Air Charter Association

Innovation update – eVTOL operations within the charter market

Moderator: Nicola-Jane Sellers, Group Sustainability Manager - Luxaviation. Panelists: Chay White, Commercial Director & Group Aviation Director - Luxaviation; Alex Durand, Chief Executive Officer - SaxonAir; Adam Twidell - OneSky

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Delayed Air Charter Expo 2022 Sets New Attendance Record