27 Jan 21. FII one year on, shooting yourself in the foot? When the Editor was preparing our Feature last year, ‘COVID-19 Kills The Farnborough Airshow By Julian Nettlefold,’ we asked the FII to comment on the fact that they had refused to refund deposits. They made no comment so we ran the piece.
‘It is with great regret that we announce the Farnborough International Airshow 2020, due to take place in July, is cancelled. After very careful consideration, the unprecedented impact of the global Coronavirus pandemic has forced this decision in the interests of the health and safety of our exhibitors, visitors, contractors and staff. This decision was reached taking into consideration several major factors surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19, all of which we have concluded, make it impossible for us to create and host the Airshow this July. We understand this news will be an incredible disappointment to all across the international aerospace industry, not to mention our important exhibitors, suppliers and visitors. We at Farnborough International share your disappointment that we are unable to present the Airshow as planned, but rest assured, we are determined to continue to work together and will ensure the Farnborough International Airshow returns in 2022 better than ever.’
BATTLESPACE understands that rather than honour its commitments to its loyal band of exhibitors who have supported the Airshow, many since its inception in 1948, Farnborough International (FI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ADS the aerospace and defence trade body, has decided, using a Force Majeure Clause in the contract that it is looking at refunding the deposits paid by industry, many of them SME’s struggling in today’s climate.
John Taylor, Managing Director of Beagle Technology Group, whose strident views have been well broadcast and supported on LinkedIn, confirmed to BATTTLESPACE that his company had commenced legal proceedings against Farnborough International. Farnborough International would not comment on how many companies had commenced proceedings.
Does Farnborough have the reserves to pay back these deposits? The Editor asked FI what would happen if an exhibitor took FI to Court and the company was unable to repay the deposit with an accompanying Court Order; the spokesperson did not reply. A source close to BATTLESPACE said that the problems for FI may go back as far back as the merger of The DMA and the SBAC, a move which was frowned on in certain areas given the differing cultures of the two organisations. When the merger took place there was believed to be an immediate pension deficit on the SBAC side which was made worse by the washout 2012 year where the public stayed away in droves causing a huge drop in revenue and the disastrous Farnborough 2016 show which was a total washout with Hall One flooded out completely. To make up for the drop in revenue, severe job cuts were initiated at ADS. BATTLESPACE was contacted today by another exhibitor who not only congratulated us on the feature but confirmed that, “The long and the sort of it is that my company was going to be exhibiting there and had paid towards a stand. We will not get a penny back from what we have paid, most others will get a 60% credit towards 2022 where prices have risen from 2020.” That same exhibitor told BATTLESPACE that FII will only refund 50% of the deposit paid if that money was paid by the end of March 2020, no one from FII chased up late payments, we wonder why! ‘Well Farnborough 2022 is not far away so how large will it be, and will there be mass exodus of Exhibitors or will FII relent and give them free exhibition space? Watch this space as will Clarion and DSEI!
25 Jan 21. The Future of Democracy in Belarus: Europe’s Next Challenge.
A Panel Discussion with Senior Polish, Lithuanian and UK Officials, Belarus’ Opposition Leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Vladzimir Astapenka, former Belarusian Ambassador.
More than five months have passed since the rigged presidential elections in Belarus, which are widely perceived to have robbed Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya of her rightful win as the country’s new leader. The scale of the protests against Alexandr Lukashenka’s regime has been unparalleled. And so has been the unprecedented brutality of his security apparatus.
The European Union, the UK and the wider community of democratic nations have been unanimous in their support for Mrs Tsikhanouskaya and her colleagues on the Belarus Coordination Council. But what are the choices facing the continent in the months to come? What can be done to stop the violence and ensure a peaceful transition of power to a government which truly enjoys the support of the Belarussian nation?
RUSI has teamed up with the Lithuanian and Polish embassies in the UK in this unique event, which links politicians in Vilnius, Warsaw, and London with Belarus’ top opposition leaders.
Speakers will include:
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of democratic Belarus and human rights activist. A teacher and interpreter by training, Mrs Tsikhanouskaya stood in during the 2020 elections for her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski, after he was jailed for his political activities. Following her forced relocation to Lithuania by Belarusian authorities, she continues to lead the opposition to the authoritarian regime in her country and is determined to ensure that the voices of all Belarusians are heard.
Marcin Przydacz, Poland’s Undersecretary of State for Security, the Americas, Asia, and Eastern Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University, he also studied in Kyiv. He was president of the board of the Politics and Diplomacy Foundation, a think-tank, and from 2015 to 2019, he served as deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office at the Chancellery of the Polish President.
Mantas Adomėnas served as a Member of the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania from 2008-2020. At the conclusion of his third Parliamentary term, he was nominated a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Vladzimir Astapenka, former Belarus Ambassador to Argentina. He is currently responsible for the multilateral diplomacy of the National Anti-Crisis Management.
Wendy Morton MP is the Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. She was first elected as Conservative MP for Aldridge-Brownhills in May 2015.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. If you have any questions, please e-mail Emilia Markert, Event Manager, emiliam@rusi.org
To register, and for further information, click here.
https://rusi.org/event/future-democracy-belarus-europes-next-challenge?utm_source=RUSI+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8d62868e24-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_10_08_03_44_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0c9bbb5ef0-8d62868e24-46328213
25 Jan 21. NASA announces one-day technical conference to share UTM research ‘lessons learned’ with FAA, DoD, DHS, academia and industry.
NASA Airspace Operations and Safety Program is hosting an Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) technical interchange meeting to share lessons learned based on past 6 years of active research, development, and testing, and collaborations with FAA, DOD, DHS, other government organizations, industry, and academia.
A one-day Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) is being held on Tuesday 23 February 2021 to provide an opportunity to share insights into the research conducted, lessons learned, and next steps toward the future of UTM.
Background: In 2015, NASA began research on technology, performance requirements, and procedures to enable civil UAS operations in low altitude airspace. A Research Transition Team (RTT) was established to coordinate the NASA and FAA efforts for exploring a new paradigm in air traffic management that will integrate the anticipated new volume of small UAS operations into the NAS without overtaxing the current ATM system.
NASA’s research concept specifically addressed small UAS Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations below 400 feet in airspace that contains low-density manned aircraft operations. NASA developed a phased approach for its UTM development and testing, building from rural to urban environments and from low- to high-density airspaces. This progression of Technical Capability Levels (TCL) brought in industry partners to assure the concept would enable their business cases and spur innovative solutions. The TCLs ranged from low risk Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) operations to complex operations in high density urban environments.
The testing culminated in demonstrations in downtown Reno, NV, and Corpus Cristi, TX, in 2019. Results from the TCLs have been published and technology transfers to the FAA of the UTM system concept, designs, and software concluded in 2020. The UTM demonstrations showed that a highly automated, federated, service-based architecture is feasible for safely managing future small UAS traffic demands. The UTM concept has been further tested by the FAA with NASA collaboration in the UTM Pilot Program Phases 1 and 2.
The UTM concept became a starting point for researching traffic management for other vehicle types and airspace domains such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and High Class E airspace under either BVLOS or VLOS conditions. Whereas the UTM project is sunsetting in mid-2021, NASA will continue to coordinate with the FAA and UAS community to advance the UAS Traffic Management ecosystem.
For more information visit:
https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/utm2021tim
(Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)