The Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) held their first joint seminar last week in London to discuss foreign carrier permits and illegal charters. More than 40 operators and brokers attended the event, which BACA said “is the start of the process that will see much closer cooperation” between the two organizations.

A series of presentations at the seminar outlined the CAA requirements for operating and chartering aircraft. They included clarification of what constitutes an illegal charter and instructions to report any suspicions or knowledge of illegal charters to the CAA and BACA. “Both BACA and the CAA take the matter of illegal charters very seriously and believe that this initiative will assist all authorities in minimizing the incidence of these illegal operations,” BACA said. “Operating such flights is a criminal offense, and the CAA takes verification and enforcement extremely seriously.”

BACA chairman Tony Coe was “extremely pleased” at the level of interest for the first joint BACA/CAA event. “Certainly from the number of delegates attending it is apparent that these are subjects they also take very seriously, and I expect we might revisit this in more detail in the months ahead. This first joint event has been a great step in joint cooperation…and we look forward to holding more in the future.”

David Kendrick, whose airline licensing team administers foreign carrier permits at the CAA, said anyone can email him to report illegal charters or to get advice on whether a foreign carrier permit is required and how to obtain one.