BACA 60th Anniversary Luncheon at Guildhall 2009

The Baltic Air Charter Association 60th anniversary celebration at Guildhall (combined with our annual industry Excellence Awards ceremony) was a great success, and sold out yet again. TV sports personality Clare Balding guided us entertainingly through the event, and we were also delighted to have the company of Baltic Exchange Chief Executive Jeremy Penn.

Another welcome and notable attendee was retired member John King, who had actually been at the first luncheon held by BACA’s previous incarnation as the Air Brokers Association, back in 1955 when he was a 22-year old trainee broker with Furness Withy.

The continued appeal of BACA is particularly encouraging in these turbulent times, and it was remarkable to assemble the largest ever gathering of BACA members and their guests in the middle of a recession. The opportunity was taken to launch an impending projects – the proposed ‘escrow’ account – and it would be encouraging to think that the members’ loyalty and support reflects, at least in part, the work that the BACA Council puts in on their behalf on projects such as these.

The Award winners were as follows:

Best Passenger Charter Airline (sponsored by Direct Air Charter):
Jet2.com

Best Cargo Charter Airline (sponsored by Infratil Airports Europe):
Volga-Dnepr Airlines

Best General Aviation Operator (sponsored by DHL):
GAMA Aviation

Best Airport (sponsored by Skyline Aviation):
Farnborough

Best Handling Agent (sponsored by London Executive Aviation):
Inflite Jet Centre Stansted

The Global Excellence Award (sponsored by Air Charter Service):
Tyrolean Jet Services

The guests also managed to raise £2,800 for the chosen BACA charity, Under Tree Schools, which supports education in Southern Sudan.

Air BP was the main and generous sponsor of this event. GAMA, Freedom Air, Strategic Airlines and Independent Aviation sponsored the wine, and the award sponsors are listed above.

Pictures of the 2009 BACA 60th Anniversary and Awards event are available on the Fotoseeker website here http://baca.fotoseeker.com/

You will need toregister on the website to download pictures for publicity purposes, but there is no charge. Please credit Fotoseeker if pictures are used in the media.

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