ARPAS-UK The Drone Association

ARPAS-UK Website: www.arpas.uk

ARPAS-UK is a Non-Profit Trade Association, we are the Collective Voice for the UK drone Industry.

The Association of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems UK ARPAS-UK objective is to collectively achieve the benefits of using drones for the UK economy and wider society.

Drones are a professional tool to capture images and data safely, and soon to perform actions such as spraying or transporting goods and people.

They help teams perform their dull, dangerous, dirty operations in a safer, smarter, cheaper, efficient way.
The quality of the images and the digital output is constantly improving, drones are part of the digital transformation.
Most drones have electric propulsion, they are part of the CO2-reduction journey.

“Drone” has become a generic word that is well understood by the general public, and that is the term we use most of the time, together with RPAS of course (remotely piloted aircraft system), or UAS (Uncrewed Aircraft System), or advanced aerial systems. Whatever the terminology, our vision of drones encompasses innovative aircrafts and related systems used for Aerial Operations (inspection, mapping, videography, surveillance…) up to and including Air Mobility.

ARPAS-UK was founded in 2013. It has since expanded its reach across the drone ecosystem with 3700 followers on LinkedIn, 5500 on Twitter. It has also expanded its sphere of influence and contributes to ~ 30 key UK industry committees.

British Business & General Aviation

The BBGA is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to represent the various activities conducted in business aviation. It is important to recognise that we represent businesses involved in a wide range of services. While the BBGA may sometimes be perceived as solely supporting business jets, even in operational terms, these activities can be extremely varied. At one end of the spectrum, special operations teams are engaged in work such as relocating equipment or surveying locations which deliver a very tailored service. On the opposite end, there might be a VVIP operation involving a Boeing Business Jet carrying numerous passengers and cargo. In the middle would be the more typical movement of passengers on specific business jets. Integrated within this activity are services that are vital to everyday life, such as search and rescue, medical evacuation, repatriation from conflict zones and connecting remote regions to the rest of the world.

Support activities are crucial in facilitating the delivery of operational services. For business aviation, these support activities are provided by Fixed Base Operations (FBOs), which serve as the equivalent of airport terminals. The maintenance activities are supported by maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities. These maintenance organisations can either operate independently or be affiliated with major OEMs. The BBGA membership effectively represents all these activities.

The service industry behind this whole process includes legal, insurance, training, and financial facilities together with ground operations, fuelling, advanced technology, and research. Many of these organisations are members of the BBGA. These activities are central to aircraft ownership and are vital to enabling smooth aircraft transactions and supporting a rapidly evolving global market.

To ensure that members’ opinions are heard, we make use of several workgroups that are led by members themselves. Those workgroups are Flight Operations, Fixed Based Operators, Sustainability, Membership/events, and Airworthiness. To help focus our activities we have a board of directors elected by our members, each director serving a three-year term. We encourage a turnover in our board members to ensure a fresh perspective wherever possible.

The organisation undertakes its work on behalf of the members using a virtual office concept having transitioned from a physical locating two years ago. Our systems are now fully web-based, and all our services are delivered using modern technology, which offers great flexibility to both members and the secretariat.

The BBGA collaborates with the EBAA through a formal agreement to ensure that UK based organisations are represented by a UK based association, while also gaining the additional benefits of working with a major European association.

The BBGA works with the European Council of General Aviation Support (ECOGAS) to maintain a seat at the table with EASA to help shape legislation. This approach effectively ensures that the legislation adopted in the UK is well-suited and undergoes appropriate adjustments before being implemented under the ANO.

2016-Present	British Helicopter Association (BHA) Chief Executive Officer	Fairoaks, UK
2014-2016	NATO Headquarters Southern Europe Deputy Director Joint Operations Centre	Naples, Italy
2010-2014	Flt Safety Directorate Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) Royal Air Force Loan Service Officer to newly established Directorate	Amman, Jordan
2007-2010	United States Central Command UK Military Exchange Officer to Operations Division	Tampa, USA
2005-2007	Royal Air Force Headquarters 2 Group SO1 Current Capability	RAF High Wycombe
2003-2005	Defence Aviation Safety Centre (DASC) Staff Officer 2 Helicopters	RAF Bentley Priory
2000-2003	Dep Project Manager for Merlin (EH101) Intro-to-Service Squadron Second in Command	RAF Benson
1997-2000	Search and Rescue Flight Commander Squadron Second in Command	RAF Lossiemouth
1996-1997	RAF Strike Command Flight Safety Staff Officer 2 Rotary & Multi-engine	RAF High Wycombe
1994-1996	Head Quarters British Forces Hong Kong SO2 J3 (Air) and Head Joint Ops & Air Tasking Cell	Hong Kong
1981-1994	RAF Pilot Flying Helicopters and Fixed Wing Aircraft.

ARPAS-UK Website: www.arpas.uk

info@ga4biz.com

Graham Brown

Martin Robinson

Tim Fauchon

Marc Bailey

British Business & General Aviation