A new framework for sport and recreational aviation

A new framework for sports and leisure aviation

Season 202022 December 20213 min read

The coming months are likely to be like the previous ones, uncertain and complicated. Paradoxically, activity in our sport has been good. The number of licences has risen significantly compared with 2019, and we have clearly sensed the French taste for local, outdoor activities. The cancellation of the main gatherings and the difficulty of simply meeting up have, however, had an effect on the normal life of a federation.

Leisure aviation and the crisis

Alongside this, the aviation sector has been hit head-on in an incredibly violent way. For many historical and functional reasons, leisure activity risks being affected too. The very particular context of the citizens' convention accentuates a strong political trend that may further complicate the development of our sports. However, without crying wolf or taking a stance, the taxation of AVGAS does not concern the fleet of microlights, which run on SP98 or SP95, and we hope to convince parliamentarians that the ban on banner towing will have no impact on overconsumption (the stated aim) or on the carbon footprint (30 machines concerned, mainly microlights), but a direct effect on jobs in a niche market.

A new framework

This period of upheaval may be the opportunity to set a new framework for sports and leisure aviation, which lives mainly on a glorious heritage but one that is declining in its means and ambitions. The Minister of Transport is a pilot who understands perfectly what is at stake in all forms of aviation. It seems to us that four major axes could usefully structure our activities within all the aeronautical federations.

Young people

The first concerns young people. The great historical impulses in support of aviation (Front Populaire, the post-war boom) were always backed by an ambitious youth policy that guarantees the continuity of the sport. Not only to produce pilots, instructors, engineers and mechanics, but to be, in a way, "revealers of existence". The success of the BIA is an opportunity that must be encouraged by offering rewarding pathways for young people.

Airfields

The second concerns airfields, which are an essential condition of access to the sport. Not only is there no longer an airfield development strategy, but the latest episodes (see the article on Sallanches) give the impression that closures are accepted. An airfield strategy means biodiversity and regional planning; it spreads out the nuisance of flying while bringing us closer to new audiences.

Environment

The third concerns the carbon break. We must avoid pipe dreams and communication stunts (such as the e-Fan) while being pragmatic. Electric flight, even as it develops, will not replace the activity overnight. The subject is necessarily cross-cutting, in a mix that covers modernising the fleet of machines, sensitivity to noise, biodiversity, innovation and the distribution of the energy network.

Empowering the players

The fourth is to empower the players, trusting them to organise training, safety and the development of our sports with shared objectives. Aeronautical federations spend too much time defending themselves against models that were not designed for them and that make the sport complicated.

If we set clear objectives, we will be able to get through this troubled period with almost constant resources, by involving new partners (sport, regions, unions, professionals, industry) who will better understand who does what and for whom.