© Markus Mainka / Shutterstock.com

Dear Members,

the VC Advisory Board has a new chairperson: Carolin Bach was elected unanimously. In the future, she will represent the members towards us as Executive Board and advise us. We are looking forward to working together with her and the entire Advisory Board in these challenging times.


Another topic resembles a small sensation, as it seems that next week the time will finally come: BER is to start flight operations! However, the ground procedures at the new capital airport, which is located south of the current Schönefeld runway, have been significantly changed compared to the original plans. Our colleague Stephan Weißenborn from the Airport and Ground Environment working group has taken a look around the apron and had the new procedures explained to him.


In addition, we have the following topics this time:

  • European Drone Forum
  • Infection risk on board aircraft


You can also find more current news on our new VC Info website vcinfo.vcockpit.de (German) and on our social media channels on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.


Enjoy the read!

Moritz Renn
Board Member
Carolin Bach

Carolin Bach is the new chairperson of the Advisory Board

Carolin Bach is the first woman in over 50 years of VC history to head the Advisory Board. She was elected unanimously - with the exception of her own abstention. In addition, the Advisory Board unanimously elected Veronica Schömer (see also her article on the European Drone Forum below) - again with the exception of her own abstention - as a member of the Executive Committee.


Carolin Bach succeeds Wolfgang Starke, whose advisory board activity ends due to the insolvency of his employer LGW. Both the Executive Board and the Advisory Board would like to thank Wolfgang Starke for his many years of commitment as Chairman of the Advisory Board.


The new Chairwoman of the Advisory Board flies as a captain on Lufthansa Airlines' A320 and is also a member of the Diversity and Social working group. She emphasizes the openness for constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement and now calls on all members to work together: "Especially in the biggest crisis in aviation history, focused work by all VC bodies is important and necessary. We will navigate our association through this challenging time together."


"On behalf of the entire Executive Board, I would like to congratulate Carolin Bach on her election as chair of the Advisory Board," says VC President Markus Wahl. "We support her call for unity and look forward to working with her. Common goals and a common path are of central interest for the association and all members at this time".

Everything new at BER?!

On 31 October 2020, the day is finally supposed to come: Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), the most famous - or as many would say, most notorious - airport in Germany, is scheduled to open after 14 years of construction. In return, Tegel Airport (TXL) will be closed on 8 November 2020 and all air traffic will be concentrated at the new location southeast of Berlin.


Since the failed opening in 2012, construction of the airport has been completed and adapted to the changed conditions. In recent years, infrastructural and organizational "bugs" have been eliminated. For example, the entire apron has been re-marked. Further information on the operating procedures and equipment at BER is provided in the following article by Stephan Weißenborn in VC Info (in German only):


Alles neu am BER?! – ein Überblick zu den Betriebsverfahren am neuen Hauptstadtflughafen

© Günter Wicker / FBB

European Drone Forum 2020

On 12 October 2020 the European Drone Forum (EDF) took place in Berlin. It was organized by the UAV DACH - Association for Unmanned Aviation as the drone industry lobby group in the German-speaking countries. The VC is a member of the UAV DACH and represents the interests of manned commercial aviation in various working groups.


The conference took place as a hybrid event, with both presenters and participants online and on site. In four blocks, the following topics were addressed: political developments, operations of drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), the new airspace concept called U-Space for mixed operations of manned and unmanned air traffic, and drone defense and counter measures. Further information on the EDF can be found in the full article by Veronica Schömer in VC Info (in Germany only):


European Drone Forum 2020: Technik und Chancen, Safety und Security, Politik und Regulierung

Study: Corona infection risk on board close to zero

The risk of being infected with Covid-19 or other diseases on board an aircraft via the airflow of the air conditioning system is almost zero. This is the result of a study commissioned by the U.S. military and carried out on United Airlines aircraft.


Provided that passengers are in their seats and wearing a mask, even in a fully occupied aircraft only 0.003 percent of harmful particles enter the breathing zone, according to the study. The study found that the rapid exchange of air in the aircraft, air circulation from top to bottom and the use of highly effective HEPA air filters all contribute to this. According to a further finding of the study, the air on board the aircraft is thus one of the most health-safe inside enclosed spaces.


As a result (page 32), the authors state that the risk of Covid-19 spreading on board the aircraft studied is practically non-existent: "For the 777 and 767, at 100% seating capacity transmission model calculations (...) show no inflight aerosol transmission for 12 hour flights." United Airlines summarizes the result as follows: "The risk of COVID-19 spreading is practically non-existent on board United Airlines aircraft.

© United Airlines

Condor to leave protective shield

Condor will leave the so-called protective shield at the end of November and end its self-managed insolvency. The search for an investor, however, will only begin in one to three years from now because of Corona. Condor still has a long-term loan of 550 million euros from the state-owned KfW Bank.

News from Associations, Organisations and Regulators


IFALPA

  • IFALPA calls for immediate release of Russian air traffic controllers. The federation states: "Three air traffic controllers were sentenced to 5, 5 ½ and 6 years imprisonment in the aftermath of the take-off accident of a Unijet Falcon 50 at Moscow-Vnukovo airport on 20 October 2014. This decision to single out and punish individuals who are already under intense psychological pressure due to an accident will not prevent a similar event from happening again. It is extremely detrimental to flight safety to criminally prosecute individuals involved in aviation accidents, as such prosecutions have the potential to seriously hinder our ability to learn from incidents and accidents so that future mishaps can be prevented."


DFS

  • The AIS Portal of DFS has a new, more modern design and several new functions. The new layout is mainly intended to improve the presentation on mobile devices. Among the new functions, the forms for entering flight plans from templates can now be filled out partially automatically. Aircraft data and other information can be saved in advance and shared with other users. Saved routes can also be selected with one click. To the AIS Portal: www.dfs-ais.de.


ICAO / OPS Group


Flight Safety Foundation

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