BACA – The Air Charter Association – has made a a series of appointments to drive the ambitious development of the association.
Dave Edwards has been made chief executive officer (CEO) in a newly created role and the part-time appointment is part of BACA’s strategy to drive the association forward. It was announced at the BACA autumn Awards lunch. He started the role today.
In addition to Edwards’ appointment, Madeleine Puzey has been promoted to business and events manager and a new administration role has been created, which sees Nicki Baynes providing key support to the asssociation.
BACA says it has embarked upon an ambitious strategy to increase value to its members and to represent the air charter broking market in the aviation sector.
The initial success of these developments has seen a number of projects commenced and delivered, and BACA says it has now created a platform from which to really drive forwards.
The BACA Council is populated with volunteers, many of whom have busy day jobs. It is therefore an important step for the association to appoint executive support to help increase the pace of change.
Edwards is an active director and investor in Synergy Aviation Ltd, Oaklands Global Ltd, Flying Support Ltd and Web Manuals International AB, which he will continue to do alongside his new role at BACA.
He has led Qatar Executive, the business aviation division of Qatar Airways, and was the managing director, Middle East and Asia, and group general manager at Gama Aviation.
Edwards says: “The opportunity to join BACA and help to reenergise its role at the heart of the air charter broking industry is one I found difficult to turn down. BACA is a very diverse organisation, well known for its industry networking events.
“But increasingly it’s revisiting its roots at the heart of the air charter broking world and investing significantly in conferences, in training, in parliamentary and regulatory authority representation and working hard for the interests of its members and the larger broking community in its widest sense.
“With the support of a very keen and enthusiastic Council I’m really looking forward to the opportunity and challenge of using my experience, alongside my existing roles within the heart of the aviation industry, to develop our sssociation further on its future strategy to bring added value and additional support to our members.
BACA chairman, Richard Mumford adds: “I am delighted to welcome Dave Edwards to this key role within the association. He has been appointed to help drive the Association forward, and to deliver on a number of key projects that BACA has in progress.
“It has been a fantastic year for BACA, with record membership and a range of successful events, including our first co-branding of ACE at London Biggin Hill. This proves the potential of BACA to grow, and this appointment really gives us the resource to do so.
“By appointing Dave, we also have someone who can harness the Council to ensure that the depth of skills and experience among us are properly employed to the benefit of BACA.
“For these reasons, I am sure that the creation of the CEO role, together with the other appointments we have made, will prove to be a major step forward for BACA.”
