Aviation pioneer and environmentalist Bertrand Piccard will headline the keynote speakers for this year’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Geneva. On Monday, the show’s organizers, NBAA and EBAA, announced that the roster for the keynote session on May 28 will also feature John Santurbano, director of Eurocontrol’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Center, and Delphine Bachmann, the Swiss canton’s state councillor for the Department of Economy and Labor.
Piccard is expected to provide details of his plans to fly a hydrogen-powered aircraft around the globe in 2028. The Climate Impulse project is his latest initiative to demonstrate the potential for zero-carbon-emissions flights, following his 1999 nonstop balloon flight around the world and a 2016 solar-powered circumnavigation of the earth.
Santurbano will provide an update on Eurocontrol’s efforts to support more fuel-efficient direct routings through European airspace. The air traffic management agency is also focused on tasks such as integrating drones and new eVTOL aircraft into controlled airspace.
Bachmann is an elected official from the conservative-leaning Christian Democratic Party. She is committed to ensuring that Geneva’s economy is developed in an environmentally sustainable way.
“EBACE 2024 underscores the ever-growing importance of business aviation in European society,” said EBAA secretary-general Holger Krahmer. “This premier event is our prime opportunity to display the industry’s significant contributions to technology, sustainability, and economic development across the region and around the world.”
This year’s show is once again being held at the Palexpo convention center adjoining Geneva Airport, which will host a static display of aircraft. Other conference sessions will include presentations by industry leaders from aircraft manufacturers, advanced air mobility innovators, carbon emissions offset specialists, and on-demand flight service providers.
This year’s EBACE show will also feature a Sustainability Summit to focus on efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from business aviation operations. Sustainable aviation fuel will be available at the airport during the event.