Asia's non-profit representative body AsBAA has held a press conference at ABACE 2019 in which it shared regional updates from greater China and southeast Asia, with vice chairman Gary Moran announcing that AsBAA will hold ‘AsBAA Takes Off’, a static, industry forum and community event this June. He said: “We have been working with the Changi Airport Group (CGA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) for some time to find the appropriate format for this event. We are delighted to announce that AsBAA has the full support of both CGA and CAAS and we will move ahead with AsBAA Takes Off, taking place in June 2019.”

The first event will take place during Singapore Business Aviation week, 10-14 June. The week's events also include the AsBAA Singapore Safety Day 10 June, the AsBAA Annual General Meeting 11 June, Corporate Jet Investor Asia 12-13 June and AsBAA Takes Off 14 June 2019. The format of AsBAA Takes Off will be a small static set-up, located at Jet Aviation's facility at Seletar airport. The event is designed to meet the needs of the local Singapore Chapter members, however the association also welcomes sponsors and participants from the wider region.

AsBAA Takes Off will invite students from local schools and universities, including its AsBAA Discovery student chapter and education partners from Embry Riddle Asia. The objective is to hold an inclusive community event in which young people can meet with AsBAA members, observe the industry in action, and develop a greater awareness of future careers in the business and general aviation industry through AsBAA's Corporate Social Responsibility education initiative, AsBAA Discovery.

Chairperson Jenny Lau says: “There is not currently a static event specifically for business aviation in Singapore. We are delighted to be able to meet the needs of the local chapter through AsBAA Takes Off. We are also encouraged by the deepened cooperation between AsBAA and CGA, CAAS and our members in southeast Asia. We give special thanks to the local chapter Gary Moran, Caspar Baum and Louis Leong for their support in liaising with the local authorities. We thank Jet Aviation for hosting the event, which promises to be a welcomed addition to Singapore Business Aviation Week.”