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The CARIBBEAN AVIATION MEETUP is known for a program of presentations that are right-on and to-the-point, and encouraging discussions.
The program for the 2019 conference is in the planning. Suggestions are welcome and will be carefully considered.
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This is the typical Meetup format.
Day 1
Plenary Sessions and the Welcome/Awards Dinner
Day 2 and 3
Two streams of non-competing break-out sessions
In total about 38 sessions!
Some sessions may be off-campus but free transporatation will be arranged.
Attendees and speakers staying at the conference venue hotel Sonesta can enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner, all drinks for free.
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Interaction between speakers and audience and among the attendees is encouraged at all times.
The CARIBBEAN AVIATION MEETUP is a results-oriented conference. We encourage speakers to make their presentations in Town Hall Style. The objective
of a town hall meeting is to give as many people as possible an opportunity to ask questions, speak, present ideas, and voice opinions, that may be
further discussed. It may be an excellent opportunity find out where the concerns of the attendees lie. The speaker may give advice, suggest a solution,
tell about how a comparable situation was solved elsewhere. Or the attendee's concern may be deeper explored to discover a yet unthought-of idea.
Nothing is really considered to be off limits in these situations.
However, it is the speaker's prerogative to lead the session in any particular direction or to keep it within certain parameters.
Depending on what we foresee or expect to become a session with high interaction and lengthy discussions, we program sessions of 45, 60 or 90 minutes.
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One stream of break-out sessions on Wednesday, June 12, the second conference day, will be held at the Grand Case Airport (SFG/TFFG) on
the French side of St.Martin.
On the island, it is claimed that a "trip to Sint Maarten would not be complete without a ride aboard a Open Top Double Decker Bus," and "Enjoy the charm
and part of the scenery of this dual personality island onboard the double-decker sightseeing bus, etc..." Participants of the sessions will be transported
by this bus from/to our conference venue hotel Sonesta to the French airport. The bus service is sponsored by Island-Sigtseeing.com.
These sessions at Grand Case airport as well as the lunch break will be held in a unique atmosphere and different than at any other international aviation
conference. |
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SXM-Airport Tower visits at the conference
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One Tower for AirTraffic Control of Six Airports
Air traffic controllers in Juliana Air Traffic Services (JATS) needs to be on their toes. They are responsible for airspace around Dutch and French
St.Maarten which coexist on the island. It also oversees the five smaller airports on the islands of Anguilla, Saba, Saint Barth, Sint Eustatius and
at Grand-Case in French St. Martin. Together the airfields come under three different civil aviation authorities: the Dutch, French and the UK. Further
complexity comes because SXM falls within the San Juan Flight Information Region (FIR) overhead and to the west, and in the Piarco FIR to the east and
south. This all makes for incredibly complex air traffic management. JATS can usually get aircraft entering its airspace on the ground within 12 minutes.
However, in winter this can take up to 45 minutes, since there could be 15-20 aircraft inbound, adding to ground congestion at SXM. There a limited size
of airspace and other fields in close proximity. Aircraft may be flying for less than 5 minutes before transiting to another airspace because the airspace
is constitutionally split. While neighboring Saba and St Barth are governed by the Netherlands, Anguilla comes under the British CAA, and average distance
from SXM before hitting another jurisdiction is between three and five nautical miles. There also is a huge mix of traffic; fast moving aircraft like a
Boeing 747-400 alongside Cessna 172s.
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Seaplane demonstrations at the conference
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Tropic Ocean Airways will be present with one of its seaplanes for demonstration flights.
Seaplanes offer unique airlift opportunities to the Caribbean. It may be inter-island private and shared flights. Seaplane tours for visiting tourists or
cruise ship passengers. They can transport owners, guests and crew directly to a yacht at sea. Yacht provisioning services may include delivery of supplies,
assistance with crew rotations and non-medical emergency/unscheduled departures. In case of needed repairs, technicians and parts can be quickly flown in.
Besides having the advantage of landing on water, seaplanes can use regular airport runways.
Tropic Ocean Airways is a US certificated commuter air carrier and is the largest seaplane operation on the East Coast, with operations throughout Florida,
The Bahamas, and the Northeast U.S. The airline is currently expanding their network to the British Virgin Islands and Antigua & Barbuda. It is one of the
fastest growing seaplane airlines in the world. Tropic Ocean Airways is the recipient of the highly-coveted ARGUS gold rating for safety and enjoys a
5-star customer service rating on TripAdvisor and Social Media.
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