BAG were delighted once again to support and endorse Interchange for its third edition on 4 - 5 March in Manchester. Over the two day event, BAG hosted a stand and on the first day hosted one of the Interchange partner seminars: “The future of transport – Advanced Air Mobility meets road, rail, and energy” which featured unique insights and briefings from many of Interchange’s key supporter organisations. We would like to thank Interchange for a fantastic event filled with networking, collaboration and thought provoking discussions as well as to our moderators, panellists, BAG Board Members, regional leads, partners and colleagues for all their contribution over the course of the event.
This session, led by the British Aviation Group, discuss ed the advanced, new-technology solutions that the aviation sector is developing for both regional and urban air mobility, and the implications for road & rail transport, on energy demand and on ground infrastructure.
Moderators:
Jane Thompson, BAG Deputy Chair
Jane is Deputy Chair of the British Aviation Group, the leading UK trade association for companies working across the aviation infrastructure supply chain; and a Director in ICF’s Aviation, Travel and Tourism Division. ICF is a NASDAQ registered 10k-strong global strategic consulting firm, with a mission to create a more resilient and prosperous world. Herself a veteran of the aviation industry, Jane is passionate about the need to balance growth with a sustainable and resilient future for the aviation, travel and tourism sectors. She is responsible for preparing innovative service offerings to help clients – whether they be operators, governments, investors or destinations - transition to a more sustainable and net zero future.
Darrell Swanson, BAG Board member
Panellists:
Sunil Budhdeo, Transport Innovation Manager, Coventry City Council
Sunil has over 40 years’ experience in the Traffic, Transport and ITS Industry. His role as the Transport Innovation Manager at Coventry City has helped in development of new technology for transportation. Now venturing in to the latest mode of transportation of Electric-Vertical Take Of and Landing ( E-VTOL)
Joined Coventry City council in 2010 as UTMC Manager, responsible for the UTMC , Highway Network Development team and Managing the Response and Monitoring services . Successfully implemented UK’S first 4G Mesh network in Coventry, introduced Pay On Display Machine, RTPI, CCTV, ANPR Cameras and Wireless Vehicle Detection that use the 4G Mash network for communication.
Successfully completed various innovation project, funded by the European Union FP7, H2020 programme Coventry and Warwickshire LEP. Exploited the technology to secure funding for other CAV projects funded by Innovate UK and the DfT such as UK Autodrive, UK Cite and NPP Parking Platform with other key partners. Supporting Coventry University with their transport related R&D projects. Delivered the first demonstration of an Autonomous vehicle driven on the streets of Coventry, introduced Micro Mobility as part of MaaS. Micro Mobility, intelligent Controlled /uncontrolled Crossing, Electrification of transport modes which will be operational in a city environment.
Lead PM for Future Flights Projects such as Urban Airport (E-VTOL), delivering the world’s first Verti Port in the City of Coventry. Currently engaged with BVLOS projects such as SKYWAY, Drone Ready Cities, and various others. Supporting the development of Urban Air Mobility with UKRI, DfT, BSi Future Of Flight, ARPAS, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, BT, Emergency services, Drone Manufactures and Drone operators for bringing this mode of Transport to market.
A member of the UTMC Standard and specification development group, BSi Future of Flight Advisory Group, Royal Aeronautical Society, working with various organisation to set standards in the emerging new modes of transport sector, Supporting several Advisory Board and groups, Chair of Yunex Traffic User group, the desire to be innovative and set a high standard within the Transport Sector carries on.
Tomislav Lang, Founder, flyv
Serial Entrepreneur | Aviation & Mobility Innovator |
Tomislav Lang is the founder behind flyvbird, bringing extensive experience in building scalable tech-driven businesses in aviation and mobility. With a deep understanding of regional air travel inefficiencies, he founded flyvbird to create a fully optimized, AI-powered air mobility network that mirrors the success of Uber and FlixBus in ground transportation.
Key Achievements:
- Built and exited multiple successful ventures in mobility and aviation.
- Expert in AI-driven, asset-light business models, enabling rapid scalability.
- Secured strategic partnerships with industry leaders, positioning flyvbird for growth.
Ventures he worked for: Volocopter, Condor Airlines, Air Berlin, SkyWork Airlines, Europ Star, germanwings
Neil Pakey, Chair, RABA and President & CEO at Nieuport Aviation
Neil Pakey is currently the President & CEO at Nieuport Aviation, the owner and operator of the passenger terminal at Toronto City Billy Bishop Airport balancing this with his role as Chair of the UK Regional and Business Airports Group.
He has served as the CEO of the Shannon Airport Group in Ireland, the CEO of Peel Airports Group in the U.K., as Managing Director of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Managing Director of the Cyprus Airports Operator’s Group and the Senior VP of Network Marketing at the Vantage Airports Group in Vancouver.
Neil was an Aviation Expert Detachee to the European Commission, working on air transport policy, and was past President of the Airports Operators Association.
