I posted a trip report here.
The show itself contained little or nothing notable. As in past years, it was great for meeting up with some old people and some new people 
Many thanks to those who made it there.
There were lots of planes parked which suggests a lot of slots did get sold in the end. It didn’t look like some suggestions e.g. only 10% of previous years’ slots were on offer.
Peter wrote:
The show itself contained little or nothing notable.
Didn’t you visit Turbotech booth ? They have installed a new turbine engine on VL3 and Bristell B23.
Very promising, I think.
Michel
The airport can be more expensive for visitors from outside the Euro zone!
When I went to pay, their system was down and they could not issue invoices or accept payments.
So I got an invoice in the email. But they don’t accept cards unless the cardholder is present… so I have to set up a bank payment, which costs an extra 20-30 euros. What a stupid system, not accepting cards over the phone. Especially as it was 100% their fault.
Accepting credit card payments „over the phone“ is a very British thing. i have never seen it elsewhere and it certainly doesn‘t exist in Germany.
Payments were supposed to be done via aerops, but of course not everybody uses it. Generally, the impression is that everything at this Aero was set up to be „self-service“, wherever possible – brave new world. The lack of staff is everywhere.
This whole event seems to have fallen victim to what I’ve started called ’The European Disease" meaning technology and central control used in an attempt to solve problems, in actuality only adding pointless complication and limiting options, followed by chaos when none of it works effectively.
I have made credit card payments hundreds of times over the phone, most recently yesterday to pay a plumber who serviced a rental property. I also make on-line internet payments by credit card, use fast multiple bank to bank systems on line often referencing only the cell phone number of the recipient (e.g. Zelle), pick up Western Union payments from all over the world at the supermarket, write and receive paper checks by mail or in person (paid the tree trimmer $1500 that way last week) and I make most aircraft related payments in cash. Whatever is most convenient for the circumstance. Flexibility is a benefit to businesses and individuals, not a problem.
As usual, the systems that are supposedly intended to simplify life and lower the amount of work make it insanely complicated and increase the work required by everybody except the small group who are profiting. The acronym SAP (Stops All Progress) comes to mind, a German creation just like Aero 
Silvaire wrote:
As usual, the systems that are supposedly intended to simplify life and lower the amount of work make it insanely complicated
That depends who you ask. I consider myself not a complete nerd, but well used to tech stuff. My wife, not so much. Yet, who use her phone to pay in shops as if it was the most natural thing to do? Who has the newest, sleekest PC and the biggest curved screen in the home office? Who has had a Kindle for years, and loves it? Who got a Remarkable a year ago and loves that even more ? Not me Although that Remarkable looks pretty cool.
It is a problem for older people though. They cannot and/or have no interest in keeping up with all the new stuff. On the other hand, how many pilots here would fly to “uncharted” territories with no GPS in the plane? Who remember how to do navigation the old way? It’s much more work and pain for the individual to go back to the old ways, than it is to learn and use new stuff IMO.
Nothing to do with older or younger people. Flexibility is needed by all, and valuable for all.
An effective and productive life is not run on rails, for anybody. It is naive nonsense to believe otherwise.
Silvaire wrote:
Nothing to do with older or younger people. Flexibility is needed by all, and valuable for all.
You must be talking about a different form of “flexibility” then “ordinary flexibility”. Some people are more set in their ways than others. I call that less flexible, and the consequence is that others must be more flexible.
I agree 100% with Silvaire.
An airport which accepts international traffic, but does not accept CC payment unless cardholder is present, is just broken. Especially when it is their fault: a broken IT system. Like the broken slot selling system.
By doing this, they load a 20-40 € bank transfer charge (not to mention the hassle of setting up a new payee, with all the security procedures which are extra fun when you have no GSM signal – e.g. here) onto the customer who flew to their airport and has a 3 digit bill to pay.
But EDNY has shown its arrogance so many times already, with e.g. cancelling flight plans which are not within the purchased slot… It’s true that historically Germany was largely a “cash economy” (a major driver behind the €500 note at the time; it wasn’t just the tax evasion in the Spanish property market ) which disapproved of credit cards, but this is an “international airport”.
Nothing we can do about this anyway.
They can’t even get this right. What about surfers??
Peter wrote:
It’s true that historically Germany was largely a “cash economy”
To a large extent it still is.
