2021 Championship entry process developments

We are very pleased to say that during an extremely constructive discussion held via Zoom with the 2021 organisers on April 23rd, some positive changes were agreed that are now being implemented through revised Bulletins on their websites. The aim has been to de-risk the financial commitment that entering a championship naturally entails by revising the entry procedure to the following position –

1. A new Deadline Date 4 to 6 weeks prior to the start of each event is set for a primary Go / No-Go decision. At this time each organiser will assess the current and expected Covid situation together with the number of Preliminary Entries they have already received, to determine whether they are able to proceed with the event or not.
2. Some Refund Policy changes have been introduced to encourage teams and pilots to make positive event entry decisions. If a competitor has to withdraw from the event after their entry has been submitted, organisers have agreed to eliminate or substantially relax their fee-retention so that the risk of financial loss is removed or at least minimised.
3. It is therefore extremely important that teams and pilots who do intend to compete send a Preliminary Entry Form to the organiser so that a good understanding of the numbers for each event can be built. Without this the organiser has an impossibly difficult task and could in any case opt to cancel.
4. For each organiser the initial Go / No-Go decision at the new Deadline will determine –
   • If it is Go then the event will be run.
   • If unfortunately it is No-Go the event championship status will immediately be cancelled and a decision made whether to re-bid for next year.
5. With a Go decision it then becomes extremely important that all teams and competitors quickly complete and submit their formal championship entries and pay the appropriate fees.
6. If there are eventually insufficient international entries to run the championship according to CIVA World or European regulations then a decision will be made either to proceed with a non-FAI domestic aerobatic competition, or finally to abort the event.
7. For WAAC and EAC in the Czech Republic the organisers have adopted an alternative solution in which they offer a late Special Entry system at reduced cost. This option however does not include accommodation, and entry fee refunds for competitors who subsequently withdraw from the event are excluded.

We sincerely hope that the above developments simplify and improve the situation for everyone who intends to enter one of the 2021 championships, provided of course that the ongoing Covid situation is acceptable to them. The position this year is more complex than in 2020 when it was natural for all the championships to be deferred by one year. We certainly hope however that these revised entry and refund conditions will make a positive difference to you and to the prospect for each event.