At a press conference at EuroAirport on Friday, 30 October 2009, Alphonse Hartmann, President of the Association for the Promotion of Aeronautical Activities (APRA) and Vice president of the General Council 68 together with Steve Jecko, secretary of APRA, presented this new association’s objectives and projects.

Established on 25 June 2009 at EuroAirport, APRA is a logical follow-up to activities conducted for several years by a network of partners consisting of regional and local politicians, employers’ representatives, as well as organisms engaged in business development, education and training.

As an agency truly dedicated to promoting aeronautical activities, APRA takes its place alongside two other existing organisations, namely
-   a training centre for the aeronautical professions, launched in June 2008, which has enabled more than 15 people to find jobs in the aircraft maintenance sector, and
- an association that is developing a school for airline pilots on the site of the Mulhouse-Habsheim aerodrome, due to start operating at the beginning of 2011.

Given the international character of the EuroAirport site, its importance for regional jobs and the fact that it has become a highly specialized centre of excellence in the aeronautics field, APRA has defined the following goals:

- promote and coordinate all projects related to the creation of new activities (industrial and service-based) in the aeronautics and aviation industry in the three-country region of Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg and South Alsace.
- attract new activities by establishing a centre for expertise and basic or further training for the aeronautic and airport professions.
- create synergies between the companies involved, R&D centres (universities, schools of engineering, companies) and representatives of basic and further training.

For the short term, APRA has announced two projects:

- The creation of a European centre devoted to the development of aeronautic activities.

This new centre will be a building complex hosting R&D centres, basic and further training, as well as initiatives for generating innovative projects in the aeronautical and aviation fields. A European dossier will be submitted in spring 2010 in association with Swiss, German and French partners.

- The organization of a regular international trade fair to promote companies and, more generally organisms and individuals with specific know-how  in the aeronautic and aviation fields. This trade fair, scheduled to take place at the beginning of 2011, aims to increase the economic attractiveness of the region.

EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg spans three countries and its activities are spread among them. Its site offers genuine advantages:

- binational status.
- Around 6500 people employed on the airport platform - 73 nationalities, of whom 62% are French, 18% Swiss and 9% German.
- 132 companies on one site, of which 55% are located in the Swiss customs sector and 45% in the French customs zone.
- Aircraft maintenance and refurbishment industries, employing 2200 people and serving customers all over the world.