The Paraglider Manufacturers’ Association is a trade body made up of – you guessed it, companies that make paragliders. With 15 members, including most of the largest manufacturers in the sport, they say they represent 64% of the “worldwide paragliding equipment market”, according to analysis they did in 2021.
Registered in March 2009 their remit is to “represent the interests of paraglider manufacturers globally” while balancing the sometimes competing aim of advancing the equipment used in the sport with the needs of schools, clubs, pilots, national associations and other institutions. Throw in a healthy dose of competition between its members and the job of chairing such a body is surely the job of angels.
Fortunately, the role is rotated every two years. At the moment it is Supair boss Laurent Chiabaut who is in the hotseat, until the end of 2025.
Michel Ferrer spoke to him at the Supair offices in Annecy.
Laurent, give us an insight into how the PMA is run. Who is currently involved?
The technical secretariat is provided by Tobias Boley, an engineer, paraglider pilot and former director of Flugschüle Chiemsee,...
