The Week in Business Aviation - Mar 13
March 13, 2020![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/2018-09-_20_-_safran_helicopter_engines_-_80th_anniversary_tigre.jpg?itok=YCntt8N0)
Safran Helicopter Engines Partnering On French Biofuel Program
Tony Osborne
Safran Helicopter Engines has joined with a consortium of industry and academia to study the production of aviation biofuels in Southwest France.
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FBOs Record 2019 Rise In Fuel Sales, But ‘Turbulent Times’ Ahead
Molly McMillin
More than half of the fixed base operators in the U.S. and Canada—56%—recorded increased fuel sales in 2019 compared to a year ago, according to a survey by the Aviation Business Strategies Group (ABSG), although there are “turbulent times ahead.”
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Garmin ADS-B Upgrade Certified On Dornier 328s
Bill Carey
Garmin said Mar. 11 that it has obtained EASA approval of an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) upgrade of Dornier 328 regional jet and turboprop aircraft.
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UK Seeks Designers For Major Airspace Restructuring
Bill Carey
WASHINGTON—The UK will need people skilled in airspace design as it rolls out a major, nation-wide update of its airspace system, British Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps has said.
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Icon Shifts Most A5 Assembly To Mexico; Outlines 2020 Plans
Molly McMillin
Icon Aircraft recently shifted most of the final assembly of its Icon A5 aircraft to its composite component manufacturing facility in Tijuana, Mexico, as it begins to gain efficiencies from the processes, it says.
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Hydro-Quebec Boss Martel Taking Over As Bombardier CEO
Graham Warwick
Alain Bellemare is stepping down as president and CEO of Bombardier, having overseen a radical reshaping of the Canadian company in a bid to restore its financial health. He will be replaced by Eric Martel, current president and CEO of Hydro-Quebec and a former Bombardier executive.
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Van Nuys Airports Completes Taxiway Renovation
Molly McMillin
Van Nuys Airport in California has completed a $29.7 million, 14-month project to reconstruct Taxiway B, the first of two taxiway projects.
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Structural Batteries Could Reduce Electric Aircraft Weight
Graham Warwick
Embraer is working with Stanford University and the U.S. Energy Department on development of multifunction structures that can store energy and carry loads, potentially reducing the weight of battery packs in electric aircraft.
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Textron Aviation, WSU Tech, IAM Launch Two-Year Tooling Apprenticeship
Molly McMillin
WICHITA—Textron Aviation, WSU Tech and the Machinists Union announced a new two-year apprentice program to train toolmakers to help combat an upcoming shortage of skilled workers.
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VoltAero Flies Cassio Electric Regional On Safran Motors
Graham Warwick
French startup VoltAero has begun flight testing its electric regional-aircraft testbed equipped with motors supplied by Safran Electric & Power.
From a consortium of industry and academia to study aviation biofuels and the UK seeking designers for airspace restructure to Icon shifting most A5 assembly to Mexico and a new CEO for Bombardier, it has been a busy week for the bizav industry.
A roundup of business aviation news powered by The Weekly of Business Aviation. Subscribers can access the articles here. Not a subscriber? Find out more.