Cessna is beefing up its aircraft maintenance operations in Europe to support its 1,300- strong fleet of Citations there. The company recently opened a service center in Prague, will open another in Valencia, Spain next year, and is improving customer service operations at Paris-Le Bourget and at Amsterdam. A Mobile Service Unit (MSU) truck, currently based at Le Bourget, will be redeployed to Lyon, while a second is to be introduced into southern Germany this year.
CYNTHIA SCHULTZ has joined JDA Aviation Technology Solutions as VP-airports. Schultz will lead the airport line of JDA’s business, focusing on airport safety management systems, services and programs that improve airport safety and efficiency. She formerly was airport director of the Great Falls International Airport in Montana, and also has served with Boeing and Buttrey Food and Drug.
Honda Aircraft’s HondaJet recently marked a number of key performance milestones, as preparations continue for the flight of the second conforming prototype this month. The first conforming prototype recently reached its maximum operating altitude of 43,000 ft. This followed soon after the aircraft reached its maximum speed of 425 KTAS during flight testing at the company’s facilities in Greensboro, N.C. (BA, April 4/3). In addition, the company notes the aircraft also has hit its anticipated climb rate of 3,990 ft./min.
BOMBARDIER DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0470; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-190-AD] — This proposed AD would require operators to perform a detailed visual inspection for damage to or cracks in the bumper plate located on the outboard main landing gear (MLG) door, along with the base fitting. Operators would need to replace any damaged or cracked parts before further flight, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 84-32-74, Rev. A (dated May 17, 2010).
Bombardier unveiled the top suppliers for its new Global 7000 and 8000 long-range, large-cabin program last week. Describing market response to the latest members of the Global family as “phenomenal” since their announcement at last year’s NBAA show, program VP Bassam Sabbagh named Aerolia, Hamilton Sundstrand, Intertechnique and Triumph Aerostructures as the new team members. Aerolia, a division of EADS that earns most of its revenue building Airbus structures, will design and fabricate the center fuselage for the two newest Globals.
JAMIE ROSE was appointed chief brand manager for fixed-base operator Business Jet Center. Rose will be responsible for managing the customer service experience, along with brand management, including marketing, advertising and technology integration. She moves over from Business Jet Center affiliate Business Jet Access, where she was executive flight solutions manager.
As part of the U.K. government’s commitment to “deliver a safe and secure” 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a sizeable Restricted and Prohibited Fly Zone that is scheduled to be imposed over London and the South East is causing business aviation planners sleepless nights. Airport operators that will be caught up in the zone are trying to work out how it will affect them as they try to conduct business during the Olympics. The restrictions will be in place for what most operators regard as an overly long period—from July 13 to Sept. 12, 2012.
DIAMOND AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES DA 42, DA 42 NG, and DA 42 M-NG airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0185; Directorate Identifier 2011-CE-002-AD; Amendment 39-16694; AD 2011-10-13] — Replace the rear passenger-door retaining bracket with an improved bracket and incorporate a temporary revision (dated June 17, 2010) into the FAA-approved Airplane Flight Manual. This AD, which resulted from an MCAI issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency, is designed to prevent the inflight loss of the rear passenger door. FAA estimates that this directive will affect 162 aircraft on the U.S.
The world’s first VVIP Airbus A380 is sitting quietly in storage in Toulouse, France, while its owner, Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, decides what to do with it and when to have it outfitted. The completed aircraft will have 551 sq. meters (5,930 sq. ft.) of floor space, some 50% more than the largest VIP jet to date. But who will take on the work as the flood of Boeing 747-8Is strains the world’s completions capacity?
BRAD DREW was appointed VP of sales for Signature Flight Support’s global operations. Based in Orlando, Fla., Drew will lead the company’s global team of sales professionals. He formerly was senior VP of sales for Sentient Jet, where he managed a team of 45 sales professionals. Before that, he was group VP at American Express Financial Advisors.
MATTHEW WRIGHT has joined Landmark Aviation as general manager at the Scottsdale, Ariz., (SDL) facility. Wright will oversee both the facility’s fixed-base operation services and maintenance, repair and overhaul operations. He formerly served with Atlantic Aviation as general manager of the Deer Valley Municipal Airport location in Phoenix and regional manager of maintenance operations.
The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF), hoping to quell concerns surrounding its Industry Audit Standard (IAS), is reaffirming its commitment to supporting a single audit standard for industry, but plans to continue a dialogue on potential improvements during the National Air Transportation Association’s Aircraft Charter Summit June 6-8 in Chantilly, Va.
Hawker Beechcraft Ltd.’s (HBL) service facility at Chester, U.K., will begin King Air 200 and 300 servicing in the third quarter of this year after receiving EASA and FAA repair station status in December. It allows the company to perform services on the King Air aircraft, including inspections, maintenance, alterations and upgrades. In addition, HBL Chester provides design, engineering, certification and fabrication capabilities, and can perform complex structural repairs.
Eurocopter and Mercedes-Benz unveiled the first production example of their latest cabin, the EC 145 “Mercedes Benz Style” at last week’s EBACE show. Conceived under a project led by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Como, Italy, the EC 145 interior is Eurocopter’s third major cabin creative initiative in the last seven years. The newly designed cabin enabled designers to take a modular approach to the new high-end interior, inspired by the automaker’s R-Class series.
Aviation Week group will strengthen its presence in the Chinese business aviation market leading up to next year’s Asian Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (ABACE) in Shanghai March 27-29, 2012. The group will launch BGA, a bilingual business aviation magazine, there in early fall; will hold a business aviation conference in Beijing and publish daily bilingual ShowNews magazines at ABACE, all in cooperation with its Chinese partner China Aviation Publishing & Multimedia Co. (CAPMC), formerly the International Aviation Group.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE EC 120B helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2011-0448; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-51-AD] — This proposed AD would require operators to modify the pilot’s cyclic-control friction device by replacing a certain thrust washer with two thrust washers, per the instructions of Eurocopter Alert Service Bulletin No. 67A011, Rev. 1 (dated Oct. 7, 2005).
ROB TOMENENDAL was named VP-sales and marketing for King Aerospace Commercial Corporation’s large-aircraft completions and modifications. Tomenendal previously served as director of business development for Gore Design Completions in San Antonio. He also has served as director of sales for Garrett Aviation, specializing in large-aircraft completions, and has held positions of increasing responsibility with Gulfstream Aerospace and Cessna Aircraft.
Gama Aviation is expanding its fleet and network internationally. In Europe, the business aviation services company added a Cessna Citation CJ2+, Bombardier Global XRS and Dassault Falcon 2000 to its charter fleet. In the U.S., GAMA is adding several more aircraft, including a Hawker 800XP, Citation Excel, Gulfstream 450 and Global 5000, while a Gulfstream 450 and Bombardier Challenger 300 owned by Latin American clients are joining the fleet later this year. All the aircraft will be available for charter.
Bombardier substantially scaled back its outlook for the business jet market in its most recent annual forecast, which was released during last week’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition. Reflecting the ongoing struggles of the industry, Bombardier predicts the delivery of 24,000 business jets valued at $626 billion over the next 20 years. The business jet forecast is markedly down from last year’s predictions of 26,000 deliveries valued at $661 billion over 20 years.
AMAC Aerospace, the Basel, Switzerland-based completions company, announced at EBACE last week that it will handle a Boeing 747-8I VVIP completion next year. Alongside the new 747 will be an Airbus ACJ319 for Doha, Qatar’s Rizon Jet, the four-year-old company revealed at the show. The ACJ319 will arrive at AMAC in January 2012 and will be redelivered for management by Rizon Jet in January 2013. It is AMAC’s first work for Rizon Jet. The 747-8I, destined for a Middle Eastern head of state, is to arrive in July 2012 and will be returned to its owner by March 2014.
Following NetJets’ $1 billion deal for Embraer Phenom 300s and a $6.7 billion order with options for Bombardier Global 5000 Visions, Global Express Visions, Global 7000s and 8000s, the company is now looking at potential mid- and super-mid-sized aircraft, says NetJets Europe CEO Eric Connor. “We will put in place a contract similar to that with Bombardier and Embraer, which will give us flexibility over the next 10 years. The structure is such that the firm orders are to replace assets, and the options will allow for growth.”
Gulfstream’s G250 program continues to pass milestones on its way to certification this year, with three flight-test aircraft having accrued more than 1,150 flight hr. in more than 400 flights, the company reports. Gulfstream has completed a number of the tests required for FAA, European Aviation Safety Agency and Civil Aviation Authority of Israel approval, the company says.
Avfuel continues to expand its dealer network with the additions of Minuteman Aviation and Morgantown Municipal Airport (MGW) to its list of branded dealers. Minuteman, one of the largest full-service fixed-base operations in Montana, has provided FBO services in Missoula for more than 40 years. The facilities include an executive conference room, concierge team, flight planning room, crew cars, supplies, charts and shower. Based in Morgantown, W.Va., MGW provides full ground services, aircraft handling, fuel, pilot planning services, and hangar and tie-down space.
Slot constraints at Frankfurt International Airport in 2009 prompted NetJets Europe to buy Egelsbach, a general aviation airfield 10 km to the south, to improve business jet service for the German banking community and industrialists from the surrounding Rhein-Main region. This is the first airport purchased by NetJets, which plans €30-40 million in infrastructure investment to make it as “all-weather” as possible.
