Business aviation traffic worldwide is declining in November as travel restrictions tighten with the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to WingX Advance data.
Textron Aviation has marked the delivery and entry-into-service of its first Beechcraft King Air 360 turboprop, an upgraded and redesigned King Air 350i.
Projects to use drones to deliver COVID-19 supplies are among the first wave of winners under the UK’s £125 million ($165 million) Future Flight Challenge.
South Korea staged its first urban air mobility demonstration in Seoul on Nov. 11, including drone and electric air taxi demonstrations using the developmental K-Drone low-altitude traffic management system.
Revenue for the first 10 months of 2020 at Signature Aviation, which includes Signature and Epic Fuels, declined 38% on continuing operations compared to the same time a year ago, while flight activity across its network has stabilized to about 80% of prior year levels in October, the company says.
Private aviation provider XO, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is increasing its U.S. fleet by 30% with the addition of 15 Citation light jets to complement its super midsize jet offerings.
Backed by 11 years of technology development, a new startup has been launched onto the market to provide electric propulsion systems for aircraft, starting with drones but aiming ultimately at urban air mobility.
The share price of Italian aerospace and defense firm Leonardo has jumped after the company revealed it is mulling a partial spinoff of its U.S.-based Leonardo DRS defense electronics business.
Spanish air navigation service provider Enaire plans urban air mobility demonstrations in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela in 2022 under two projects funded by Europe’s Horizon 2020 research program through the SESAR air traffic management modernization effort.
Embraer and Porsche have collaborated to create a limited-edition pairing of the Phenom 300E light business jet and 911 Turbo S sports car. Only 10 pairs will be produced for delivery beginning in 2021.
As it prepares to become a pure-play business aviation company, Bombardier has launched a cost-cutting effort in a bid to be profitable on deliveries of 100-120 aircraft a year, down from the 150-plus expected before COVID-19.
Manufacturers are expected to deliver 6,376 new civil and commercial helicopters worth $30.4 billion at retail prices from 2021 through 2030, while the worldwide fleet is projected to expand at a 1.4% compound annual growth rate, according to Aviation Week Network’s new 2021 Helicopter Fleet & MRO Forecast.
Global business aviation activity was down 15% through most of October compared to a year ago, spurred by leisure demand in the charter market, according to WingX Advance data.
Designers of urban air taxis are quick to correct anyone who calls their vehicles “flying cars,” as most are intended to fly over cities and not drive on the streets.
British start-up rotary-wing OEM Hill Helicopters has unveiled a turbine engine developed in-house that will go on to power the company’s HX50 light helicopter.
Belgian Air Force officials have been flight testing Diamond’s DART-550 turboprop trainer as a potential replacement for its fleet of SIAI-Marchetti SF-260 aircraft.
Carter Aviation Technologies’ PAV4 gyroplane prototype has returned to flight as a technology demonstrator for Jaunt Air Mobility’s Journey electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi.
