Business Aviation

We were a cocky bunch of young naval aviators, and maybe even a bit more so than our predecessors since we had the extra distinction of being jet fighter pilots, something relatively new to the U.S. Navy in 1952.

Business & Commercial Aviation News From March 1968

Business & Commercial Aviation News From March 1968

The tables show Jet-A and avgas prices from a survey of U.S. fuel suppliers conducted in February 2018.

Business aviation flight activity turned in its best year in 2017 since 2008, with more than 3 million flights in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, according to Argus International data.

Launch customer PlaneSense has taken delivery of strong the first of six PC-24 twinjets the fractional ownership operator has on order.

Honda Aircraft Co. has received the largest order to date for its HondaJet very light jets. European air taxi Wijet placed an order for 16 HondaJets valued at $78 million at today's list prices.

The business aviation market in mainland China has been challenging in recent years, partly due to the government's austerity measures. But the consensus in the industry is that China's business aviation market is starting to take off again.

Textron Aviation's assembly line for its new Citation Longitude super-midsize business jet is now at full-rate production, the company said. FAA certification is expected early this year.

Signature Flight Support has received approval to purchase the only existing self-service avgas 110LL facility at the Santa Barbara Airport in California.

Tamarack Aerospace Group, based in Sandpoint, Idaho, has received FAA and EASA approval for its Atlas Active Winglets for the C525B business jet series, which includes Citation CJ3 and CJ3+ aircraft.

Piper Aircraft has received its largest order ever for training aircraft. The Vero Beach, Florida-based manufacturer received an order for 152 aircraft valued at $74 million from Fanmei Aviation Technologies, Piper's dealer in China.

Jetex Flight Support plans to open its first FBO in the U.S. with the launch of private terminal service at California's San Bernardino International Airport.

Falcon Aviation and Leonardo Helicopters have partnered for a new helicopter offshore and onshore contract for the Kuwait Oil Co. Three new Leonardo AW169 helicopters will be deployed on a five-year contract to perform onshore and offshore oil and gas operations.

Jetcraft, a business aircraft sales and acquisitions company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has opened a London office, demonstrating its commitment to Europe and the U.K., the company said.

Clay Lacy Aviation recorded a 23% increase in charter activity in 2017. It also has added 10 new charter jets and three cities to meet growing demand, the company said. New locations include Miami-Opa Locka Airport.

Gulfstream Aerospace has delivered a fourth G650ER to Qatar Airways for its Qatar Executive commercial charter service, making it the largest single owner and operator of G650ER aircraft, Gulfstream said.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has dropped its complaint with the FAA against Waukegan National Airport outside Chicago over fees at FBOs serving three airports.

Nextant Aerospace has received the final piece of FAA certification on its remanufactured G90XT twin-engine turboprop, which paves the way for deliveries to begin.

Boutsen Aviation, based in Monaco, closed on 17 aircraft transactions in 2017, including a Bombardier Global XRS and a Falcon 7X in December, the company said.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern Section has ordered two modified Beechcraft King Air 350 cargo heavyweight turboprops to modernize its patient transfer and air ambulance fleet.

Gulfstream Aerospace delivered its final G450 business jet as its new G500 approaches certification. The G450 entered service in 2005. Since then the company has produced more than 360 aircraft, the company said.

Rockwell Collins and Stellar Labs have launched Stellar Cloud, a software delivery infrastructure platform for business aviation built on Amazon Web Services infrastructure.

​Bell Helicopter sees China as the brightest spot in its Asian universe. A recent burst of orders there will likely triple the manufacturer's in-country fleet from 120 today to nearly 400 over the next few years.

Rectrix Aviation has received authorization from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to fly its charter jet fleet from Reagan Washington National Airport, becoming one of a select number of general aviation operators to hold the distinction due to strict security measures required by federal regulators at the airport, the company said.