Business Aviation

Sen. Bill Nelson’s (D-Fla.) prediction at the start of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s executive session on March 16 to mark up the chamber’s FAA reauthorization bill did in fact come true. But there were obvious doubts in the room.

Skytech is adding aircraft charter to its list of services, which include aircraft sales, maintenance, aircraft management and fixed based operations.

Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. hopes to stimulate aviation flight training by offering a lower-cost all-electric aircraft, the two-seat Sun Flyer.

Advanced Technology Services has announced a new division, ATS Aviation Services, that focuses on the needs of the aviation maintenance and parts industry.

Italian aerospace and defense group Finmeccanica will rebrand itself to Leonardo, in memory of the master painter and inventor.

Bombardier Business Aircraft’s service center network will provide hardware sales and installations for SmartSky 4G, a network that delivers unrestricted access to the Web.

Honda Aircraft Co.’s HondaJet light jet has received type certification from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Mexico, the Direccion General de Aeronautica, the company said March 16.

Air Charter Service (ACS) has announced that it signed over 10,000 charter contracts for the first time in the company's history.

A failure by helicopter pilots to monitor instruments and make use of onboard automated systems were key factors in the loss of a CHC Scotia-operated AS332L2 Super Puma off the Shetland Islands in 2013, U.K. crash investigators have concluded.

Airbus Helicopters is set to certify a new lightweight health and usage monitoring system (HUMS), finally opening the technology to light helicopter operators.

Turboprop aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital plans to expand into the regional jet leasing industry with the acquisition of Jetscape Aviation Group.

Business aircraft flight activity in February leapt over activity in February 2015, with a 6.9% increase – the 12th straight year-over-year gain, according to Argus TraqPak data.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) plans to expand its Canadian aerostructures operation.

RANS Designs, based in Hays, Kansas, will now supply factory-built and ready-to-fly S-20LS Raven aircraft after receiving approval from the FAA.

Business and general aviation trade associations quickly endorsed a bipartisan Senate bill that authorizes FAA funding and programs until Sept. 30, 2017.

Key business jet market indicators, measured by a monthly UBS Business Jet Market Index survey, point to a weakening global market and have fallen back to levels tracked in 2008-2009, the latest index said.

FAA’s proposed rewrite of Part 23 aims to cut costs and the time it takes to get safety-enhancing technologies on small aircraft into the market.

Dassault Aviation’s new Falcon 5X business jet will not enter service until the first half of 2020 due to difficulties in developing the Silvercrest engine at Safran’s Snecma motors division.

Bombardier’s Challenger 650 business jet has been granted full-type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

TRU Simulation + Training is adding full-flight simulators for Cessna Aircraft’s Citation CJ4, CJ3+ and M2 business jets.

Jet Aviation, a division of General Dynamics, will acquire Avjet Corp., a Los Angeles-based jet charter and management company, for an undisclosed sum.

Out of the ashes of the Hawker 4000 and drawing from its all-new Citation Latitude, Textron Aviation is creating a super-midsize jet.

The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that the probable cause of the fatal crash of a King Air B200 into the FlightSafety International training center here was the pilot’s “failure to maintain control of the airplane after a reduction in left engine power” and “inappropriate rudder input.”

ASL has received approval from the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority to commercially operate the Embraer E545 Legacy 450 business jet, becoming the first commercial operator of the aircraft type in Europe.

Dissolving infrastructure constraints will be key for business aviation in the Middle East to realize its full growth potential, industry officials pointed out at the Global Aerospace Summit here this week.