Business Aviation

While it is many people’s dream holiday destination, the Caribbean region is viewed as a difficult challenge by many private aviation companies.

Fractional ownership company Flexjet is adding a number of enhancements, including the adoption of a “One Flight Crew, One Aircraft” model.

Bombardier’s Wichita Learjet facility is seeking to take on outside work from third parties to diversify its business. It has also expanded its Wichita service center capabilities.

NTSB points to possible broader problems in the industry with missed safety checks.

In a first for aviation MRO and cabin completion and refurbishment specialist Jet Aviation St. Louis, the center has won contracts to perform maintenance simultaneously on three Embraer Lineage 1000 super-large-cabin business jets.

JetExpo 2015 drew a crowd in Moscow, hosting leaders from the business aviation industry around the world as some 8,000 visitors converged on site at Vnukovo International Airport.

Spirit AeroSystems’ largest union says it has been notified that negotiations between the company and Onex and Advanced Integration Technology for the purchase of its fabrication and machining division were ending.

Avicopter had a very good opening day at the recent China Helicopter Exposition, booking orders for 18 rotorcraft and announcing a launch customer for its prestigious AC352 super medium size transport.

The head of Airbus Helicopters China anticipates that the country will be the helo manufacturer’s biggest market sometime around 2020.

Brazil-based Embraer broke ground on a new, 50,000-sq.-ft. aircraft seating facility in Titusville, Florida, on Sept. 10.

There is no shortage of inventive ideas in the commercial UAV sector, but many of them go well beyond what civil aviation regulators are expected to allow for the foreseeable future.

Flight testing continues on Enstrom Helicopter Corp.’s new TH180 aircraft, designed for ab-initio flight training and the light commercial and private owner markets, the company says.

Declines in demand at its two largest airframe business units, Haeco Xaimen and Haeco Americas, contributed to an overall 1.8% year-over-year decline in total airframe worker-hour services sold through the first six months of the year, and those markets are not expected to rebound before 2016, Haeco Ltd., executives say.

China’s helicopter market achieved sales increases of 20% per year between 2009-13, and last year grew by 30%, says Chris Jaran, Bell Helicopter Vice President for China. But this year the growth won’t be the same.

Against a background of growing concern over “rogue” UAVs near airports and in other sensitive areas, NASA has conducted a dress rehearsal for the upcoming demonstration of the first version of an airspace system designed to enable safe UAV operations at low altitudes.

Pratt & Whitney has celebrated the opening of its Customer Training Center in Hyderabad, India, housed at United Technologies Corporation India.

StandardAero has signed an agreement with SmartSky Networks to certify and install SmartSky’s high-speed wireless Internet system in a variety of business aircraft.

Night flying is very different from day flying and demands more attention of the pilot.

GIV final crash analysis blames pilots for routinely ignoring checklist procedures and FAA for not verifying a key safety system during certification of the aircraft.

Bombardier Aerospace says it has reached major development milestones with its long-range Global 7000 and Global 8000 aircraft program.

Fractional ownership company Flexjet is adding a number of enhancements, including the adoption of a “One Flight Crew, One Aircraft” model.

Gama Aviation has taken on the management of its first Learjet 75, having overseen the delivery of the new aircraft from Bombardier.

Company’s modifications are popular among operators because they improve performance or free up cabin space.

The business jet market is expected to reach nearly $21.07 billion this year, according to London-based Visiongain. Demand for business jets is growing because of a strengthening global economy and a rise in high net worth individuals. Several major business jet manufacturers offer a diverse portfolio of aircraft types with a broad range of performance and flight mission capabilities, Visiongain said.

Textron Aviation could announce two new aircraft in the large business jet segment during the Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in November, am analyst wrote in a memo to investors on Sept. 9. Plus, the National Business Aviation Association says it is ready to follow up on a recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board following a fatal Gulfstream IV runway overrun accident in May 2014.