The 328 Group brand is continually growing under the direction of its CEO Dave Jackson as he reduces the Oberpfaffenhofen-based company’s dependence on Dornier 328 turboprop- and 328Jet-related work. Jackson, who has been with 328 since 2006, says he plans to achieve diversification via internal organic expansion, and by acquisition. “We’ve nothing in the pipeline at the moment but we tend to look at one suitable acquisition opportunity per year,” he says. “We are also eyeing other locations for maintenance and completions.”
After some delay, it is all coming together for HondaJet. We might just see one at Geneva next year. HondaJet president and CEO Michimasa Fujino is in Geneva this week to relate the latest good news of his brainchild business jet, now on final approach for certification in the first quarter of next year. With the assessment by FAA pilots now under way, Honda has been emboldened to build the first production machine, which was recently rolled out in Greensboro, North Carolina, and will fly soon.
Embraer is pulling out the stops to ensure trouble-free support for visiting and local Embraer Executive Jet operators for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the biggest sporting event in global soccer, which starts in Brazil next month.
On June 19, 2013, largely unnoticed by the 3,000+ journalists attending the 2013 Paris Air Show, an event took place on the Daher-Socata stand that marked a significant milestone in European business aviation. On that day au Bourget, the French civil aviation authority, DGAC, issued the first Air Operators Certificate permitting single-engine public transport flights in IFR conditions. Previously, passenger-carrying SE-IFR flights had been forbidden throughout the European Union.
The Press Office at London City Airport had a tough time in early April batting off a media assault that grew to epidemic proportions. It was caused by a report from the New Economics Foundation suggesting that London City Airport should be closed and re-developed for housing. NEF’s challenge: Does it make sense to locate an airport in such precious inner-city space? What if we reclaimed this historic site and built a new neighborhood, incorporating the best thinking about sustainable urban design?
Elit’Avia added two more aircraft to its EROPS-approved fleet, including the first such authorization for a Challenger 605 operated by a charter in Europe. Elit’Avia recently secured approval from the Slovenian Civil Aviation Agency for extended range operations (EROPS) for its Bombardier Global 6000 and Challenger 605 in its fleet. The approval clears the way for more direct flight paths by permitting overwater operations up to three hours’ range from an alternative airport with use of one engine.
Brian Humphries, president of the EBAA (and formerly its CEO) and probably the best-known face and most-liked business aviation personality in Europe, says he is considering not standing for re-election next March. “I’ll see what they say at the board meeting, but my intention at the moment is not to stand next year,” he told ShowNews.
Want to fly your business aircraft into the same London aerodrome used by the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron? You don’t need to know a man who knows a man who can fix it for you. All you have to do is call on Jackie Spratt, commercial business manager, at Booth 2229, where Royal Air Force Northolt is enthusiastically inviting visiting aircraft to a runway conveniently close to the center of town.
Today’s issue of ShowNews features our annual listing of the Top 10 Leaders of European Business Aviation. We pick the movers and shakers, those who are helping create demand for business aviation through clever marketing and innovation, those who are influential in polishing business aviation’s image with the public and politicians alike, and those who are fighting to protect it from unfair regulation.
On average, there are 325 to 350 air shows each year in the U.S. and Canada alone, generating some $110 million in revenue. It’s a big business, one marked by breathtaking aerial performances, lots of noise and panoply, sunburns, corn dogs, and, yes, danger. Overseeing the mixed bag of promoters, performers and show rules is ICAS, whose leadership was assumed by Cudahy 17 years ago.
The African Business Aviation Association, which is celebrating its second birthday this month, has made extraordinary progress since launch under the leadership of its founder and chairman Tarek Ragheb. Show News caught up with Ragheb in Cairo just before EBACE. Apart from AfBAA’s never-ending job of liaising and lobbying with committees from the 54 African Union countries, he is concentrating on widening the nucleus of successful business aviation clusters within countries that are already performing well.
T extron Aviation expands capabilities of newly integrated service organization to ensure coverage of Hawker, Beechcraft and Cessna lines. Textron Aviation, as it continues to integrate the operations of Beechcraft and Cessna, is combining the respective service organizations into a network of 23 company-owned centers that can service any of the Beechcraft, Cessna or Hawker product lines, and a “constellation” of 200 authorized centers/support outlets worldwide.
Flight connectivity specialist Aircell is here in Geneva with two ready-made and cost-effective answers to forthcoming cockpit data link mandates. First deliveries are due next month.
Dubai-based Hadid International Services (Booth 6515) is paying increasing attention to the needs of business travelers in Africa, noting that it supported more than 6,000 flights in Africa in 2013 and has seen a 30% increase in the first quarter of this year.
Having become a single-source provider of SwiftBroadband in-flight connectivity, Aircell offers new customers a fly-before-buy evaluation of its latest service. Onboard equipment, airtime and highly rated product support are all included in the package.
Bell Helicopter has delivered a Bell 429 to Swiss operator Heli-Alps, which provides corporate transport, heli-skiing, sightseeing tours, aerial photography and other utility operations. It is the first VIP-configured Bell 429 to enter service in Switzerland, and was customized at the Bell Helicopter facility in Prague.
Having become a single-source provider of SwiftBroadband in-flight connectivity, Aircell offers new customers a fly-before-buy evaluation of its latest service. Onboard equipment, airtime and highly rated product support are all included in the package.
Are you sitting comfortably? You will be if you visit the Iacobucci HF Aerospace Booth 3623 , where the Ferentino, Italy–based company is launching its new double- and single-shell seats for large VIP aircraft. Named Roma and Milano, respectively, both are fully electromechanically operated, with a wide range of movements managed by the actuator software. Configurations available at the touch of an armrest-mounted button go from full upright to full horizontal flat-bed position.
EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg-based FBO and VIP handling provider Air Service Basel (Booth 1212) has partnered with Avfuel Corporation (Booth 4634) to offer its branded aviation fuels and pilot programs, and to take advantage of Avfuel's operational and training systems.
“We’ve brought the Biggin Hill JETS operation to stability,” says 328 Group CEO Dave Jackson. “The FBO has been divested to Signature Flight Support so that we can concentrate on MRO work,” he says. “We’ve seen an increase in traffic and 30%-plus of business is coming from new customers. We believe that the aircraft types covered at Biggin Hill complement our capabilities at our JETS Bournemouth operation.”
A futuristic interior for a VIP helicopter is being unveiled here this week by AgustaWestland. A mockup of the design for the AW169, by fashion studio Lanzavecchia+Wai, can be seen on Booth 6629. After working with the most famous and prestigious fashion houses, such as Versace and Lagerfeld, on the GrandNew and AW139 helicopters, AgustaWestland decided to do something different and avant garde for the AW169, which is to be certified this year.
L-3 Platform Integration’s VIP and Head-of-State Completion Center has defined the five top “must-haves” that customers request on new VVIP completions: 1. Broadband Internet. “More than ever,” says L-3, “customers want high bandwidth throughout the aircraft.”
Comlux the Aviation Group (Booth 5152) comes to EBACE with a maintenance and refurbishment contract for a BBJ based in Asia. The airplane is expected to arrive at the company’s Comlux America facility in Indianapolis, Indiana in the second quarter 2014 and will spent four months at the center. The unidentified owner is being represented by the aircraft management company Sino Jet, led by CEO Jenny Lau.
L-3’s Platform Integration unit reports a four-year extension of Organization Designation Authorization from the U.S. FAA, noting too that it’s been approved to modify the Boeing 787. The ODA allows L-3 to issue its own certificates of airworthiness and supplemental type certificates. The firm has made 50 VIP aircraft deliveries, of types ranging from the Boeing Business Jet to the Airbus ACJ340.
Seattle-based Aviation Partners Inc. continues to bask in the success of its fuel-saving and performance-enhancing blended winglets, spreading the word here that they are now flying on almost 300 Falcon 2000-, 900- and 50-series aircraft, and that a new variant, the split scimitar, has been certified for Boeing 737-800 jets, including the BBJ2.
