SyberJet continues to progress on its efforts to bring the SJ30i and SJ30x with a production certificate and delivery center groundbreaking. SyberJet secured its production certificate from FAA’s San Antonio Manufacturing District Office, marking the next step in the company’s quest to return the SJ30 – now the SJ30i – to market. Receipt of production certificate clears the company to manufacture, certify and deliver the aircraft.
Former Embraer Executive Jets president Ernest “Ernie” Edwards is keeping his hand in the business aviation market with the formation of a new leasing firm, Veling Tayara Limited. Edwards, a long-time business aviation executive, late last year retired from Embraer after building its Executive Jets unit into one of the largest business jet manufacturers.
The results of a survey conducted by the Baltic Air Charter Association indicate that BACA members are confident that business conditions will improve during 2014. Of those responding, 66.7% said they believe private jet charter revenue will increase in 2014 while 29% believe it will be flat. Only 4.3% said the anticipate a decline compared to 2013. Most growth is expected to be from existing clients flying more frequently.
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.
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.
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.
Shortly after graduating from France’s prestigious Hautes Etudes Commerciales in 1974, Rosanvallon found himself driving a heavy truck and learning the art of sharpshooting – all part of the military service required of young French citizens then. Upon mustering out, the 24-year-old responded to a posting with a renowned aerospace firm, Avions Marcel Dassault, and got the job. The son of a candy executive and a chemistry professor, Rosanvallon came upon aerospace accidentally, but the fit was right and lasting; he’s never had another employer.
328 Group CEO Dave Jackson says growth within the company is coming from special mission versions of the Dornier 328 turboprop and associated Part 21J design engineering activities. The firm’s largest single order to date was the conversion of 17 Dornier 328 turboprop ex-regional airliners for Sierra Nevada for supply to U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to be operated by the U.S. Air Force and since designated by them as C-146A Wolfhound. The last of these aircraft was handed over last July. The total deal is believed to be worth over $200 million.
Rolls-Royce’s CorporateCare engine maintenance program is making a real difference to aircraft resale values, says Stephen Friedrich, VP, Sales and Marketing, Civil Small and Medium Engines. “We now have 1,600-plus aircraft signed up, and more than 70% of all new Rolls-Royce deliveries are enrolled,” he says. “We’re no longer seeing market acceptance but market demand.” Indeed, the sign-up rate exceeds the number of new deliveries as used aircraft five, 10 or even 20 years old are enrolled.
Luma Technologies’ Lumatech TM 45-station integrated LED caution warning display will be standard equipment on Nextant Aerospace’s King Air G90XT, which is scheduled for certification later this year. “Nextant and Luma have enjoyed a good working relationship since the beginning of the 400XTi program,” says Luma president Bruce Maxwell. “It’s a natural extension for them to carry the 400XTi’s reliable LED technology over to the G90XT.
Jet Aviation has partnered with Brazil-based C-Fly Aviation to offer handling services and parking for business aviation aircraft at Galeão International Airport (GIG), the main airport serving 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer traffic in Rio de Janeiro, which will host the final match. Located north of the city and within 1.5 hours of six World Cup venues, Galeão is the only international airport in Brazil that has dedicated ramp space for business aircraft during the games. Its 200,000 sq. ft.
General Dynamics’ Aerospace group’s $8.1 billion in sales last year accounted for more than a quarter of the firm’s revenue, according to operating numbers released by GD. This year looks even more promising, with GD Aerospace reporting $2.125 billion in first-quarter revenue, up 19% from 1Q13, earnings up 30% compared with the same period last year, and final-phase deliveries up more than one-third over 1Q13.
Twelve years after it was formed to develop a supersonic business jet, Aerion Corp. has relaunched the aircraft as a larger-cabin trijet with longer range and better runway performance, and the ability to meet the most stringent noise rules in the future.
Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets and FlightSafety International units each posted double-digit increases in the first quarter, as the fractional market and training demands continue to improve. Both NetJets and FlightSafety are part of Berkshire’s services group of businesses, which combined for a $284 million first-quarter increase in revenues to $2.4 billion. The services businesses also include TTI, Business Wire, Dairy Queen and BH Media Group, among others.
Comlux (Booth 5152) and Universal Aviation (Booth 6534) have a new agreement for ground handling and FBO services at 14 airports, primarily in Europe and Asia. “Comlux appreciates that by leveraging our global community they can be certain that our Universal teams on every continent will partner with them to ensure the highest levels of ground support and be able to manage even the most challenging and customized requests,” said Universal Weather and Aviation senior international VP Jonathan Howells.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The exterior paint shop at L-3 Platform Integration has had considerable experience applying unique and beautiful finishes on large VIP jets, but the new 747-8 is a challenge that would have taxed the talents of Michelangelo. As an artist’s canvas goes, it is big. Really, really big; with a wing span of 59.6 meters (195 ft, 8 in) and 70.6 meters in length (231 ft, 10 in).
George Washington readily owned up to a small-scale exercise in deforestation, but how likely is it that he would have confessed to an experiment in ‘cherry tree cancelation’? Believe no longer that debates about the number of angels able to dance on a pinhead represent the world’s most excruciatingly obtuse argument. Would even Albert Einstein be smart enough to fathom when a business jet order is not a business jet order?
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.
