EBACE Convention News ® www.ainonline.com PUBLICATIONS Wednesday 5.20.15 GENEVA EASA offers new Euro rules by Kerry Lynch European Aviation Safety Agency executive director Patrick Ky is hoping the agency will have new regulation in place within two years that will lay the foun- dation for a new standard performance- based approach, and a more harmonized way of governing aviation in Europe. Ky was among four speakers at the Open- ing General Session at EBACE yesterday morning, with the others being EBAA CEO Fabio Gamba, NBAA chairman Regulations Developing Aircraft Industry In-flight Entertainment Service Sector EASA Pushes Light Aircraft Rule Europe is well ahead of the U.S. in revamping its light aircraft certification procedures. EASA has released an advance notice of proposed amendment. Page 12 Dassault Falcon 5X It took nearly six years of rumors and supposition, but Dassault finally launched the 5X. Likely to be certified in 2017, Dassault’s large-cabin twinjet is setting new standards for comfort and performance. Page 18 Bombardier’s Market Forecast For the first time, Canadian OEM Bombardier is showcasing its business jet market forecast here at EBACE. Company strategist Jean-Christophe Gallagher suggests taking a long-term perspective. Page 26 Gogo Goes Beyond N-registrants Gogo Business Aviation announced its Gogo Vision IFE system has not only been enhanced, but will now be available to non-U.S.-registered aircraft for the first time. Page 34 Gama Sees More Consolidation Attending EBACE for the first time since its own merger with Hangar8, Gama Aviation reports it expects to see more consolidation in the European aviation services sector. Page 38 Qatar affirms Gulfstream order by James Wynbrandt Yesterday Qatar Executive confirmed firm orders for up to 30 Gulfstream G500, G600, and G650ER business jets worth some $1.5 billion. The purchase agreement, signed on the first day of the EBACE 2015, is part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last October for the purchase of up to 20 aircraft, divided between the G500 and G650ER. Under the updated MOU, Qatar Executive will buy as many as Continued on page 4 u RAMP IT UP This year’s EBACE static display is one of the best ever, with all manner of business aircraft. From turboprops to bizliners, it’s all on show in Geneva. MARK WAGNER Continued on page 4 u
Transcript
EBACEConvention News ®
www.ainonline.com
PUBLICATIONS
Wednesday 5.20.15GENEVA
EASA offers new Euro rulesby Kerry Lynch
European Aviation Safety Agency executive director Patrick Ky is hoping the agency will have new regulation in place within two years that will lay the foun-dation for a new standard performance-based approach, and a more harmonized
way of governing aviation in Europe. Ky was among four speakers at the Open-ing General Session at EBACE yesterday morning, with the others being EBAA CEO Fabio Gamba, NBAA chairman
Regulations Developing Aircraft Industry In-flight Entertainment Service Sector
EASA Pushes Light Aircraft Rule Europe is well ahead of the U.S. in revamping its light aircraft certification procedures. EASA has released an advance notice of proposed amendment. Page 12
Dassault Falcon 5X It took nearly six years of rumors and supposition, but Dassault finally launched the 5X. Likely to be certified in 2017, Dassault’s large-cabin twinjet is setting new standards for comfort and performance. Page 18
Bombardier’s Market ForecastFor the first time, Canadian OEM Bombardier is showcasing its business jet market forecast here at EBACE. Company strategist Jean-Christophe Gallagher suggests taking a long-term perspective. Page 26
Gogo Goes Beyond N-registrantsGogo Business Aviation announced its Gogo Vision IFE system has not only been enhanced, but will now be available to non-U.S.-registered aircraft for the first time. Page 34
Gama Sees More ConsolidationAttending EBACE for the first time since its own merger with Hangar8, Gama Aviation reports it expects to see more consolidation in the European aviation services sector. Page 38
Qatar affirms Gulfstream orderby James Wynbrandt
Yesterday Qatar Executive confirmed firm orders for up to 30 Gulfstream G500, G600, and G650ER business jets worth some $1.5 billion. The purchase agreement, signed on the first day of the EBACE 2015, is part of a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) signed last October for the purchase of up to 20 aircraft, divided between the G500 and G650ER. Under the updated MOU, Qatar Executive will buy as many as Continued on page 4 u
RAMP IT UPThis year’s EBACE static display is one of the best ever, with all manner of business aircraft. From turboprops to bizliners, it’s all on show in Geneva.
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Cessna CJ3+ cleared for European takeoffby David Donald
Cessna’s latest light jet offering has arrived in Europe. The show debut of the Citation CJ3+ coincides with the announcement yesterday of certification of the aircraft by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Deliveries to European customers will commence later this year.
Chris Hearne, Cessna’s vice president for jets and interior engineering, remarked that the
aircraft “is perfectly suited for the European environment, combining a number of attri-butes that benefit passengers and operators alike.” The air-craft was launched in March 2014 and, following FAA cer-tification in September 2014, 10 had been delivered by the end of last year.
Cessna has introduced a host of improvements com-pare with the original CJ3. The
new aircraft can fly 2,040 nm, allowing it to reach Moscow or Cairo from London. With accommodation for up to nine, the aircraft has a ceiling of 45,000 feet, allowing it to clear most weather and also pro-viding access to less crowded
airways. For the crew the CJ3+ offers many advanced features thanks to the Garmin G3000 avionics suite, such as turbulence-detecting weather radar, ADS-B, TCAS-II and advanced terrain awareness warning system. o
www.ainonline.com • May 20, 2015 • EBACE Convention News 3
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Convention News®
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Tom Perry, left, v-p of European sales for Textron Aviation shares the good news on the CJ3+ with Chris Hearne, Cessna v-p for jets and interior engineering.
G500 has taken flightby Matt Thurber
Seven months after a sur-prise October 2014 roll-out, Gulfstream’s fly-by-wire G500 took off for its first flight on Monday morning, departing at 10:39 a.m. local time from Savannah-Hilton Head Inter-national Airport in Savannah, Georgia. The new twinjet was crewed by experimental test
pilots Scott Martin and Kev-in Claffy, along with flight-test engineer Bill Osborne.
Speaking here yesterday at EBACE, Gulfstream Aerospace president Larry Flynn said the maiden flight was routine and successful. “The airplane took off from Savannah on Monday morning,” he said. “It
was scheduled for 19 test flight points in about a two-hour flight. It completed all 19 test points and returned in about two hours and fifteen minutes.”
After climbing initially to 10,500 feet, Martin and Claffy accelerated the G500 to 194 knots and climbed to 15,000 feet, as well as “exer-cised all primary flight control systems; evaluated handling qualities and takeoff and land-ing configurations; performed a simulated approach and
go-around; and checked all systems using the [Honeywell Primus Epic-based] Symmetry flight-deck touchscreen con-trollers.” The G500 landed at 12:55 p.m.
A unique feature of the G500 and G600 is their elec-tronically interconnected BAE active sidestick flight controls. G500 performance includes a range of 5,000 nm at Mach 0.85, maximum operating speed of Mach 0.925 and a 4,850-foot cabin altitude at FL510.
Five G500s will be used for the flight-test program, one of them equipped with a production interior, and FAA and EASA type certification is planned in 2017, followed by entry into service in 2018. Its larger G600 sibling is ex-pected to follow with certifi-cation in 2018 and service en-try in 2019. o
Wheels Up gears up for 35 more King Airsby Chad Trautvetter
U.S. private aviation mem-bership program Wheels Up exercised an option yesterday at EBACE to purchase its next tranche of 35 Beechcraft King Air 350is from the member-ship charter firm’s initial order placed in 2013 for up to 105 of
the turboprop twins. The addi-tional aircraft will expand the company’s fleet in the U.S.
To date, Wheels Up has taken delivery of 31 of its ini-tial firm order for 35 King Airs from Textron Aviation. Deliveries of the next 35
aircraft, which will be out-fitted with the new Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avi-onics system and include contracted factory mainte-nance, are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2016. The private aviation company also has taken delivery of 10 factory-refurbished Cessna Citation Excel/XLSs from Textron Aviation.
“I feel like we are just getting started,” Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter said yesterday at EBACE. “Our current Wheels Up fleet plan calls for 175 King Air 350is and 50 Cessna Citation Excel/XLSs by 2021, and we are exploring ways to incorpo-rate additional Textron prod-ucts onto the Wheels Up platform.”
Speaking about growth plans outside of the U.S.,
Dichter told AIN that the com-pany plans to expand to Europe and Canada in the fourth quar-ter of 2016. At that time, he expects Wheels Up to have two or three European-registered King Airs in the Old Continent, as well as several C-numbered 350is in Canada. o
The Gulfstream G500 logged its first flight on Monday, May 18 from Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport.
Textron Aviation King Air business leader Patrick Buckles, Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter and Textron Aviation president and CEO Scott Ernest celebrate at EBACE.
Up, Up and Away
Wheels Up has been growing quickly since it’s operational launch in November 2013, and now has a fleet of 41 aircraft and 1,350 members, According to Dichter, more than 90 percent of its initial members renewed for a second year and he expects to add between 800 and 1,000 members by the end of 2015. The total number of revenue hours to be flown this year is projected at 25,000. Wheels Up also introduced an app that allows mem-bers to arrange shared flights to reduce their costs. –C.A.
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4 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Regulations Developing Aircraft Industry In-flight Entertainment Service Sector
EASA Pushes Light Aircraft Rule Europe is well ahead of the U.S. in revamping its light aircraft certification procedures. EASA has released an advance notice of proposed amendment. Page 12
Dassault Falcon 5X It took nearly six years of rumors and supposition, but Dassault finally launched the 5X. Likely to be certified in 2017, Dassault’s large-cabin twinjet is setting new standards for comfort and performance. Page 18
Bombardier’s Market ForecastFor the first time, Canadian OEM Bombardier is showcasing its business jet market forecast here at EBACE. Company strategist Jean-Christophe Gallagher suggests taking a long-term perspective. Page 26
Gogo Goes Beyond N-registrantsGogo Business Aviation announced its Gogo Vision IFE system has not only been enhanced, but will now be available to non-U.S.-registered aircraft for the first time. Page 34
Gama Sees More ConsolidationAttending EBACE for the first time since its own merger with Hangar8, Gama Aviation reports it expects to see more consolidation in the European aviation services sector. Page 38
Ron Duncan and François Longchamp, president of the Council of States of the Can-ton of Geneva. The participants held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the convention.
Ky, appearing at his second EBACE, told the audience that EASA is reviewing its activities
throughout the agency as it enters its second decade. This has included outreach to mem-ber states and industry. The agency has heard concerns of the “heavy load imposed on industry” and said the agency is striving to lighten that load and become less prescriptive.
He pointed to the EASA for-mal Opinion on the upcoming
revised Basic Regulation, for which an advance notice of pro-posed amendment was released earlier this year, saying it will represent a fundamental change on the part of both the agency and industry. He said that EASA hopes to establish perfor-mance targets and leave it up to the industry how it meets them.
The Basic Regulation Opin-ion also seeks to better har-monize the implementation of rules across Europe.
States have implemented avi ation regulation differently, which creates problems creating a level playing field and results in unfair competitive advan-tages, he said. “We will try to achieve better harmonization. I think we have to get there. Otherwise, we will never have a truly European system.”
He also worries about the
lack of resources devoted to aviation safety in some member states. Some states have agen-cies with 25 people, far too few to have proper oversight of air-ports, operators and other avia-tion businesses, he said. EASA is starting to see operators reg-ister in countries that have less oversight, he said. The Basic Regulation would permit these states to call upon EASA to help with oversight.
Longchamp, meanwhile, stressed to attendees that Geneva officials recognize the importance of EBACE and access of business aviation in Geneva. But he encouraged business aviation operators to do their part to curb emissions and noise. Political pressure has been increasing from resi-dents who object to growth in aircraft operations, he warned. “Business aviation will soon be in the center of the political debate,” he said.
Business aviation has been working to ensure that environ-mental standards are viewed and managed globally by the International Civil Aviation Or - ganization, said NBAA’s Dun-can. He added business aviation groups are working collectively to ensure that the sector is bet-ter understood as policies, such as environmental regulations, are implemented.
Gamba also reiterated the need for the industry to be bet-ter understood, expressing con-cern about access to airports and other regulations in Europe. o
New EASA rules for EuropeuContinued from page 1
19 G500, five G600 and six G650ER business jets, taking delivery of the first G650ER in Q4 of this year. The G500 and G600 are scheduled to enter ser-vice in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
“The increased order of Gulfstream aircraft confirms Qatar Executive’s confidence in the G500, G600 and G650ER and in the world-class experi-ence their customers will have,” said Gulfstream Aerospace pres-ident Larry Flynn.
“Qatar Executive continues to expand its operations, and the incoming addition of these new aircraft will enable us to widen the range of services available to our clients seeking bespoke and tailored travel services,” said Akbar Al Bakar, Qatar Airways group chief executive.
In preparation for the Gulfstream deliveries, Qatar Executive is currently recruit-ing type-rated captains and first officers for G650ER, according to the charter company.
Qatar Executive (Booth C023) currently operates nine aircraft, including four Bom-bardier Global 5000s–among
them two Global 5000 Visions, three Bombar-dier Challenger 605s, a Global XRS and an Air-bus A319.
Qatar Executive also operates a third party main-tenance operation, a Bom-bardier-authorized service facility, in Doha, which has grown sig nificantly. Meanwhile a new FBO is under construction at the Hamad International Airport in Doha, and is scheduled to open later this year. o
Qatar affirms Gulfstream orderuContinued from page 1
ACJNEO LAUNCHED WITH ACROPOLIS ORDER
Farnborough-based operator Acropolis Aviation placed the first order for the Airbus ACJneo yesterday here at the EBACE show. Acrop-olis CEO Jonathan Bousfield signed the contract with Airbus COO for customers John Leahy and Airbus Corporate Jets managing director Benoit Defforge.
The first order covers an ACJ320neo to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2018 and outfitted for 19 passengers. Leahy revealed that there are two more unannounced orders for the ACJneo on the books.
Acropolis has successfully flown G-NOAH, an ACJ319ceo (for “current engine op tion”), for five years on VIP charter operations, which the new aircraft will replace.
Operations with the ACJ320neo are expected to start in 2020, follow-ing cabin outfitting. The cabin design and choice of com-pletion center have not been finalized yet, but the config-uration is likely to be similar to that of G-NOAH. Neither has the powerplant been chosen–Acrop-olis is currently dis- cussing powerplant
options with the OEMs and will make a decision by the end of 2016. Several criteria drove Acropolis’s selection of the ACJ320neo, not
least of which was the extra cabin size versus the ACJ319ceo and the range capability, which will allow non-stop flights from London to Johan-nesburg, Los Angeles or Tokyo. Cat III autoland and 180-minute ETOPS are also important capabilities. Another factor is the commonality with the current ACJ319ceo, allowing a seamless transition for crews. –D.D.
BOMBARDIER APPOINTS NEW BIZJET PRESIDENT
As of June 15, David Coleal will take up a new role as president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, suc-ceeding Eric Martel who was with Bombardier for 13 years. Coleal joined Bombardier in 2008 from Cir-rus Design Corporation, where he was president and COO, becoming the president and GM for Learjet. He left to be executive v-p and general manager at Spirit Aerosystems, from where he is rejoining Bombardier.
“Throughout his outstanding career in the manufacturing and aerospace sectors, David Coleal has always focused on delighting cus-tomers and driving performance,” said Bombardier’s president and CEO Alain Bellemare.� n
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways group chief executive, left, joins with Gulstream Aerospace president Larry Flynn celebrating confirmation of a $1.5 billion order.
WHY IS THIS JET SMILING?Business aviation is center stage in Geneva this week, and visi-tors have flocked from around the world to the Palexpo Center for the 15th EBACE show. And the big stars are the airplanes.
Cutting the ribbon opening the 15th Annual EBACE show are, l to r, Ron Duncan, NBAA chairman; Patrick Ky, EASA executive director; François Longchamp, president of the Council of States of the Canton of Geneva; and Fabio Gamba, EBAA CEO.
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Celebrating the first order for an Airbus ACJneo are, l to r, Airbus Corporate Jets managing director Benoit Defforge; Acropolis Aviation CEO Jonathan Bousfield; and Airbus COO for customers John Leahy.
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6 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Textron family reunion is a harmonious affairby Kerry Lynch & Matt Thurber
Textron Aviation recently cel-ebrated its one-year anniversary, following a busy 12 months in which the company integrated teams, facilities, labor agreements, support–and the iconic brands of Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker. Here in Geneva for EBACE 2015 this week, this enlarged family of aircraft is on show collectively (Static Display VO29).
The new U.S-based group was born out of Textron’s $1.4 bil-lion acquisition of Beechcraft on March 14 last year. The merger gave Textron an installed base of 250,000 aircraft, an employee base of approximately 10,800 workers worldwide, support network of 21 company-owned facilities and the promise of $65 million in “syner-gies” in 2014 and $85 million over two to three years.
“We quickly aligned our busi-nesses and became one company,” said David Rosenberg, vice presi-dent of integration and strategy.
The results were almost imme-diate. The combined operation has been profitable since the merger, and the synergies have been on schedule, if not ahead of schedule. “We brought $4.56 billion worth of [annual] revenue and have operating profits of $234 million, which is substantial,” said Kriya Shortt, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Textron Aviation. “It’s been an incred-ibly exciting year for us, and we feel very proud of the accomplish-ments of the combined team.”
When scuttlebutt first surfaced of a potential Textron acquisi-tion of Beechcraft, observers wondered whether Beechcraft would be absorbed into Cessna and disappear. But Textron put those questions to rest immedi-ately after its acquisition plans were revealed. The company would maintain the brands but
operate them as a combined entity. “We made it clear from day one,” Rosenberg said.
The decision was key to estab-lishing ties with a new Beechcraft and Hawker customer base that Textron recognized as “fiercely loyal,” while strengthening rela-tionships with the existing and also loyal Cessna customer base. It also helped bring on board an embattled Beechcraft workforce that had persevered through a potential sale that collapsed (to Chinese firm Superior Aviation), a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceed-ing and a significant restructuring that included the shuttering of all the Hawker jet lines.
Integration EffortsAfter Textron announced its
intention to purchase Beechcraft, the companies established an organizing committee that paved the way for the integration and the roll-out of the newly formed Textron Aviation as soon as the acquisition was completed.
The company immediately stood up operating units that integrated business lines. Rosen-berg said the first order of busi-ness was to incorporate best practices of both companies. The company also immediately cre-ated a leadership team compris-ing executives from both Cessna and Beechcraft. Rosenberg him-self came from Beechcraft and his job was to lead integration.
The merger was not without loss. More than half a dozen senior executives, from both Beechcraft and Cessna, left the new company or lost their posi-tions. The merger also resulted in approximately 750 layoffs. Rosen-berg noted that was one of the early and most difficult tasks.
At the same time, though, labor leaders were brought on
board through the transition, and as a result the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers agreed to unify the contracts of Cessna and Beechcraft covering 4,100 workers. This agreement came even though the Cessna contract was not up until 2017. Rosen-berg listed the labor agreement as among the most important achievements last year.
The company reached out to customers to ensure the con-tinued support not only of the Cessna and Beechcraft product lines, but also the Hawker jets
that are now out of production. Beechcraft had previously con-sidered discontinuing certain support efforts for a few of the Hawker models.
Not only did it promise to honor warranties and support aircraft, but it has since rolled out a series of new programs to expand those efforts. The most recent is an expansion of the ProAdvantage fixed-price maintenance program to Hawk-ers. That program was originally developed for Cessna Citations and extended to Beechcraft King Airs last year. The Hawkers were added in March.
Expanding Service CapabilityBeyond warranty and other
support programs, Textron Avi-ation began adding capabilities to its service center network to ensure each one could support all three brands. That support is in place through mobile support teams now, and the company is adding in-house capabilities at the centers, said Rosenberg. This effort will continue throughout this year. Parts distribution was a key focus of the support effort, he said. Beechcraft had used
third-party support. Textron Avi-ation is bringing more of that in-house, building up its inventories.
The integration continued with the facilities. Two companies across town now were operating as one. Executives were relo-cated. East (former Beechcraft) and West (former Cessna) cam-puses were established. Some work shifted, such as component work, and some facilities con-solidated. Business and admin-istration functions, including marketing, sales and the head-quarters, moved to the West cam-pus. That is also where the Cessna jets are produced. The East cam-pus continues to make the turbo-props and pistons. It also houses defense activity.
The company vacated some of its leased facilities and is in the process of consolidating some of its work into new “centers of excellence” (COE). It is turning the former Beechcraft compos-ites facility, known as Plant III, into a COE. Rosenberg empha-sized that the company has no plans to make composite air-craft but will use the technology for composite parts.
Bringing three brands to one corporate dinner table has not been without its challenges. But Textron has succeeded in melding the strengths of the Beechcraft line, including the King Air turboprops, above, with those of its new siblings from Cessna and Hawker. Among the notches in Textron’s belt, deliveries of Cessna’s technologically advanced M2 light jet, like the one below, have spooled up, while development of new projects is at “full speed.” Service capability is also expanding.
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Beechcraft Boosts First Quarter Results For Textron
Jet deliveries at Cessna Aircraft fell nearly six percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2015, but Textron Aviation managed to log higher revenue and profit thanks to stronger sales of its Beechcraft products. Textron chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly told a quarterly investor conference call on April 28 that the group’s revenues soared by $266 million, to $1.051 billion, “primarily reflecting the impact of the Beechcraft acquisition” in March last year. The segment also reported a profit of $67 million in the first quarter, compared with $14 million a year ago.
Textron Aviation delivered 33 Citation jets in the first three months of this year (two fewer than in the same period last year) and 25 King Air twin turboprops (up from 22 in the first three months of 2014). Donnelly said sales in the first quar-ter were “healthy,” though the orders backlog was $99 million down on the fourth quarter at $1.3 billion.
However, Donnelly said he is optimistic about sales of the new Citation Latitude, which just finished FAA certification flight-testing, with agency approval pending. He added that he is “encouraged” that pre-owned jet pricing is improving, which he expects will translate into more new aircraft replacement purchases since trade-ins are worth more. –C.A.
Continued on page 8 u
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It is also establishing a fab-rication COE, a move that capitalizes on Textron Avia-tion’s purchase of the Wich-ita-based aviation interiors manufacturing facility from
UTC Aerospace Systems in Jan-uary. The Wichita company had specialized in Citation and King Air furnishings, and the acqui-sition enabled Textron Aviation to bring that work in-house. The fabrication COE is slated for completion next year.
In Wichita, facilities and work have shifted, but Rosen-berg said the overall footprint
is about the same. Textron Avi-ation is downsizing in Chi-huahua, Mexico, with plans to consolidate the Cessna and Beech facilities there. This may involve vacating at least one of the plants and possibly two in the region.
Complementary SkillsIn addition to completing its
support expansion and shift-ing of facilities, Textron Avi-ation is looking at leveraging technologies. Rosenberg noted that Cessna has been a “prod-uct development machine,” something that will benefit the Beechcraft product line. Beechcraft brings substantial expertise in special missions, an area where Cessna can grow.
Textron Aviation also has been looking across the prod-uct lines to see what might be incorporated in new products or retrofit programs. The com-pany was recently spotted test-ing a Hawker 4000 with winglets. While that project will not result in the return of the Hawker 4000 to production, the technology could end up on a new aircraft.
One executive likened the pro-cess to rummaging through the attic to see what will be of use. But one thing is clear: Textron Avia-tion has no plans to return any of the Hawkers to production. President and CEO Scott Ernest made that statement shortly after the merger and Rosenberg more recently reinforced it.
The company emphasized that product development is moving forward at full speed, an effort that has strong back-ing by parent company Textron. As Textron was finalizing its purchase of Beechcraft, Cessna announced plans to bring the Citation CJ3+ to market and accomplished that in Septem-ber last year. This was in addi-tion to certifying the Citation X+, spooling up on Sovereign+ and M2 deliveries and launch-ing the flight-test program of the Latitude.
“It’s exciting. It has been a fast and furious year,” Shortt said. o
8 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Textron family reunion uContinued from page 6
Certification of the upgraded Citation X+ was one of the milestones of a “fast and furious” year for Textron Aviation.
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Dassault chooses Venue CMS for its 5X and 8X cabin systemsby Matt Thurber
Rockwell Collins is consolidating and expanding its cabin management and entertainment system capabilities, thanks to the acquisitions of ArincDirect, which adds new connectivity solutions, and Pacific Avionics, a provider of wireless inflight entertainment and connectivity equipment. “I see us continuing to grow in the cabin,” said Greg Irmen, vice president and general manager Flight Information Solutions.
Here at EBACE, Rockwell Collins (Booth I073) announced it had been chosen by two major airframe OEMs for its Venue cabin management system (CMS). The first is Dassault for the new Falcon 5X and 8X business jets. “We’ve been a mainstay for Dassault for some time,” Irmen said, with Venue the standard CMS for the Falcon Cabin Management System installed on new Falcon 900, 2000 and 7X models. Another OEM selected Rockwell Collins as its preferred aftermarket supplier, but this OEM had yet to be announced as the EBACE show got underway. Irmen said that Rockwell Collins should be able to identify the other OEM shortly.
More than 500 aircraft now have the Venue CMS installed. “If you look at our performance in the aftermarket, it’s outstanding,” he said. “The aftermarket is going gangbusters, and a lot of upgrades have been done on Globals, Gulfstreams and Falcons.” Typically the Venue upgrade is performed during heavymaintenance checks. “Venue is a fairly quick upgrade and very low cost relative to what’s available,” he said. Venue offers both highdefinition capability and a fiberoptic backbone that makes it easy to add future technologies.
There are about 20 Rockwell Collins dealers around the world qualified to install Venue systems. Jet Aviation Basel, Comlux America, AMAC Aerospace, PATS Aircraft Systems and Associated Air Center are all qualified to install Venue in VIP and VVIP aircraft. AMAC is currently performing the first Venue installation on an Airbus ACJ, and other Venue systems have been installed in Boeing 737s and 747s and Airbus A320s and A330s. “That scalability has proven to be very effective for our customers,” Irmen said.
Rockwell Collins is preparing for the launch of Inmarsat’s highspeed broadband Kaband Global Xpress satcom network later this year. Passengers increasingly expect a similar experience to their home Internet services while flying, Irmen explained, “but connectivity has been the one lagging piece. Venue provides ease of use and the same type of experience with personal devices, but connectivity is the bottleneck. We see that changing [with Global Xpress]. People are going to get the same experience on the airplane as they do at home and will do more work online. The sky is the limit for all these extra services that [Global Xpress] can provide.”
Rockwell Collins will offer products from Pacific Avionics for the business aircraft market, which fits well with its Skybox streaming contentdelivery system and network access point. “We think there is potential there for operators who want a simple lowcost solution for Internet and inflight entertainment,” Irmen said.
Venue is on display at the Rockwell Collins EBACE booth along with the company’s Airshow movingmap system and Skybox. A new Airshow feature being demonstrated is an app that allows passengers to view Airshow on their Android devices. o
10 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
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12 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
EASA moves forward on light aircraft rulesby Kerry Lynch
The European Aviation Safety Agency’s recent release of a light aircraft advance notice of proposed amendment marks a significant step forward in the global effort to develop a con-sensus approach to certification. EASA on March 27 released A-NPA 2015-06 that seeks com-ments on a potential new CS-23 rules covering light piston, tur-boprop and jet aircraft. The A-NPA was developed through an international industry-gov-ernment rulemaking committee that had established a goal of doubling safety while reducing the cost of certification by half.
In releasing the A-NPA, EASA said, “through this reor-ganization…a new concept will be introduced. The EASA cer-tification specifications will be replaced by objective require-ments that are design-indepen-dent and applicable to the entire range of airplanes within CS-23.”
The rule would pave the way for the use of a global
standard-setting body to estab-lish detailed standards for aircraft and new technologies. Instead of establishing prescriptive require-ments, the new proposal would provide for acceptable airworthi-ness design standards and accept-able means of compliance. “This flexibility is intended to encour-age the introduction of safety-enhancing features and reduce certification costs for these types of airplanes,” EASA said. The agency was careful to point out that while the consensus process will enable faster adoption, it retains ultimate responsibility for acceptance of those standards
Greg Bowles, director of European regulatory affairs and engineering for the General Avia-tion Manufacturers Association, said the rulemaking package is “technology neutral,” written to accommodate new technologies such as electric airplanes.
The rulemaking essentially covers aircraft that carry up to 19 passengers and weigh
up to 8,618 kilograms (19,000 pounds), which is the same scope as the U.S. Part 23. While it covers the range of aircraft, the standards would be tailored to the performance and com-plexity of the aircraft.
The publication of the A-NPA puts EASA on a much faster pace to release the doc-ument than in the U.S. EASA hopes to have an NPA later this year with a decision in the first half of 2016.
EASA had been coordinat-ing with the U.S. FAA on the
development of the new rule, hoping to align the timing of the release as close as possible. But FAA officials have pushed back the timeline by a couple of years, targeting the end of 2017. They also have ceased open discussions since it entered the rulemaking process. This prevents dialog between the two government organizations on the drafting of the rule. By publishing an A-NPA and opening for com-ments, it may provide the FAA an opportunity to provide input and provide a sense of direction.
The CS-23/Part 23 rewrite has been viewed as a potential template for similar rewrites for larger, more complex equip-ment. The FAA and indus-try are looking at some of the concepts for Part 27 and 29 next, but FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has not ruled out possibilities for Part 25 as well.
But Bowles stresses that the rewrite must be put in place for lighter aircraft first, and “we have to show it works. We have to show it succeeds.” o
Vision Systems presenting its new cabin window systemsby Curt Epstein
French manufacturer Vision Systems (Booth I098) is demonstrating its newest offerings here at the EBACE show along with full demonstrations of its entire aeronautical product line. The Lyon-based company’s Twin Comfort-Shade is a smoothly motorized cabin window blind system with brake, manual unlock-ing and anti-jamming devices, available in
either smooth or pleated fabric and single and double screen.
According to Vision Systems, the lightweight system’s integrated elec-tronics allow for simple installation and maintenance. The shades can be synchronized to reach the bot-tom of the windows at the same time and can accept the integration of a
dimmable window, another specialty of the manufacturer.
Also in display at the company’s exhibit is its self-powered Energia elec-tronically dimmable windows (EDW) system, which uses integrated transparent photovoltaic cells to charge the batteries that provide electricity to the dimmable windows. The manufacturer states its electronically dimmable windows provide the cabin with improved visual and ther-mal comfort based on suspended particle device technology and can block up to 95 percent of incoming heat.
The windows are instantly dimma-ble to reduce incoming light and are at their darkest when the aircraft is on the
ground. The system, which has no mov-ing parts, blocks more than 99.9 of UV light to protect the cabin interior from fading, and its multilayer construction also provides some measure of cabin soundproofing as well.
The EDW systems can be controlled from a touch panel directly on the win-dow, from a cabin management con-trol panel or wirelessly through a tablet computer. Using the company’s Nuance Touchless technology option, customers can change the window brightness sim-ply by waving their hand in front of it.
The windows are available in different colors and tints for custom requirements and Vision Systems can also provide cabin partitions, which can change from clear to opaque white for privacy.
In the cockpit, the company now offers a self-powered dimmable Opti-Visor to provide sun protection for the flight crew. It provides either auto-mated management through an inte-grated light sensor, which permits user selected settings using simple “plus–minus” buttons.
At the show, Vision Systems will also demonstrate its dedicated, customizable business aircraft wireless inflight enter-tainment system control app for personal electronic devices. In addition to cabin management, the connectivity option provides Internet access, email, video conferencing and smartphone usage and lets passengers stay connected, from the time they leave the office all the way through the arrival terminal. o
Vision Systems’ Twin-Comfort Shades promise a more effective way to cover aircraft windows, and include a dimmable option called Energia, as seen in this Dassault Falcon 900. In the cockpit, the company’s Opti-Visor equipment (above) protects pilots’ eyes from the glare of the sun.
EASA certification of lighter CS-23 aircraft is poised to get easier and less expensive, as the European agency moves to simplify requirements.
www.ainonline.com • May 20, 2015 • EBACE Convention News 13
With first certifications, IS-BAH gains momentum by Curt Epstein
The International Standard for Business Aviation Han-dling (IS-BAH) is the Interna-tional Business Aviation Council (IBAC) program for FBOs and ground handlers based on the safety management system (SMS) concept. Introduced a year ago here at EBACE in Geneva, the IS-BAH program is well under way, with the first two locations certified under the stan-dard in the last few months. In mid-February, IBAC announced at the Business Aviation India conference that New Delhi-based SRC Aviation was the first avi-ation service provider to reach Stage I certification under IS-BAH. Fort Worth, Texas-based American Aero was the first
Western Hemisphere operator to be certified.
The IS-BAH standard is available for purchase in Europe and around the world through the European Business Avia-tion Association (EBAA–Booth A029). The first workshops were held at Paris Le Bourget Airport just weeks after the program was announced last year. The next European workshops will take place at London Luton Airport on July 7-8. Information on reg-istration for that and other IS-BAH workshops around the world is available at the IBAC website www.ibac.org.
IS-BAH is a voluntary code of best practices that will help operators to comply with SMS
requirements emanating from the International Civil Aviation Orga-nization (ICAO). It superseded the U.S. National Air Transpor-tation Association’s Safety 1st Ground Audit, and NATA was among the stakeholders in devel-oping IS-BAH. The program was developed with feedback from representatives of all the industry stakeholders and closely mirrors IBAC International Stan-dard for Business Aviation Opera-tors (IS-BAO) program, a factor that clearly benefitted American Aero at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth. “We were hoping to be the first, but we wanted to take our time and make sure we were doing everything the right way to get where we needed
to be for the audit,” said Riggs Brown, American Aero FTW’s general manager.
The FBO has been in oper-ation since 2012, but its par-ent company Group Holdings has held IS-BAO Stage III cer-tification for the past several years and channeled some of its safety awareness gained through IS-BAO to the new endeavor. “We had an idea of how we wanted that FBO to run,” noted Bob Agostino, the FBO’s vice president of oper-ations. “So when IS-BAH was announced, it was no coinci-dence that a lot of our processes were similar to what it required. It just required some polishing and fine tuning as it was being adapted to the fixed-base opera-tion type of venue.”
Self ReportingAccording to the company,
one of the most challenging parts of the SMS culture to implement was a non-punitive self-reporting program to help mitigate risk. “Maybe in the past [employees] would brush it off, or if [the inci-dent to be reported was] some-thing that they did themselves, they would try to hide it. Now we encourage them to report these risks, these hazards, these inci-dents, so that we can be proactive and prevent these types of issues from happening in the future,” Brown told AIN.
Though many of the compa-ny’s procedures already equaled or even exceeded those specified in IS-BAH, from the time the
standard was published last July, American Aero spent five months analyzing and refining its safety management manual and pro-tocols. “We had to go back and re-evaluate what we do that’s not written down, but is common practice,” said Paul Cochran, the company’s line-service safety lead. “Going back through and doing a gap analysis on our poli-cies and procedures was the big-gest part of it. After that was in place, we went back through and double-checked to make sure that when we did get audited, there weren’t going to be any surprises.”
IBAC does not perform the audits itself, and instead relies upon independent trained exam-iners who are contracted by the individual company. “They basi-cally took apart every aspect of our organization and reviewed it according to what IS-BAH had set in place for the audit, making sure that what we had in place either meets or exceeds their expectation,” Cochran said. “They examined the manuals, they examined the facility, they went out and witnessed our pro-cesses and procedures in action.” The auditors even interviewed employees to get their take on the SMS program and its effect on company operations.
In the end, the company believes all the effort to achieve IS-BAH certification was worth it and plans to be among the first to achieve further levels of certifi-cation. In addition, it expects that as the program gains widespread acceptance, certification will even-tually become a way for discern-ing customers to choose service providers, not only in the U.S., but around the world. “Every-body has great service, everybody runs almost the same ads; there has to be some way for the cus-tomer to be able to discriminate between those people who talk the talk and those people who walk the walk,” said Agostino, a pilot himself for more than four decades. “These flight crews are fairly disciplined…and it’s reas-suring to a customer, because I am a customer as well, that the people I’ve entrusted this asset to are operating with the same prin-ciples and philosophies that I fly the airplane to.” o
CAMP SYSTEMS ACQUIRES CORRIDOR MAINTENANCE SOFTWARE
Maintenance-tracking provider Camp Systems (Booth R104) purchased Continuum Applied Technology in March, adding Continuum’s Corridor Aviation Service Software to Camp’s list of capabil-ities. “It’s our intention to create a seamless flow of information between Corridor and Camp and other maintenance-tracking systems,” said Camp CEO Ken Gray. This would eliminate the common practice of having to enter information twice, into software–such as Corridor–that service centers use, then again into a maintenance-tracking system.
Gulfstream Aerospace, for example, uses Corridor in its factory-owned service centers. “They’ve done a very good job of capturing information and using it in customer support,” he explained. “If we can reduce the paper flow and make [the process] more accurate, it will make it easier for service centers.”
Continuum founder and president Jack Demeis is remaining with the company, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Camp is located in Merrimack, New Hampshire, with the maintenance-tracking activities centered in Ronkonkoma, New York.
“It’s a strategic purchase, a cornerstone acqui-sition for us in the ERP [enterprise resource plan-ning] market.” Gray said. “We’re investing heavily.” This includes opening a new data center in Austin. “Corridor had a significant market share and was a quality player. Our ability to add research and devel-opment money and resources could really take it to the next level.”
For Camp, that next level involves capturing data from aircraft sensors for trend monitoring of the entire aircraft. Currently, Camp offers trend monitor-ing services for Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) and
Honeywell TFE and HTF engines through its purchase of The Trend Group and the former P&WC Engine Condition Trend Monitoring (ECTM) operations.
“The real breakthrough is information coming off aircraft via sensors,” Gray said. “That’s where we have put our focus. We acquired ECTM because we felt the best use of information coming from sensors was from engine manufacturers.”
Camp is now the exclusive trend-monitoring pro-vider for all Honeywell Maintenance Service Plan engines, and combined with P&WC engines, the com-pany monitors more than 30,000 engines installed in 16,000 customer aircraft. “This is not only historical maintenance tracking,” he said, “but forward-look-ing tracking; we can see a graph of trends and make maintenance decisions.” Ultimately, he added, “we see monitoring technology expanding to the whole aircraft. There are many sensors beyond engines. The [lead-ing] edge of technology is integrating maintenance and engine health and things we capture like oil anal-ysis data. Now all trending and monitoring is an inte-grated part of maintenance tracking. New technology is giving trend information in real-time or close to real-time; this is where the market is going.”
Gray expects airframes to yield sensor data too. “A lot of aircraft collect data,” he said, “but [the indus-try] hasn’t taken the step of making that data useful. Different manufacturers are solving that in different ways. We’re making sure that information can be pre-sented in a useful way. All of that relates to the mainte-nance-tracking function, and more information to give a total picture of the health of the aircraft. We really need to embrace the bigger data picture that’s there in order to manage the health of the aircraft.” –M.T.
With its parent company being an IS-BAO certificate holder, American Aero of Ft. Worth, Texas, had a leg up on IS-BAH.
Riggs Brown, general manager of American Aero, Fort Worth, Texas
Single-engine commercial IMC getting close to EASA approval by Kerry Lynch
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) next month is expected to brief member states on rulemaking permitting commercial single-engine turbine opera-tions in instrument meteorological con-ditions (SET-IMC). This move keeps the rule on pace for release next year. Fol-lowing the briefing, EASA anticipates releasing an Opinion on the rulemaking in September, clearing it for European Commission consideration. Finalization is anticipated in first half of 2016, if all goes as planned, said Jens Hennig, vice president of operations for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Hennig served on the commercial SET-IMC rulemaking committee.
Developed in concert with the govern-ment-industry rulemaking committee, the NPA culminated more than two decades of debate and research over the use of single-engine aircraft in commercial operations, beginning with a study by the Joint Avia-tion Authorities in 1991. EASA released the commercial SET-IMC proposal, NPA 2014-18, in July 2014, and the rulemaking committee in March finished its review on 150 comments on the proposal.
While most were in favor of pro-ceeding with the rulemaking, German authorities, who have long been wary of SET-IMC operations, remain opposed to it. Also expressing concerns were officials from the UK and the Netherlands. Like Germany, the UK has had long-standing concerns about SET-IMC. But in recent years, the officials moved away from phil-osophical opposition to more technical questions. Like the UK, questions from the Netherlands were technical in nature, said Hennig, who stood in as chairman at the final rulemaking review.
Commercial single-engine operations have been authorized for decades in the U.S. and are in place in other coun-tries, including Canada and Australia.
A handful of European nations have approved special exemptions for com-mercial SET-IMC operations, and cur-rently 12 aircraft are flying under those exemptions.
EASA’s proposal would standardize the requirements, although operators would still need special authorization. Unlike the U.S. situation, the EASA proposal limits commercial operations to turbine aircraft. Single-engine piston aircraft are permitted to fly commercially in IFR conditions in the U.S.
Risk-based ApproachThe European rule also includes equip-
ment requirements that match standards released by the International Civil Avia-tion Organization in the mid-2000s. Since the U.S. “SE IFR” (single-engine IFR) rule predated those standards, no such equipment requirements apply there.
The rulemaking committee also hoped to address key concerns by building in a risk-based approach into the proposal, requiring substantial flight planning for SET-IMC operations to ensure that “at every step along the route the aircraft can safely glide to the ground in the event of loss of engine power,” Hennig said.
During its final review of the com-ments, the committee debated a number of other issues, including whether two pilots should be mandated for commercial SET-IMC operations. Proponents believe such a requirement would provide another layer of safety, but committee members argued that the aircraft involved have all been cer-tified for single-pilot operation.
Another issue under discussion sur-rounded a requirement for full-flight simulator training. Committee mem-bers, however, recognized that simulator training is not available in all locations and instead recommended that pilots be
14 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Continued on page 16 u
Single-engine turbine aircraft, such as the Daher TBM series, would experience a boost from proposed SET-IMC rules.
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Tax expert offers solution to UK’s VAT headachesby Ian Sheppard
Fluctuating importation duty and VAT tax rules are a constant headache to aircraft owners, especially in Europe. Aircraft finance and ownership special-ist ICM Aviation helps owners make sense of the complex web of regulations that can prove costly and inconvenient. The Isle of Man-based group is here at the EBACE show (Booth T105), along with its UK-based sister company Mar-tyn Fiddler Associates.
In March, ICM announced a new service to help individuals and compa-nies import aircraft into the UK at VAT-free rates in response to earlier changes in the country’s VAT rules. “For 100
percent private usage you’re going to have to pay the VAT, and where the pre-dominant use is private you should pay at the lowest rate you can find (e.g. Lux-embourg),” ICM director Mark Byrne told Aeropodium’s recent European Corporate Aviation Summit in London. But where the aircraft is predominantly for business use, ICM has an alterna-tive plan, involving indirect importation into the UK via the Netherlands.
“About a year ago we formed Martin Fiddler Netherlands–so we’re now able to import aircraft through the Nether-lands in the name of the owner of the air-craft, but without them having to register for VAT as we act as the agent,” Byrne explained. “We account for VAT at 21
percent but defer until it is refunded, so in fact never pay. This is very simi-lar to the old UK scheme.” He said that the process involves routing the aircraft through Rotterdam and a one-off trans-action in the client’s name (with no need for offshore corporate registration pro-cesses, such as the Isle of Man’s Special Purpose Vehicles).
Those bringing aircraft to Europe for extended periods “may be able to take advantage of temporary admission rules,” said Byrne. “For non-European Union- registered or controlled air-craft, [this can be] for up to six months. But the rules are open to interpretation
around [the European Union’s] 28 coun-tries–even though supposedly there is one VAT code for the EU.”
Byrne noted that the International Business Aviation Council has asked for guidance from the EU on aircraft importation and tax issues and put out a working paper on the issue in November 2014. “We advise that you get the piece of paper on board to say you’re coming in on a temporary admission basis–and the same outbound,” said Byrne.
Meanwhile ICM continues to assist aircraft owners wanting to register their assets on the growing Isle of Man registry. May 1 marked the eighth anni-versary of the registry, which now has almost 500 aircraft. o
16 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Importing business aircraft to Europe is now less fraught with tax implications, thanks to an indirect importation program involving the Netherlands.
encouraged to receive simulator training when possible. That issue, Hennig added, was recognized as a larger debate for all operations. Committee members did not believe that single-engine aircraft should be treated differently for the purposes of the SET-IMC rule.
The committee further discussed which data set to use for the underlying safety case. Some committee members preferred the use of European specific data, but others note SET-IMC opera-tions are so limited in Europe that there hasn’t been enough data collected and
pushed for use of global data. The com-mittee reviewed a handful of other issues ranging from takeoff minima to equip-ment requirements. Pratt & Whitney, which participated in the rulemaking committee, had furnished data based on millions of hours of its turboprop engines commonly used in single-engine operations.
In the U.S., about 670 single-engine aircraft are used in commercial SE IFR operations. While 12 currently are oper-ated in Europe, single-turbine manufac-turers have long eyed the potential for a commercial market there. In Europe, offi-cials see a benefit particularly for cargo carriage, enabling access to remote regions that otherwise could not be served in a timely fashion, noted Hennig. o
Single-engine approval getting closeuContinued from page 14
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This large-cabin model, likely to be certified in 2017, sets new standards for bizjet comfort and performance.by Mark Huber
Lots of products boast of being the biggest and most advanced, but Dassault’s new large-cabin 5X twinjet really delivers on those claims. Among other things, it changes the stan-dard for cabin comfort, aircraft performance and ease of main-tenance. And it provides an impressive template for follow-on aircraft.
After nearly six years of rumors, Dassault revealed the $45 million aircraft in late 2013. The first 5X will fly this year and certification will likely occur in 2017.
The jet’s fuselage diameter is 8.86 feet–a bit larger than that of the 8X, (which is still under development) and much larger than the fuselage on past models. The new tube yields six-and-a-half feet of headroom and vol-ume of 1,766 cubic feet, making the 5X even larger than the com-pany’s current flagship, the trijet 7X, or its stretched 8X cousin. Available configurations include seating for 12 passengers.
Dassault claims that the air-craft will be 50 percent more fuel efficient and cost 30 percent less to operate than competing
models from other manufactur-ers. It will feature fly-by-wire controls with sidesticks and new Snecma Silvercrest engines (11,450 pounds of thrust each). The Falcon EASy avionics suite, based on Honeywell Primus Epic platfrom, includes dual head-up displays with syn-thetic- and enhanced-vision information. The large cockpit incorporates a 32 percent larger windshield than the one on the 7X as well as pilot seats that recline 130 degrees, allowing one crewmember to rest while the other flies.
The 5X has a maximum take-off weight of 69,600 pounds and a range of 5,200 nautical miles, which equates to 11 hours, 30 minutes in the air. It can take off from relatively short, 5,000-foot runways and touch down fairly
slowly with an approach speed of just 105 knots.
It can do this without sac-rificing high-speed cruise per-formance. The 5X has a top speed of Mach 0.9—around 600 miles per hour at cruise altitude. Other plusses include much longer maintenance inter-vals for inspections and compo-nent replacement than previous Falcons have had (see sidebar above); an all-new wing that incorporates a fresh winglet design; leading-edge slats that enable slower approach speeds to shorter runways; and flaper-ons, which are typically found only on military aircraft.
The flaperons save weight, provide better control and smooth out turbulence by com-bining flaps and ailerons into a single control surface: flaps deploy to increase lift at low speeds while ailerons regulate bank and roll. Dassault has traditionally been a trailblazer among bizjet makers in adapt-ing military technology such as 3D computer design, sidesticks and fly-by-wire controls. The Falcon 5X aft cabin will be available with various seating configurations and layouts. It will also feature berthable seats that
can be fully reclined to produce sleeping areas for as many as six passengers.
Top-Notch Maintenance and SupportThe 5X will be easier to maintain, with longer inspection intervals and
an enhanced maintenance computer whose data can be downloaded on the ground or transmitted while airborne via Falcon Broadcast. Warranty terms also improve with the 5X, with items being covered for longer periods–some up to 12 years.
Dassault has done much to speed completion time and improve customer support for all of its models in recent years: building a 77,000-square-foot maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Bordeaux, France; constructing a 250,000-square-foot, $60 million completion center in Little Rock, Arkansas that will open next year; increasing the number of parts for “right-sizing” price reductions; significantly increasing spare-parts inventories; and hiring more service personnel. Nearly all parts ship within an hour of order placement, and 98.5 percent arrive on the day customers need them. –M.H.
Continued on page 20 u
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20 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
These innovations come nat-urally, as the company also builds the highly successful line of Rafale and Mirage jet fight-ers. (Many of the engineers who designed those airplanes also worked on the 5X.) Dassault has a reputation for taking airframe aerodynamic optimization to the next level and almost an obses-sion with trimming weight out of the final product. The Falcon 5X continues this tradition.
For passengers, not only does the 5X provide more space, it also offers brighter space. The windows are 30 percent larger than on the 7X. The entryway can be filled with natural light, courtesy of an electronically dimmable “Zenith window” sky-light from Vision Systems above the galley aisle. The “smart
glass” in the skylight can adjust tint in virtually any degree to modulate the amount of incom-ing light and solar heating.
The 5X’s pressurization system will leave passengers refreshed. The cabin altitude is only 3,900 feet while the air-plane cruises at 41,000 feet; and
it’s just 6,000 feet at the 5X’s ser-vice ceiling of 51,000 feet.
The cabin, which features the Falcon HD inflight-entertain-ment system will be available with various layouts and with seats than can be fully reclined to produce sleeping areas for up to six passengers. The pressur-ized 155-cubic-foot main bag-gage area is accessible through the aft lavatory, providing dress-ing space in flight. The single executive seats have been rede-signed with a slick-looking shell back and mechanical functions such as slide, swivel and recline controlled by an electric switch in place of the traditional, and maintenance-prone, cabling sys-tem. Full-electric-function sin-gle seats also are an option.
Dassault’s decision-makers are betting that all of this adds up to the right airplane at the right time.
And they’re probably right. o
Dassault Falcon 5XPrice (initial) $45 million
Crew 2–4
Passengers (typical) 12
Range* 5,200 nm
High-speed cruise Mach 0.9
Max, takeoff weight 69,600 lb
Cabin
Length: 38.7 ft
Height: 6.5 ft
Width: 8.5 ft
Volume: 1,766 cu ft
Baggage volume 155 cu ftSource: Dassault , *eight passengers, three crew, Mach 0.8
Dassault Falcon’s 5XuContinued from page 18
Universal adds services in Morocco and Ethiopiaby Matt Thurber
Universal Weather and Aviation’s ground-support division, Universal Aviation (Booth W073), has expanded its capabilities in northern Africa, with new dedicated resources located in Morocco and Ethiopia. “We’ve seen a great upsurge of demand in Africa,” said Judith Milne, Universal’s regional vice pres-ident Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Africa in general is a big opportunity for busi-ness aviation.”
The new Morocco services will operate under a supervi-sion license and will have five local Universal employees based at airports in Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat. Services at these facilities begin in June. “We’re starting training of the new employees in the next cou-ple of weeks,” Milne said. At Casablanca, a business avia-tion terminal is available for non-commercial traffic, while Marrakech and Rabat offer a VIP lounge in their main ter-minals. On-request services will be available at Fes, Agadir and Tangiers.
“This is just one of the places where business in Africa is developing,” Milne said. Universal Aviation has also added supervision services at
Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, where more business aviation traffic is now flying. “Ethiopian Airlines is the only service [available],” she added, “and we’re working in cooperation with them, but helping with our own staff on the ground to help our custom-ers transit the airport and nav-igate through what is quite a complex airport.”
Universal has a base in Tanzania that offers trip sup-port services, and this team can also support operators fly-ing into east and central Africa. “We’re looking at a lot of des-tinations around the African continent,” she said. “We need to make sure we’re in the right places,” and customers appre-ciate arriving and recognizing a handler wearing a familiar Universal Aviation uniform.
“There have been business jets in Africa for a long time,” she said, “but the volume of traffic is increasing. Companies are flying farther afield. It is a big place and it’s very chal-lenging, diverse and frustrat-ing, sometimes sophisticated, sometimes not. It can never be a one-size-fits-all approach. Universal is good at adapt-ing to the local situation. We’re very keen to offer services with local expertise.” o
GAMA: BIZJET DELIVERIES START THE YEAR ON A DOWN NOTE
Business jet deliveries started the year slowly, while shipments of pressurized business turboprops improved from the year before, according to statistics released on May 8 by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). Overall, general aviation air-plane deliveries (jets, turboprops and pistons) declined 15.2 percent year-over-year, to 441 aircraft, and billings fell by more than 12 per-cent, to $4.5 billion.
OEMs shipped 133 business jets in the first quarter, com-pared with 154 in the same period last year–a 13.6-percent slide. “The first-quarter numbers show that while our industry has been gaining traction over the past few years, we face some renewed headwinds in several regions of the world, including Asia, parts of Europe and Latin America,” said GAMA presi-dent and CEO Pete Bunce. With the builders of several new jets either ramping up production or anticipating certification by year-end–a list that includes the HondaJet, Embraer Legacy 450 and 500, Cessna Citation Latitude and Bombardier Challenger 650–several OEMs have said they expect deliveries to be back-loaded toward the second half of the year.
While overall turboprop deliveries fell by 8 percent in the first quarter, pressurized turboprops–the business turboprop seg-ment–enjoyed a 7.5-percent gain in shipments, led by Daher and Piper, which handed over an additional six TBM 900s and five Meridians, respectively, compared with the first three months of last year. –C.E. The cockpit of the Falcon 5X is clean and uncluttered. Sidesticks help create a
comfortable space for the crew, and the windshield is 32 percent larger than on the 7X.
Back in 1848, forward-thinker Herman Knapheide set up shop in Quincy, Illinois, to build wagons for the pioneers and settlers of America’s Westward expansion. Today, Knapheide Manufacturing Co. is a leading producer of service truck bodies and platforms for commercial vehicles. And they fly a new Garmin G5000™ equipped Learjet 75 to provide a unique, customer-focused brand of service: bringing clients, dealers and distributors together for demos and meetings at their Quincy headquarters plant. “We’ve been doing this for over 20 years,” says ops director Roger Lipcamon, “And it works.” What also works is the Learjet’s Garmin avionics suite. Says Roger: “It’s reliable. It does what they say it will do. And it can be upgraded. I’m impressed with the capabilities – and I’m happy we made the decision.”
To learn more, see us at EBACE Booth #Z114. Or visit our website: Garmin.com/avion
– Roger Lipcamon, Director of Flight Ops, Knapheide Manufacturing Co.
“Garmin looks ahead. And I like that. They’re forward-thinking, and they build that into their equipment.”
CCC leverages high-tech in its IFE products by James Wynbrandt
Custom Control Concepts (CCC) announced here at the EBACE show that it has received “studio-approval” for the movies distributed through its AVOD inflight entertainment system.
The U.S.-based company’s on-demand audio video system in-corporates full digital rights management and, with stu-dio approval, allows viewing of “Early Window” movies before
their release on Blu-ray. Con-tent will be viewable throughout the cabin on CCC’s 4k monitors, high-definition monitors, large format touchscreen monitors, and in-seat monitors.
This week in Geneva, CCC also is demonstrating a new sur-round sound system, developed using 3-D printing technol-ogy. The result is a lightweight, space-saving system that pro-duces a theatre quality experi-ence. The 3-D printing enables CCC to create speaker hous-ings that generate deeper, richer tones in smaller speak-ers, custom designed for each installation. Attendees can ex- perience the low-profile sub-woofer and full-range speaker that form the surround sound system at the company’s exhibit (Booth C017).
Additionally, CCC is dem-oing the latest update to its Spectrum Lighting, now avail-able in AC-power versions. The smaller and lighter equip-ment utilizes the plentiful AC power available on the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. Two new Spectrum Lighting products, AC can lighting and a miniature 30-watt lighting control unit, are on display side-by-side with DC versions, demonstrating the uniformity of color and bright-ness between the two. The AC versions weight less and reduce the need to convert AC current to 28-volt DC with heavy trans-former rectifier units.
System UpgradeAlso unveiled here is CCCen-
tinel, a system that monitors the status of inflight entertain-ment and cabin management systems devices, and can up-date device software onboard an aircraft. CCCentinel gives technicians access to data via a laptop, enabling them to eas-ily manage cabin electronics. CCC is installing it in all its new IFE/CMS, and plans to make it available as an upgrade for most CCC systems.
The company also an-nounced two executive appoint-ments. Jason Danforth has been promoted to chief oper-ating officer, responsible for manufacturing operations, the program management office, and customer service and sup-port. Meanwhile Jay McGrath has been hired as vice president business development, the posi-tion vacated by Danforth. o
22 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Custom Control Concepts is here at EBACE showing its 3-D-printed surround sound system, above, and the latest updates to its Spectrum Lighting product, left. To see the lightweight innovations up close, visit CCC at Booth C017.
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New faces join AfBAA at its EBACE pavilionby David Donald
Established names Bestfly and EAN Aviation have been joined in an expanded African pavilion (Booth A065) by four companies from the continent making their EBACE show debuts. The pavilion is man-aged by the African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA), which promotes the develop-ment of business aviation in the continent and represents own-ers, operators and suppliers.
New exhibitors include Astra Aviation Services, which has 10 years experience of flight support services in Africa and cur-rently operates in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia. It just increased staffing to allow for permanent 24/7 operations.
Also at the pavilion, Great Circle Services is highlighting
aviation safety and its expertise in technical writing, training courses, audits and consultancy. Paisajes Gallegos is showcas-ing its aerial survey capabili-ties, and Primus is focusing on its aircraft parts and spares care program that sources competi-tively priced parts.
Meanwhile, Angola’s Bestfly is marketing its wide range of aviation, FBO and maintenance services, having just achieved Stage 1 of the International Standards-Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), repre-senting the first company from the southern African country to achieve this status. Before pass-ing its IS-BAO audit, the com-pany invested around $75,000 in training and preparation, explained managing director Nuno Pereira.
EAN Aviation is also high-lighting its range of services, including an expanding air-craft transactions division, as well as unveiling changes planned for its FBO at Lagos. The business aviation ser-vices group recently appointed Adetutu Akinyemi as its new head of sales and marketing.
AfBAA itself continues to grow at a dramatic rate. Having been launched at EBACE four years ago with 12 founding members, the roster now num-bers 93. The association has launched a new Professional Member category that allows individuals with no spe-cific affiliation to a group or
company to join. The associa-tion is to hold its third annual symposium in September this year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which will also feature comple-mentary training sessions.
At EBACE AfBAA unveiled its aviation database, the first detailed review of business avi-ation in Africa. Another devel-opment is the signing of an MoU with the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to develop a range of tailor-made training courses, and to establish a safety and training commit-tee to develop AfBAA’s training capabilities and set an imple-mentable course of action. o
24 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
GE Honda gearing up for increased productionby Thierry Dubois
GE Honda Aero Engines (Stand E073) is gearing up for service entry of the 2,095-pound-thrust HF120 engine on the HondaJet and is working simul-taneously on applications for other aircraft. Entry into service of the HondaJet is expected this year, and GE Honda has already delivered 34 production engines for the new light jet.
In the meantime, GE Honda Aero’s Burlington, N.C. man-ufacturing facility is ramping up to produce more than 100
engines this year. The company received an FAA production cer-tificate in March, executive vice president Masahiko Izumi noted yesterday at EBACE.
A dedicated maintenance, re-pair and overhaul facility adja-cent to the factory is now ready, he said. GE Honda is offering a comprehensive engine service program, on a by-the-hour basis, that is called EMC2. Yesterday, UK, Cambridge-based Marshall Aviation Services was named the third European-authorized
service center, joining TAG Aviation in Farnborough and Rheinland Air Service in Mön-chengladbach, Germany.
Combining ground and flight testing, “The HF120 will be the most tested new engine to come on market,” said GE Honda
president Steven Shaknaitis. The test engines have accumulated 13,000 hours and 23,000 cycles. EASA validation of the HF120 certification is said to be on track for the fourth quarter, simul-taneously with that from the DGAC Mexico, and followed by
anticipated Transport Canada approval in 2016.
Part of the company roadmap is looking at single-engine appli-cations. “We see potential appli-cations and have also talked to Cirrus, offering them to do something with us in future,” Shaknaitis said.
As for twin-engine applica-tions, possibly with a higher thrust level, GE Honda is also talking to other airframers. GE Honda last fall announced a joint project with Sierra Industries, of Uvalde, Texas, to develop an engine retrofit pro-gram, dubbed Sapphire, for the Cessna CitationJet, CJ1 and CJ1+. Shaknaitis sees a target population of more than 600 aircraft to re-engine under the Sapphire program. o
Bestfly managing director Nuno Pereira led the company’s recent effort to become the first Angolan company to achieve IS-BAO certification.
Adetutu Akinyemi, left, is EAN Aviation’s new head of sales and marketing. The company’s aircraft sales and charter manager Adayemi Ogunlaja is also representing the Nigerian company here at the EBACE show.
OPEN WIDE
Visitors to EBACE get to see business aircraft all opened up for deep inspection. This Cessna Grand Caravan EX in the static display area has its cowling propped up, the better to get a close look at its Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140. Billed as “the Caravan for Business Aviation,” it accommodates an executive interior. Well known as a utility workhorse, the 208 series also serves well in the VIP transportation role.
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GE Honda executive v-p Masahiko Izumi, left, shares the head table with company president Steven Shaknaitis during an EBACE press conference.
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Pilatus PC-24 program is off to a flying startby David Donald
At the 2014 EBACE show Pilatus opened the order book for the PC-24 “super versatile jet,” and in just 36 hours had notched up 84 orders. A year later and the company is now focused on getting the aircraft cleared for service, a process that began eight days ago with the first flight.
Even as the EBACE open-ing ceremony got under way yesterday morning, the first PC-24 was undertaking its fifth test flight. The air-craft, registered HB-VXA and known to the company as P01, has now chalked up 7.7 hours in the air as part of what is planned as a 2,300-hour trials campaign.
P01 undertook its maiden flight from Buochs on May 11, taking off at 10:00 a.m. for a 55-minute flight, during which the landing gear was left ex-tended. Pilot in command Paul Mulcahy and test pilot Reto
Aeschlimann reported “beau-tiful handling.”
Pilatus initiated the PC-24 program in 2007. “After eight years wait it was very exciting to see it fly,” Pilatus chairman Oscar J. Schwenk reported to AIN. The company is building two further prototypes to assist with the test and certification. While P01 is undertaking initial envelope expansion tests, P02 is being pre-pared for a first flight around the
end of October. This machine is expected to spend much of the campaign with Honeywell in the U.S., trialling the avionics and autopilot systems.
P03 is the third test air-frame, and will be complet-ed to production-representative standards, with a full cabin. It will be the compliance item for certification, and will also be used for customer demonstra-tions, which are scheduled to start at the end of 2016. Under current planning Pilatus expects to fly P03 in the middle of next year, although Schwenk noted that its completion may be de-layed to incorporate improve-ments that may arise from the tests with P01 and P02.
Part of the campaign involves hot- and cold-weather trials, the former likely to be undertak-en in southern Spain. Icing tri-als are perhaps the most difficult to plan. Tests can be performed using molded foam to simulate icing, but certification requires demonstration in real heavy icing conditions. The test crew cannot predict where and when they will occur, so this inevitably involves some waiting around and rap-id deployments to find the right conditions. Rough-field testing will start in early 2017 as one of the last elements to be cleared.
Certification is planned for mid-2017, with initial deliveries commencing a month after. Serial production will commence at least 10 months prior to that, ini-tially with a 10-aircraft pre-pro-duction batch. Production will ramp up with increasing batch sizes, and Pilatus has a capability of producing 50 aircraft per year, aiming to complete all 84 current orders by the end of 2019.
For now the orderbook is temporarily closed so that Pilatus can concentrate on the flight tests and finalizing pro-duction details to fulfill the ini-tial batch of orders. Schwenk expects Pilatus to be in a posi-tion to begin accepting new
orders in around a year’s time. Pilatus has designed the
baseline PC-24 to a high spec-ification, but is also examining a range of options, including special missions. “We see this aircraft as being excellent for government use,” said Schwenk.
One mission fit that will be available from the start is a full medevac configuration. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia–a major operator of the Pilatus PC-12–is one of the launch customers for the PC-24, taking six aircraft. Pilatus will work closely with the RFDS, especially as it will be used regu-larly for rough-field operations.
“It’s good to have customers who fly a lot under extreme con-ditions,” said Schwenk. “We can learn a lot about operating the aircraft from them.” o
26 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
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Look Before You Leap
U.K. consultancy the Inter-national Bureau of Aviation (IBA) has cautioned here at EBACE that despite the attraction of the PC-24, operation from unpre-pared strips, which it described as “a bold move,” residual val-ues may suffer where aircraft have been “extensively used on dirt strips” as they are “more likely to kick up FOD (foreign object damage.” Any paintwork and other repairs would appear on the aircraft records and, says IBA, “are likely to influence the trading price at resale.”
The company neverthe-less said the aircraft will be “invaluable” in some parts of the world, and purported to be “impressed by the technical details” and the performance so far in early testing. –I.S.
Bombardier forecast eyes long-term growthby David Donald
Bombardier showcased its business jet market forecast for the first time at EBACE, and the results are quietly encourag-ing. “You have to differentiate between short-term fluctuations and long-term growth,” reported Jean-Christophe Gallagher, the company’s v-p for strategy and marketing. “When you look at it from a long-term perspective, we see a lot of positives.” While forecasting is not an exact sci-ence, those words echoed those of a number of other companies
exhibiting at EBACE.Bombardier had a strong
2014, with 204 aircraft delivered, for a 13-percent increase over 2013 and a 34-percent market share by unit deliveries. In look-ing at the 2015 to 2024 timeframe, Bombardier forecasts underlying trends to continue upwards, par-ticularly in the large-aircraft sec-tors, where the company has now delivered 647 Globals.
Driving growth across the industry are a number of factors, such as globalization and the
economic emergence of many nations; better aircraft products to stimulate demand; increasing demand for replacement aircraft; and more ways for new custom-ers to get into business aviation.
Overall, Bombardier esti-mates that 9,000 new business jets worth $267 billion will be delivered over the next decade. Although the light jet segment is expected to provide the best sellers in terms of numbers, with 3,400 sales forecast, it offers the lowest share of the revenue, totalling $39 billion, and only a 2.4-percent annual growth rate.
The midsize category fares a bit better, with a projected growth rate of 3.8 percent. Conversely, sales in the large-cabin arena are expected to cover 2,500 air-craft that generate $137 billion
in sales, with an expected annual growth rate of 9.6 percent.
Regional analysis suggests that the North American market will continue to lead the way in terms of numbers, with 3,900 new sales, but at a growth rate of only two percent. Europe is expected to generate 1,525 sales, with a growth rate of seven percent. One of the criteria examined by Bombardier in its analysis is regional pene-tration, measured by how many business jets represent each $1 tril-lion of GDP. In the U.S. the figure is 600, while in Europe it is just 80. This suggests to Bombardier that there is considerable poten-tial in the European market for greater penetration.
Bombardier’s analysis sees the slowdown in business avi-ation in China and Russia as
being short-term effects, and that both markets, along with other developing regions such as Latin America, will contribute to the market growth in the longer term. For instance, Bombardier estimates an annual fleet growth rate of 13 percent for China and 6 percent for Russia/CIS. o
Jean-Christophe Gallagher, Bombardier v-p for strategy and marketing.
PC-24 prototype P01 is seen on its first flight on May 11. As of yesterday, it had logged 7.7 hours of test flying.
Pilatus chairman Oscar Schwenk is bursting with pride over the progress and prospects for his PC-24 “super versatile jet.”
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Web Manuals gains momentum introducing new apps, featuresby Ian Sheppard
Web Manuals has enhanced its web-based service by adding an app for Windows-based electronic flight bags (EFBs) and updating its Apple iPad app. The Swedish company also has started to offer a U.S. FAA compliance library in Web Manuals version 5.1 (code-named “Super Firefly”), complimenting its existing EASA library.
According to Web Manuals co-founder and CEO Martin Lidgard, the apps have “unique” functionality that automatically highlights changes in regulations. The company has already signed up the first five operators for the new U.S. system.
Lidgard told AIN that the company had “gained momentum rapidly” since it was founded in 2012, through a man-agement buy-out. “We started with five clients and five people, today we have 50 clients and 10 people.” Its ser-vice is focused on small and medium-sized operators in business aviation, and also regional airlines, said Lidgard, who added that some operators were “really struggling” with their old systems.
Setting up a new client with Web Manuals (Booth A059) only takes two to three months “from sign-up to go-live” with two to three weeks of internal work for the client and “a few days” assistance from Web Manuals itself. “They usually see a return-on-investment in the first six months,” Lidgard said.
The new FAA compliance library (already in use with operators such as Gama Aviation) incorporates Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) for Part 91, 121 and 135 operators and, claims the company, makes updating aviation manu-als “a less time consuming and more reli-able process by automatically highlighting where documents require revising.”
The functionality was developed in partnership with regulatory specialists AeroEx and also now includes allowing users to add notes and comments that Lidgard said were later retained, even when subsequent changes had been made. This feature could be useful, he said, for safety-related instructions, for example on the carrying of dangerous goods.
“What used to be a laborious manual
task is now made simple: the rapid au-thoring, review, publishing, distribution and control of an entire manuals library is now a seamless operation, bringing sig-nificant savings in time and administra-tion costs while improving regulatory compliance and flight safety.”
The app, now for iPad and Windows tablet devices as well, “complements Web Manuals’ main cloud-based application,” said the company, which claims that the latter “revolutionized the way operators maintain compliance with changing avi-ation regulations.” Lidgard said that “about half our operators are already using the EFB apps.”
“Web Manuals helps business aviation operators achieve major efficiencies in document management, regulatory com-pliance automation and operational agil-ity. Our document reader app extends these benefits into the cockpit and, there-fore, right across the organization,” Lidgard continued, adding that the focus for now is Europe and the U.S.
The company’s three-year plan is to have 500 clients by 2017, half in the U.S. and half in Europe. Lidgard believes most of its competitors are focused on more sophisticated XML-based systems for larger operators, and even so the mar-ket is “up to 10,000 potential clients.” o
28 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
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Bizjet cabin technology sizzling at EBACE15by Liz Moscrop
In the 15 years since the EBACE show came into being there have been far more changes inside the cabin of your typical business aircraft than outside–and this is reflected in the ever-increasing cluster of inflight entertainment (IFE) and connec-tivity players gracing the hall floors in Ge-neva. This year’s show sees more than 40 ex-hibitors jostling for space to promote cabin management systems (CMS), IFE and sat-ellite communications (sat-coms) services.
These are pinned together by the man-ufacturers themselves and the comple-tions centers, who fuse the offerings to-gether to meet the rising demand for constant communication in the back and in the front.
The recent Asian Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition, held last month in Shanghai, also threw up some gems from companies also exhibiting here. Lufthansa Technik sub-sidiary BizJet International (Booth T089) signed for an Airbus ACJ319 cabin completion for an undisclosed customer from China, with a spring 2016 delivery. The bespoke interior (upholstered by Hermès, no less) will feature a state-of-the-art IFE and CMS, which can be controlled with tablet devices via cabin Wi-Fi.
Amac Aerospace (Booth H115) will also have announcements aplenty, including the fact that the Basel-based outfitting spe-cialist recently ordered CTT Sys-tems’ Cair humidification system for an Airbus ACJ320 type. Cair
is designed to increase passengers’ well-being by maintaining relative humidity above 20 percent, without causing con-densation. Based on evaporative cooling technology the dual-purpose product al-so incorporates the Zonal Drying System to prevent condensation.
Jet Aviation (Booth A050) recent-ly signed a new completions agreement with an undisclosed client in the Middle East for a VIP cabin interior on a Boeing BBJ3 at its Basel facility. The aircraft will be delivered to the company in the first quarter of 2016 and marks the compa-ny’s 27th Boeing completions contract. Intended for both private and commer-cial operation, it seats up to 45 passengers privately and 19 on commercial flights.
Designed by the company’s Basel de-sign studio, the interior will feature a forward galley and crew area, a majlis,
a master bedroom with a customized master bathroom and shower, a cinema lounge and a dining area for six. It will al-so be equipped with the latest generation of satellite communications and connec-tivity, including an Iridium satcom sys-tem and satellite TV.
Standard Aero/Associated Air Center (Booth N073) opted for Honeywell’s re-cently, marking the 100th delivery of an Ovation system, joining a fleet of nearly 2,000 business jets with Honeywell (Booth W089) cabin management systems flying around the world today. The CMS offers the latest advanced technology with all-digital capabilities and enables business jet passengers to control cabin environ-ment, such as lighting and temperature; stream high-definition video and audio; connect to in-flight Wi-Fi; and integrate their consumer electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to the system. The company has also recently begun testing and integrating wearable technol-ogy, such as Google Glass, into Ovation.
Lufthansa Technik (LHT, Booth T089) always has interesting additions to its nice HD CMS/IFE system to display
at the main trade shows. It is a key offering for Bombardier, which flies the product on its Challenger 650, Learjet 70/75 and Challenger 350 types. The Challenger 650’s multimedia system allows users to store and play their own music, movies or other media and features the segment’s only digital rights management (DRM) protected licensed media capability, al-lowing access to the latest in films and entertainment.
To date LHT has delivered more than 400 shipsets of the first iteration of nice, and its succes-sor, nice HD, to Bombardier. The state-of-the-art CMS includes
huge high definition monitors, 3-D maps, Audio & Video on Demand, Bluetooth integration and media input capabilities among its many standard package pro-visions. Passengers can control most ele-ments of the cabin via apps built for both Apple and Android devices.
Another major player in the CMS/IFE arena is Rockwell Collins (Booth I073), which will doubtless highlight enhance-ments to its Venue system at the show. It shared news at the end of last year that it had started system tests on the largest in-tegration of the cabin management system to date, which will be flying on a VVIP Airbus ACJ340-600, operated as govern-ment transport for an undisclosed Eastern European country.
The complex installation includes both staterooms, a VVIP area and 89 seats at the back of the aircraft complete with seat-back monitors. Last December it announced that it is improving the quality of its sound on board alongside supplier Gilman Sound, which has an algorithm to remaster music files developed for music concerts in large stadiums. And on that note, for excellent noise cancelling technology, it’ll be worth swinging by Swiss headset manufacturers Phonak (Booth C030).
Other IFE offerings come from Flight Display Systems (Booth H101); Vision Systems (Booth I098) with its Visime-dia product; and the Parrot Media Box (Booth C032), which streams content to both embedded displays and passen-gers’ own devices. Innovative Advantage (Booth E041), which manufactures a fi-ber optic backbone for IFE/CMS com-pletions, is also on hand.
If you dig around you’ll find some 52 completions specialists at the show comprising the great names in the sector, all of which develop and/or deliver IFE/CMS offerings into luxury cabins. Others worth a visit are 328 Services (Booth C065), Comlux Aviation (Booth S124), Flying Colours (Booth G066), GDC Technics (Booth X089), Inairvation (Booth T089)–which is a collaboration between LHT and lighting and seating and design experts, List, Schott and Design Q–plus Sabena Technics (Booth T063).
Custom Control Concepts (Booth C017) announced recently that it has just completed a $1.6 million factory upgrade to its company headquarters near Seattle. The development adds 26,000 square feet to its factory floor, nearly doubling the company’s manufacturing footprint.
While large screens and great acoustics in the back make for a fabulous on board experience, big data pipes are essential for the whole connected cabin and Denmark’s Satcom1 (Booth B089) will be at the show with an announcement that it has increased bandwidth on the Dassault Falcon 7X. The firm teamed up with Ruag and Emteq to deliver what it calls “an affordable turnkey upgrade” to any current satcom installation on the 7X.
The upgrade comprises advanced IFE/CMS capabilities, as well as faster inter-net connection speeds for surfing, email, and video conferencing. Dubbed eCon-nect, the wireless IFE is a high-definition
30 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Honeywell has now delivered more than 100 examples of its Ovation Select cabin management system.
More than 400 Lufthansa Technik nice and nice HD systems have been delivered for Bombardier business aircraft. Passengers can use the nice HD pop-up display, below, or their personal devices to access IFE.
upgrade that allows passen-gers to stream content to their personal device or cabin moni-tors. There’s also cabin control of all systems, including light-ing and window shades, as well as Blu-ray players and moni-tors via by passengers personal electronic devices (PEDs) with no apps to download, through the HTML5-based graphic us-er interface.
The Emteq high-speed Wi-Fi router features advanced compression and acceleration and is managed by Satcom1’s AvioIP router application suite. The system also includes a Voice over IP service for personal smartphone use, allowing each passenger the use of his or her personal mobile phone number–and Satcom1 also guarantees voice quality and offers flexible airtime plans, including one-year free airtime monitor and one number. The firm also offers 24/7 technical support, and an optional cockpit services plan including datalink, ITS, pilot services and more. According to the company, this “increases the Falcon 7X’s resale value”
Gogo Business Aviation (Booth M099) always brings something fun to the table, and its stand is always well worth a visit. Indeed, the firm is im-pressing those in high places.
Fractional provider NetJets made a surprise announcement in April that it has opted for the provider’s IFE system Gogo Vi-sion on its fleet. Capabilities in-clude voice and texting (via pas-sengers’ own smartphones and mobile numbers), Internet, e-mail, on demand movies, TV, news, moving maps, flight infor-mation and destination weath-er. Gogo is carving out a niche in pure call provision, too. Its new ATG (Air to Ground) 1000 Connectivity System enables in-flight e-mail and use of person-al smartphones via its Gogo Biz network service.
Not to be outdone with the use of directly dialing personal smartphones, Florida’s Satcom Direct (Booth D051), has launched a new service that will allow business aircraft passen-gers to use their cellphones as if accessing an onboard mobile phone cell. All that is required to access the “Global VT” ser-vice is a Satcom Direct Rout-er (SDR) installed in an aircraft and the latest software update. More than 75 business aircraft already have SDRs installed, a number the company is set to in-crease rapidly.
A small group of customers has been testing Global VT on their aircraft since late last year. Chris Moore, chief commercial
officer explains that anyone can call at anytime. “It is all delivered on a personal device that people are comfortable using every day,” he said. The coverage is global and the service is available on a global basis. In the air it works through a smartphone app using the cabin Wi-Fi and the phone reads a normal cell tower.
The company has invested in ground-based infrastructure to enable phones to work as normal cellphones do, using roaming technology. Users will pay a one-time licensing and activation fee, and then pay a fee per minute “comparable to normal roaming fees.”
Honeywell is also upping the ante on its connectivity capabilities and announced at the recent Aircraft Interiors Show in Hamburg that it is partnering with Washington-based Kymeta to develop a compact antenna for the latest generation Inmarsat GX satellite system. Kymeta’s mTenna flat panel antenna is a higher-speed wireless antenna that works at Ka-Band frequencies. Its tighter design makes it ideal for smaller business aircraft.
Inmarsat (Booth F079) is gambling on Ka making fur-ther inroads into the interna-tional market, and has invest-ed US$1.6 billion to build the
Global Xpress network, which delivers fixed, narrow, steerable spot-beams offering higher da-ta speeds. It is the first super-fast network to operate in the Ka-band spectrum.
While it’s waiting for Ka to take off properly, its Swift-Broadband satcom solution has become a popular requirement–evidenced by announcements such as that which came from the 328 Group, which last year certified the world’s first four-channel SB system, aboard an Embraer Legacy 600. The mod-ification included installing Em-teq’s eConnect Wi-Fi Router and Satcom1 AvioIP communi-cation software. q
www.ainonline.com • May 20, 2015 • EBACE Convention News 31
Gogo Business Aviation’s ATG (Air to Ground) 1000 connectivity package enables passengers to
access e-mail and use their smart phones in flight.
BIZJET IDENTIFICATION 101
“They’re all beautiful, but how can you tell one from the other?” It’s a common dilemma for newcomers to business aviation. In the case of Dassault Falcon, some of the basics make it easy. For example, if it has three engines, it must be a Falcon. But the early Falcon 20/10 series was a twinjet design, as is the current Falcon 2000 series. Dassault helps us out by sticking with the mid-tail design on its twins, and also the anhedral (downward slant) of the horizontal tail. A good way to distinguish the earlier Falcon 900 trijet from the cur-rent flagship 7X (shown here) is the flat-panel windshield on the 900 and the curved windshield on the 7X.
Trip support group Hadid opens new office in Africaby Peter Shaw-Smith
Hadid International Services last week opened an office in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), at the invitation of the country’s civil aviation authority. The Dubai-based company claims that the agreement it signed with CAR authorities makes it the exclu-sive provider of overflight and landing permits in the CAR.
“We [now] have a physi-cal presence on the ground in Bangui Airport,” said Issa Zuriqi, Hadid’s regional director of Africa, Asia and Australia. According to Hadid, the CAR is an advantageous base for its African flight sup-port operations.
“In the past four months requests have in some cases tripled with regard to [overflight] and landing permits, handling services, refueling, hotels and airport trans-fers,” said Chakib Boudjemaa, business development manager for Africa and Middle East.
Hadid has African offic-es in Niger, Algeria and Lib-ya and a physical presence in Djibouti, Congo (Brazzaville and Kinshasa), Ethiopia and South Africa. Zuriqi report-ed that business aviation activ-ity is growing in both Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Concierge SupportHere at the EBACE show,
Hadid (Booth Y044) is intro-ducing its new 1st Point Concierge Team. The new group consists of 15 multi-lingual concierge profession-als who are ready to make any arrangements for clients around the world, including hotel bookings, VIP transpor-tation, meet and greet services, visa assistance, restaurant bookings, tour guides, security and spa treatments. According to the company, it handles more than 65,000 trip support requests each year. o
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Embraer doubling size of Le Bourget MRO shopby Matt Thurber
With a growing fleet in Europe and Africa, Embraer Executive Jets (Booth Z073) is doubling the size of its Paris Le Bourget maintenance, repair and over-haul (MRO) facility and moving it to a more convenient location on the airport. The new facility will serve all Embraer business jet models, including the new fly-by-wire Legacy 500 and 450. Up to 12 jets of various sizes can fit in the new hangar.
“Le Bourget is the largest hub for bizjets in Europe since 2005,” said Waldir Gonçalves, vice president customer support and services, Executive Jets. “It’s important to be there. We need to have adequate [facilities] to accommodate fleet growth, so we need to have good space and infrastructure to accommodate our growth there. We want to continue to offer the best-in-class service experience in our vision, and we will double the current size of our MRO there. Today we don’t have space in the current hangar for the Lineage 1000, and we’ll have this in the new MRO.”
The new facility will open in the second half of next year and replaces the existing Embraer MRO hangar at Le Bourget. The current facility is located com-pletely inside the secure area of Le Bourget, across from the air-port’s many FBOs, and thus is somewhat inconvenient, as cus-tomers have to go through full security screening in order to access the facility from outside the airport. “It’s very complex to enter,” said Gonçalves. “We
are moving to the other side of the runway and you have a street [entrance] and it’s proper for bizjet operations. It will be much easier for us to enter and for cus-tomers to access the new hangar.” The new facility is next to the new Airbus Helicopters blade manu-facturing plant on the southwest side of Runway 03/21.
In addition to space for new customer offices, the new facil-ity also will accommodate new backshops for more services such as component repair and overhaul. “We want to move to the one-stop-shop concept in the future,” he said, “so we planned the building to increase the business of MRO, not only the ‘M’ [maintenance].”
‘Interesting’ ClienteleIn Europe, there are 64 light
Embraer business jets (Phenom 100s and 300s) and 79 large jets (Legacy 600s and 650s and Lineage 1000s). There are five light and 13 large jets based in Africa. Of the total 867 Embraer business jets in service around the world, 19 percent are based in Europe and Africa. “It is an interesting market, and it’s grow-ing,” said Gonçalves. “The age of the aircraft are of course increas-ing and they are going out of war-ranty and need more support.” More than 60 percent of Embraer business jets are covered by the Embraer Executive Care hourly maintenance cost program.
To supplement its European factory service center at Le Bourget, Embraer is opening a
seasonal line maintenance sta-tion in Nice, which will operate from June 15 through the end of August. “Nice Airport is the third biggest executive jet air-port in Europe after Le Bourget and Geneva,” he said. “We felt the need to support [custom-ers] during the summer in Nice.” Much of the work done by the Nice station will be for NetJets, which operates Phenom 300s in Europe, but also for Phenom 100 and Legacy 600/650 customers.
Embraer currently has six fac-tory-owned service centers and 69 authorized service centers around the world. Many of the authorized centers are ready to service the new Legacy 500 and the 450 when it enters service later this year. The first Legacy 500 in China will be delivered this year,” Gonçalves said, and there is an authorized service center in Beijing, “so we are already pre-pared.” There are 42 Embraer field representatives worldwide. “These people are really impor-tant because they are close to the customer and experiencing their lives and knowing their needs and representing Embraer,” he said.
Last year, Embraer opened its newest owned service cen-ter in Sorocaba, Brazil, which also features an Embraer FBO. “The FBO and MRO are a huge investment to support Brazil,” he said. “We did have this need because we have a lot of air-planes flying in Brazil.”
Eight global parts distribu-tion centers support the fleet, along with 55 on-site stocking locations to bring parts closer to customers. “Parts availability is over 96 percent,” Gonçalves said. “We are investing a lot because as soon as you know what is the problem, you need to have the parts, so the parts
must be there, and very fast.”To further aid custom-
ers who aren’t based near an Embraer facility, the company has deployed mobile response units, three in the U.S. (including a new one at Teterboro Airport), one in Brazil and one in Europe. “We can do line maintenance, AOG rescue, troubleshoot-ing, minor scheduled mainte-nance, parts changes and service
bulletin implementation,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just a matter of a software upload, a new version so we can send our technicians to update a software version.”
Embraer’s customer contact center in São José dos Campos, Brazil, has been open five years. The center now handles more than 10,000 interactions per month and is open 24/7/365. To help customers access Embraer support services, the company offers a free iOS and Android Customer Support and Services Guide app. The optional Aircraft Health Analysis and Diagnosis system is available for all Embraer business jets and can be used to transmit maintenance and usage data directly to Embraer, either via datalink while flying, via Wi-Fi on the ground or by down-loading from an SD card. o
32 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
BELL 429’S LUXURY CABIN INTERIOR UNVEILED
The Bell 429 helicopter on display here at EBACE this week (Booth U029) features the new MAGnificent luxury interior developed by Mecaer Aviation Group. The completions package for the light twin is intended to offer a new level of comfort and functionality for passengers in the cabin.
One of the main breakthroughs is Mecaer’s Silens technology for reducing interior cabin noise. This is based on a capsule installed between the airframe and cabin interior that is only attached via the floor and forward and aft bulkheads. By avoiding contact with the ceil-ing, less noise gets into the cabin from the 429’s engines.
“It means that passengers can comfortably have conversations in the cabin and enjoy movies and music without having to use headsets,” Grayson Barrows, Mecaer’s director of marketing and sales, told AIN. The company has applied the Silens technology to several rotorcraft models and may seek to introduce it for fixed wing aircraft too.
Also new from Mecaer is its I-Feel (Inflight Entertainment Enhanced Lounge), which allows passengers to get online and control entertainment and other cabin systems from their personal electronic devices. These include the electro-chromic windows that can be adjusted to avoid glare from sunlight and the environmental control systems. The dual-pane win-dows also reduce noise in the cabin and ensure passenger privacy.
The cabin interiors were developed by Mecaer’s design studio in Rome. It will be optional equipment for the Bell 429, available through a supplementary type certificate.
There are now around 50 Bell 429s based in Europe. In addition to the VIP configuration, the helicopter can also be used for a variety of emergency medical and parapublic applications.
“Despite the debt crisis and the challenging environment the indus-try currently faces, Europe remains the first world’s largest economic region,” said Patrick Moulay, Bell’s global sales and marketing vice president. “There is a large market across all our mission segments, the largest section of our installed fleet in the continent being the corpo-rate/VIP segments.” –C.A.
Noise levels are low enough in Mecaer’s MAGnificent cabin interior for the Bell 429 helicopter that passengers can carry on a conversation without headsets.
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The Embraer business jet fleet is growing throughout Europe, including
sales of the new Legacy 450. So the OEM is doubling the size of its maintenance
facility at Paris Le Bourget.
Not only will the new maintenance facility at Paris Le Bourget be twice the size of the current one, but it will also be relocated to a spot that is much more convenient for customers to enter. It should open in the second half of next year.
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Gogo goes beyond N-registered aircraftby James Wynbrandt
Gogo Business Aviation announced here at EBACE that its Gogo Vision entertainment system, used on commercial and business jets in North America, has been enhanced and is now available for non-U.S. registered aircraft. The in-flight entertain-ment and connectivity (IFEC) system enables on-demand view-ing of some 200 movies from major studios and episodes of top TV shows, along with moving maps and other con-tent, through passengers’ smart devices. New enhancements enable the content to be viewed on iPhones as well as tablets and laptops, and make the system
compatible with a greater range of cabin management systems.
Content will be physically uploaded to Gogo’s onboard UCS 5000 Smart Router/Media Server, the hardware behind Gogo Vision. “We ship the director of maintenance or flight department the content on a thumb drive, they stick it into the USB port, and it sucks it all down,” said John Wade, executive v-p and general man-ager, business aviation. “We’re anticipating this is going to be widely adopted.”
The service costs $400 per month for all the content, and the fee to watch is $10 per movie
or $5 per TV show. In the U.S., Gogo Vision content is automat-ically uploaded and refreshed via Gogo Cloud, available on the ramp at select Signature Flight Support locations. Plans call for instituting similar func-tionality outside the U.S.
Meanwhile, later this year in the U.S. Gogo will intro-duce a product for individual hangars enabling automatic content refreshment. “If a cus-tomer in the U.S. knows they fly through a Gogo Cloud location twice a month, they would likely select the automated download method,” Wade said. “If they only go to small airports, they
would want to use the stick.” More than 1,900 commer-
cial airliners but only about 40 business jets are currently out-fitted with Gogo Vision. NetJets announced last month it will install Gogo Vision on a mini-mum of 650 of its new Signature Series aircraft.
Gogo (Booth M099) also announced at EBACE that it will add a new suite of services from Honeywell’s Global Data
Center to its business aviation portfolio, including Inmarsat Classic Aero in addition to a vari-ety of flight planning, datalink, graphical cockpit and weather information. Additionally, the company introduced a customer loyalty program enabling select existing customers to receive free SwiftBroadband equipment packages when they activate a new, five-year SwiftBroadband airtime contract with Gogo. o
Geneva Airpark thrivingWith 20,000 square meters
(215,000 sq ft) of facilities near Terminal C3 at Geneva Airport (adjacent to Palexpo), Geneva Airpark (Booth X070) offers a comprehensive range of ser-vices for private and business aircraft. Since first opening for the hosting of business air-craft in 2009, and the addition of extra services from 2012, the Geneva Airpark has expe-rienced dramatic growth as the airport has become the second
busiest business aviation air-port in Europe after Paris Le Bourget, ranked on average number of daily flights.
Geneva Airpark offers occa-sional, regular and annual shel-tering options and has seen growth in all areas. Occasional hosting services climbed by 40 percent in 2014, while annual contract services rose by eight percent. Occasional contract accommodation was up by 25 percent, with 124 aircraft
sheltered during the year taking up 600 days of covered parking.
Currently the Airpark has 30 aircraft based there on annual contracts. On average the hanga-rage contained 17 aircraft at any one time, while the facility han-dled 4,500 movements during the year. Around 40 new clients joined the Geneva Airpark ros-ter in 2014. As well as sheltered and ramp parking for aircraft, the facility offers a wide range of support for crews and operators, such as aircraft cleaning and ser-vicing/replenishment, and pas-senger transportation. –D.D.
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First opened in 2009, Geneva Airpark has seen dynamic expansion of its facilities and clientele. Its growth mirrors that of Geneva Airport, now second only to Paris Le Bourget in business aviation activity.
The Gogo Vision inflight entertainment and connectivity system allows passengers to watch up to 200 movies on smartphones, tablets or laptops.
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Rolls claims top spot in bizav-engine marketby Ian Goold
Rolls-Royce (Booth U105) is here at the EBACE show pro-claiming its leadership in the large-cabin/long-range market for all of that time, a position it attributes to “the value we cre-ate for our customers.” In turn that value derives from a main-tenance-management program dubbed CorporateCare that aims to provide business sense for cus-tomers “by reducing risk and improving aircraft availability.”
Measuring lead- ership by delivery value, the engine manufacturer ac-knowledges that the top position is large-ly due to its introduc-tion of the AE3007, BR710 and BR725 powerplants that equip the Cessna Ci-tation X, the Bom-bardier Global and Gulfstream G550 and G650 models. But the UK-based group hasn’t been able to take its dom-inant position in this sector for granted, having last year lost out to Pratt & Whitney Canada in the bid to power Gulfstream’s new G500 and G600.
According to Stephen Fried-rich, Rolls-Royce sales and mar-keting vice president for civil small and medium engines sales, the manufacturer has been “able
to weather the recent recession better than most” because of its positioning in the large-cab-in sector.
“And by large I mean 1,000 cubic feet cabin vol-ume and 4,000-nautical-mile- range aircraft, including the [Embraer] Legacy 650, [Bom- bardier] Challenger 605 and Globals, [Dassault] Falcon 2000,
900, and 7X, and [Gulfstream] G450/ G550/G650.”
The company’s long-established Tay also is included in the CorporateCare fixed cost/flight-hour plan, which Friedrich says aligns customer and manufacturer inter-ests since “the opera-tor only pays for en-gines that perform well.” The program covers almost 1,800
aircraft, including an over-all 70+ percent (and in some cases 100 percent) of new Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft enter- ing service.
Friedrich points to “a para-digm shift” in business aircraft support, based upon the increas-ing proportion of new aircraft covered by long-term service agreements (LTSAs). “Owners no longer need to take on the risk of managing maintenance
on a time and materials basis. OEMs are offering and shar-ing the benefits of LTSAs with owners,” he said.
“LTSAs enable owner[s] to experience an outstanding level of service at a fixed price far less expensive than the time and material business model that had [them] assume all maintenance risk and [the] volatility of cash flow. We have seen market share in LTSAs for current production aircraft [approach] and exceed 70 percent, with up to 100 percent of new deliveries for certain air-craft enrolling on the program this year,” according to Friedrich.
Investments aimed at im-proving customer support have included a new operational ser-vice desk opened in Dahlewitz, Germany, in 2013 and efforts
to improve product-service de-livery team responsiveness. The company also enlarged parts distribution with a new outlet at Los Angeles International Airport and has been expand-ing its support network around the world.
Reduced risk for Rolls-Royce customers and enhanced air-craft availability have followed the manufacturer’s introduc-tion of new policies, proce-dures and protocols “to improve our responsiveness,” accord-ing to Friedrich. “We are see-ing the benefit: we have signifi-cantly improved ‘averted missed trips’ to over 97 percent and our average aircraft-on-ground (AOG) response-resolution time is under 24 hours. We contin-ue to develop our network of
parts-distribution centres and are delivering world-class per-formance in ‘time to ship’ and ex-ceeding customer expectations.”
Friedrich also highlighted Rolls-Royce’s planned estab-lishment of “a globally dis-tributed provision of On Wing Care specialists and loaner assets.” This is expected to enable customers to benefit from having the OEM’s spe-cialists based in local regions, with all necessary tooling and materials to return an unser-viceable aircraft to the sky in the shortest possible time.
“In addition,” said the offi-cial. “With the entry into ser-vice of the BR725 engine, we introduced 3-D [documents and now] have released the [equiva-lent] for our BR710.” o
36 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
AeroEx helps navigate the maze of NCC regsby David Donald
With EASA NCC (non-com-mercial complex) regulations to come into force on August 25 next year, operators are fac-ing the need to have compliance documents and declarations in place before the deadline. Based at Buchs in Switzerland, consul-tancy and compliance experts AeroEx offers a range of ser-vices that can help operators meet applicable requirements, regardless of the amount of assistance they may require.
Published in August 2013, NCC regulations apply to non-commercial operators of air-craft of more than 5,700 kg (12,566 pounds) mtow, and
also to all jet-powered aircraft. AeroEx offers a comprehen-sive service to meet regulatory requirements, tailoring its pro-posals to meet the expertise and existing structures within the operator’s organization. “We can help you navigate through the jungle,” said Joel Hencks, the company’s managing director.
As a first step, AeroEx can provide training in what the regulations actually spell out, before performing a “gap anal-ysis” to assess where the opera-tor remains deficient or where it does not have the necessary expertise to complete compli-ance. The company also assists
with the establishment and dec-laration of standard operating procedures and safety manage-ment solutions, and in obtaining specific approvals for proce-dures such as RSVM, MNPS, PBN and LVO, if applicable.
For NCC and other regula-tory requirements AeroEx offers a compliance monitoring service,
including the newly developed AMAS II software that was announced last year at NBAA. This provides a means of track-ing compliance with what can amount to more than 6,000 specific items, making for a near-impossible task without dig-itization. “Implementing compli-ance is one thing, but maintaining it is another,” remarked Hencks.
Many of the NCC require-ments are similar to the stan-dards set out by IBAC under the IS-BAO standard for oper-ators. AeroEx is an accredited auditor for IS-BAO, and also for the IS-BAH standard for aircraft handlers.
Formal European regulations for FBOs and other handling services are being studied and, while implementation may still be some years away, IBAC has taken the initiative to institute its own standards–not only to provide a measurable mark of safety and
performance, but also in antici-pation of EASA regulation.
IS-BAH has been initiated to “help industry get a little bit safer,” said Hencks, “and who knows best how to regulate industry? It’s the industry itself.” Recently, Sky Valet at Cannes Airport in France became the first IS-BAH-certified FBO in Europe, assisted by AeroEx.
AeroEx (Booth A059) is cur-rently engaged by more than 250 operators to provide consul-tancy and compliance support. Its expertise in many areas allows it to offer a number of services, including the provision of interim management to ensure the main-taining of standards during staff transition periods, compliance training for senior management, pre-audit inspections, prepara-tion of manuals, implementation of safety management solutions, and taking on the assignation of audit-related responsibilities. o
Stephen Friedrich, Rolls-Royce sales and marketing v-p for civil small and medium engines
Joel Hencks, managing director at Buchs, Switzerland-based AeroEx.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
Geneva International Airport experiences no disruption in its regular service during the EBACE show. As one of the busiest airports in Switzerland, it continues to accommodate a full slate of air carrier movements.
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Gama Aviation is anticipating more European consolidation by Kerry Lynch
Gama Aviation, marking its first European aviation show as a newly merged company with Hangar8, foresees further consolidation of the European business aviation services sector as scale becomes increasingly important to survival. Now one of the largest charter and management services companies worldwide, Gama Aviation is hoping to leverage its size to drive down costs for its customers.
“The global business aviation ser-vices market is undergoing a fundamen-tal shift from the situation a decade ago when new entrants were able to carry out niche operations,” Gama Aviation CEO
Marwan Khalek said. “Fleet and private owners now want their aircraft to be man-aged by a well-run, efficient and success-ful company who, through economies of scale, can pass on huge cost savings.”
Since the merger with Hangar8, Gama Aviation has been able to rene-gotiate a 400-location global tender for fuel. The company added that it has been negotiating with providers of other “scale-led” procurement deals to produce other savings.
This is particularly important, as smaller business aviation operations have been strained by increasing costs from
additional regulation, training and main-tenance requirements. Gama Aviation estimated that the number of busi-ness aircraft operators in the European Union dropped 9 percent between 2012 and 2013, all of the decline coming from operators with fewer than 20 aircraft and largest decline coming from operators with 10 or fewer aircraft.
“Much of the European business avi-ation services market’s inadequacies stem from a highly fragmented supply side with no dominant providers, which leads to inefficiencies in operational logistics and service delivery,” said WingX Advance managing director Richard Koe. “In such a competitive and highly regulated mar-ketplace, it is simply too inefficient for many smaller businesses to compete.”
Koe added he expects to see further mergers or collaborations as smaller companies seek to reduce costs and increase profit margins. o
38 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
AFBAA RELEASES DETAILED RESEARCH ON AFRICAN BIZAV
One of the initial priorities of the African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) following its inception four years ago was the creation of the first-ever detailed report on business aviation in the continent. The State of Business Aviation in Africa provides much hitherto unavailable data on many aspects of the sector in Africa, in turn allowing com-mercial and strategic decisions to be based on real information. Introduced yesterday at EBACE by AfBAA chairman Tarek Ragheb (pictured), the database has been compiled by U.S. company Jetnet. A continuous update process has been implemented to ensure that the information remains valid as the African marketplace evolves. –D.D.
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FlightSafety ramps up training using sims, eLearning coursesby Charles Alcock
FlightSafety International is preparing to install the first Dassault Falcon 2000LXS full flight simulator at the Paris-Le Bourget Learning Center in September. Training with the new FlightSafety FS1000 system is set to begin in January 2016.
The simulator will feature EASy II avionics, an Enhanced Flight Visual System, interchangeable Rockwell Collins and Elbit head-up displays, and the Emergency Vision Assurance System. It will be approved to level D standards by both EASA and the FAA, with other national authorities expected to follow according to customer needs.
According to FlightSafety, the FS1000 features tightly integrated computer hard-ware and software across subsystems that allow for more accurate and higher
fidelity simulation than found in existing simulators. The simulator uses the high fidelity Vital 1100 visual system.
New Online TrainingMeanwhile, FlightSafety has boosted
its online training program with new and updated LiveLearning and eLearn-ing courses. LiveLearning allows cus-tomers to train from any computer with an Internet connection. They are sup-ported by instructors and also interact with other students while making use of online annotation tools, cockpit record-ings and videos.
The new LiveLearning courses cover the following topics: reduced vertical separation minimums, ICAO en route and terminal RNAV, international
procedures for South America, weather radar and WebECTM/engine condition trend monitoring.
The training provider says it is mak-ing significant changes to its interna-tional procedures program. They now include geographical region-specific training for Asia, Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, the Middle East and New Zealand. It also has in introduced a new online reference library that pilots can use to prepare for this part of their training.
Two new self-paced eLearning courses
are now available. One is the Gulfstream G280 CPDLC data link scenario-based program to meet AC-120-70 requirements. The other is a new maintenance engine run and taxi course, covering runway incur-sions, airport signs and markings, com-municating with ATC, as well as preparing aircraft and crew for an engine run.
Sixteen FlightSafety instructors re-cently received the FAA’s gold seal instructor certificate. This recognition goes to instructors who have high per-sonal qualifications and good records as active flight instructors. o
SCHEDAERO’S EUROPEAN BUSINESS GROWS FOURFOLD
Avinode’s aircraft and crew scheduling software business, SchedAero, has grown fourfold in Europe in the past year, recently securing Naljets in the U.K. as its 60th client in the region. The business also recently added its 200th client in worldwide, Evolution Jets in the U.S.
SchedAero credits some of its European growth to recent updates to cater to European charter operators. SchedAero is integrated with Avinode Marketplace, enabling smaller operators to import Avinode (Booth Q090) requests directly into their SchedAero programs. The SchedAero Quotation calculates prices for client quotes and proposal real time. –K.L.
TAIL-TO-TAIL COMPETITORS
Over the decades, the competi-tion among ultra-long-range jet manufacturers has had one clear winner–the customers. Never in history have aircraft operators had the opportunity to choose from such an impressive array of flying machines. Tail to tail are representatives of Bombardier’s Global series (foreground) and Gulfstream’s new flagship G650. Either one has the capability to access most of the planet in a single bound.
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Nextant hints at next project, ‘looking at the larger market’by David Donald
Nextant Aerospace expects to announce its next remanufacturing pro-gram at the NBAA show later this year, to follow on from the 400XT/XTi and G90XT that are based on the Beechjet/Hawker 400 and King Air 90, respec-tively. Both offer considerable perfor-mance and comfort advances over the original aircraft, and are priced attrac-tively against new-build competitors.
President and CEO Sean McGeough shed a glimmer of light on what the new project may be at EBACE by revealing that the company is looking at the super-midsize segment and larger. “We’ve got
the entry level pretty well covered. Much as we like the entry level, we’re now look-ing at the larger market,” he said. “We are looking at several types, but we have to be able to offer the same great 50-cents-on-the-dollar value proposition. A great product, with a great warranty.”
Initiating a larger aircraft remanu-facturing program will entail significant investment, and the choice of aircraft has to be right. The ability to source used air-craft for remanufacturing is an important factor, although the company has noted that, with a greater acceptance of the remanufacturing concept, the proportion of existing owners placing their own air-craft into the program has grown, reduc-ing the need to find airframes. Helping Nextant in their selection of a type is a series of customer advisory boards of operators. The first was held in China, fol-lowed by another at Nextant’s headquar-ters in Cleveland, Ohio. A third board is taking place this week at EBACE.
Nextant’s current product line is per-forming well. Flight tests of the G90XT and its General Electric H75-100 engines have shown an 8-percent improvement in specific fuel consumption over the regular King Air 90, a figure expected to improve further when a new gearbox is introduced. High-altitude performance is reported as excellent, and time-to-climb figures show improvements of between 10 and 15 per-cent. Nextant is predicting operational savings of around $85 to $100 per hour.
For training G90XT pilots as part
of the purchase package, Nextant has signed up FlightSafety International, which is providing a full-flight simula-tor. The G90XT’s Garmin-based Regent flight deck greatly eases pilot workload, including single-lever engine control, integrated fuel/engine monitoring and automatic pressurization scheduling.
Deliveries of the 400XTi light jet con-tinue, with the first European customer–Time Air in the Czech Republic–scheduled to receive its third aircraft next week. Nextant (which is here with a 400XTi on the static display) recently took a five-air-craft order from fractional ownership
company PlaneSense, and the first two will be delivered this year. PlaneSense’s aircraft are the first to be completed with the Safe Flight AutoPower autothrottle option, which is due for certification in the next three to four weeks.
An important recent development for Nextant has seen it become a partner of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, allowing the company’s remanufactured products to be financed in the same way as new-build aircraft. The company has also created a resale division to manage pre-owned air-craft sales and to reenter aircraft into the remanufacturing process if applicable. o
www.ainonline.com • May 20, 2015 • EBACE Convention News 39
Cessna boosts Latitude performance againby Kerry Lynch
Cessna is upping the perfor-mance specifications once again for its Citation Latitude as it prepares to bring the aircraft to market. Scott Ernest, CEO of parent company Textron Aviation, said the company has completed flight-testing and hopes to win U.S. certification by the end of the month. European Aviation Safety Agency certifi-cation is to follow by year end.
Cessna will bring the $16.25 million Latitude to market with a long-range cruise range of 2,850 nm, high-speed cruise range of 2,700 nm and a takeoff distance of 3,580 feet. This marks a 150-nm improvement over the per-formance boost announced in October–then the third such
improvement announced by Cessna. Takeoff distance is short-ened to 3,580 feet, compared with the previously announced 3,660 feet. The final range is 35 percent greater than the original projected 2,000 nm when Cessna unveiled the aircraft in 2011.
Ernest did not provide back-log specifics, saying only that “customer response has been strong and continues to grow.” Nor did he say how many the company hopes to deliver this year. But delivery to launch cus-tomer NetJets is anticipated in the third quarter. NetJets in 2012 ordered up to 150 of the Citation Latitude, including firm orders for 25.
Certification culminates a
flight-test program that began in February 2014 and has involved four test aircraft that flew a col-lective 1,700 flight hours. The air-craft, making its European debut on static display here at EBACE, incorporates the widest cabin of any Citation, incorporating a flat floor. It is equipped with Garmin G5000 avionics, which also is on Cessna’s new Citation X+ and the Citation Sovereign+.
Longitude Progressing WellWhile Cessna brings the
Latitude to market, Ernest said the company continues to ramp up on the Citation Longitude program. Cessna has conducted a design review of the Longitude, which was originally unveiled in 2012, and expects to provide details on the new jet during this fall’s National Business Aviation Association convention.
Ernest added the company has incorporated a “significant amount of customer feedback” into the design of the aircraft.
Ernest reported that design is well advanced on the new model, and the company has cut metal for the first aircraft. The com-pany expects to begin flying the aircraft in 2016 and bring it to market in 2017. The Longitude is expected to become the larg-est model in the Citation lineup.
Cessna affiliate Beechcraft, meanwhile, is in the final throes
of testing with Rockwell Collins on the new Fusion avionics suite for the King Air product line. The new flight decks will first come to market on the King Air 250. Deliveries are expected to begin in the third quarter. This will be followed by deliveries of Fusion-quipped King Air 350is in the fourth quarter and C90GTX in early 2016. o
RED CARPET TREATMENT
Glossy brochures, spreadsheets and dynamic computer presentations are a great way to evaluate a business aircraft. But there's no substitute for getting up close to the real thing. EBACE offers the opportunity for stakeholders to experience the products of all the major manufacturers in one place. And when that place is Geneva, the experience is even better.� �
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Nextant Aerospace president and CEO Sean McGeough shed some light on what may be coming down the road. He suggested a larger aircraft.
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Textron Aviation CEO Scott Ernest, center, had good news for Citation Latitude buyers. Takeoff and cruise performance figures on the soon-to-be-certified twinjet have been revised upward for the third time since the airplane was first announced in 2011.
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With new structure, Avplan ramps up by Matt Thurber
During the first quarter of this year, Avfuel’s Avplan Trip Support (Stand N090) expe-rienced “a significant increase in flight-planning activity,” ac-cording to the company, and
it expects to double that busi-ness during the second quarter. Avfuel’s commercial fuel divi-sion also saw rapid growth over the last six months, in part due to the addition of 253 fueling
supply points in 42 countries. The Avfuel network now in-cludes more than 3,000 contract fuel locations and more than 650 Avfuel-branded FBOs.
The growth in Avplan activity is a result of a new structure that was established last year.
Evaluating Clients’ NeedsAn important element of the
restructuring was polling clients to learn what they need, with all staff taking responsibility for quality control. “We make it our business to have knowledge of missions, aircraft, systems, structure, history, crew and pas-senger needs,” said Russ Stand-efer, president of Avplan Trip Support. “This approach results in reliable, customized options backed by high levels of client interaction and strong account-ability. Everyone goes the extra mile to create a truly customized experience and ensure the suc-cess of every trip.”
Another important factor for Avplan clients is flexibility, with some requiring basic ser-vices for certain trips and occa-sionally more detailed handling for an unusually complex trip. “Many fall somewhere between, and we’re designed to accommo-date,” he said. In a recent exam-ple, Avplan assigned a dedicated trip manager to a client planning a trip with multiple flights within Chile, earning praise from the cli-ent for the trip manager’s help and for the attention to detail paid to the complex itinerary. Avplan’s normal 24-hour operations han-dle this client’s typical trips in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Another client was invited to meet Avplan team members during the company’s opera-tions meeting in May at its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters. “She’ll meet the team that sup-ports her and also share per-spective and experiences from her years of working as a dis-patcher,” said Avplan opera-tions manager Phil Tyler. “This is an example of the sort of rela-tionships that are possible with our operations structure and team.” Avplan helped this cli-ent with a complicated trip to Southeast Asia and India.
In addition to ground-han-dling support, Avplan also offers flight planning; on-staff meteorologists; assistance with obtaining international per-mits and Advanced Passenger Information System filing; and regulatory advisories. o
40 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
For its new Avplan structure, Avfuel evaluated existing and prospective clients’ needs.
RETURNS YOUR INVESTMENT ALMOST BEFORE THE INK IS DRY.The PC-12 NG wastes no time in earning its keep. With spacious seating for nine team
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As a more cost-effective alternative to charter, jet cards and fractional – and with lower
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Le Bourget FBOs invest despite a tepid recoveryby Guillaume Lecompte-Boinet
Recovery has not yet truly arrived, but around Paris Le Bourget Airport, people are feel-ing its first signs. Europe’s most active bizav airport saw nearly 26,000 departures last year and more than 14 million gal-lons in fuel uplifted, according to global industry data pro-vider WingX Advance. That’s probably why FBOs at the Paris business aviation hub are still investing. For example, Jetex Flight Support plans to open a new hangar for based aircraft. Advanced Air Support has once again enhanced its facilities, and Dassault Falcon Services intends to increase the footprint of its FBO at Le Bourget. Brazil’s Embraer Executive Jets–at long last–submitted a construction application last October for a new Maintenance Repair and Overall (MRO) facility sched-uled to enter service in Summer 2016. The airframer could break
ground on this project in June, perhaps during the Paris Air Show.
Last year was challenging, despite the fact that Le Bourget Airport remains the premier busi-ness aviation platform in Europe with 54,400 total movements (a slight increase from 2013). “We saw a slight growth; only during the last months of 2014,” con-firmed François Charritat, man-aging director of Le Bourget Airport for Aéroports de Paris (ADP). The statistics fall in line with a general trend in Europe that, according to reports from the European Business Aviation Association, saw an overall 0.7 percent increase in total move-ments in 2014.
One of the main complaints among the FBOs is that there are too many of them on the air-port. The number of facilities is “too huge for this platform,” said Denis Bourgois, managing
director of the Landmark Aviation Le Bourget FBO. And another is probably on the way, though this hasn’t been con-firmed by ADP. On the bright side, an increase in new bizjet orders could lead to more traffic in the future.
FBO Action Rundown:Advanced Air Support, a
Jet Services subsidiary, plans to open a new 130,000-sq-ft (12,000-sq-m) FBO just in front of the AC Marriott hotel, which opened February 2. This 122-room four-star hotel is also part of the Jet Services Group. Contacted by AIN, Advanced Air Support, which is partnered with ExecuJet, declined to offer
details on its plans, but a build-ing license has been submitted to the French authorities. The FBO, scheduled to open in two years, would be dedicated to large bizjets, notably Airbus’s ACJ and Boeing’s BBJ bizlin-ers. Advanced Air Support will have one of the biggest facili-ties on Le Bourget, including the new 71,040-sq-ft hangar, which opened in February, and its 388,000 sq ft (36,000 sq m) of outside parking, five VIP lounges and five private bed-rooms for passengers and crews.
Dassault Falcon Services (DFS), which handles approx-imately 6,000 movements per year at Le Bourget, has several projects on tap for this calendar
year. The Dassault Aviation subsidiary will entirely refur-bish the FBO’s crew space, with new facilities, meeting rooms, showers and lavatories. Then, in a second phase, DFS will expand the FBO footprint with new hangar and parking space. “The precise surface and loca-tion has not been decided yet,” said Bertrand d’Ivoire, director of the FBO.
Last September, DFS added a new access point and client parking area at Le Bourget. Of course, “clients can take advan-tage of our maintenance and support facilities as well as the FBO,” added d’Ivoire. Regarding customer support, Dassault
www.ainonline.com • May 20, 2015 • EBACE Convention News 41
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FBOs at Paris Le Bourget Airport are ramping up their investments in the future of business aviation. Universal Aviation’s recently upgraded lobby treats passengers to a decor suited to the world-class city it represents.
Mecaer Aviation Group is a leading international provider of fullyintegrated aircraft emergency medical systems for various rotary- and fixed-wing platforms.
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recently launched a new airborne support program, including two Falcon 900s dedicated to trans-porting teams and spare parts anywhere in the world. DFS also opened a new showroom in Le Bourget (and another one at its Teterboro, New Jersey loca-tion) to assist buyers in design-ing their Falcons’ interiors. Last but not least, the group is nego-tiating with ADP Le Bourget to move its cramped Falcon spare parts center from the current off-airport location to a new spot at Le Bourget, and to increase its capacity by 2.5 times.
The main investment by Dubai-based Jetex Flight Support will be a new hangar at Le Bourget. The FBO has 215,000 sq ft (20,000 sq m) of lounges and facilities but no han-gar as yet. The future construc-tion will be on a taxiway about 1,000 feet (300 meters) from the FBO, which is adjacent to the Air and Space Museum (Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace). “We are discussing [the project] with ADP,” added Hinda Gerrouah, commercial sales and market-ing manager of the Le Bourget FBO, who declined to com-ment further on the schedule of this project. Jetex handles an increasing number of large air-craft, amounting to 30 percent of its 9,400 yearly movements. To improve its service, Jetex will also invest in new ramp facilities to accommodate the larger air-craft, as a means to counter com-petition from CDG-Roissy at Charles deGaulle Airport. Also, Jetex recently improved the sig-nage of the taxiways because some pilots complained about confusing indications. “We are looking forward to attending EBACE where we will have an announcement concerning the opening,” said Gerrouah.
Meanwhile, the new 12,900-sq-ft (1,200-sq-m) FBO opened by Landmark Aviation in June 2014 witnessed growth of 15 per-cent during the closing months of 2014. “I hope this trend will continue in 2015, but it’s not sure yet,” said facility manager Denis Bourgois. The Texas-based chain enjoyed around 11,000 movements at Le Bourget last year despite the decline of Middle East demand. “Growth came from North America and Europe,” added Bourgois.
Despite a slow market, Landmark has some projects in the works for its Parisian FBO
42 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Le Bourget FBOs are investinguContinued from preceding page
Advanced Air Support has plans to open a new-build FBO adjacent to the AD Marriott hotel, which opened in February at Le Bourget Airport in Paris.
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Landmark Aviation’s newly opened FBO saw 15 percent growth in the latter months of 2014.
BUSINESS AVIATION
FIA16_AIN_ORANGE.indd 1 11/05/2015 11:59
this year. A new private, secure garage will be built, the frontage of the FBO is to be refurbished and offices will be renewed. Those investments will amount to as much as €1.5 million
($1.63 million), far from match-ing the €2.5 million ($2.72 mil-lion) invested last year.
Signature Flight Support, the worldwide chain operated by UK-based parent BBA, has a significant footprint on Le Bourget. With a total of nine hangars, it supplies 145,000 sq ft of aircraft storage. In addi-tion, the exterior parking area
directly adjacent to the termi-nal covers 10 acres, with an additional four acres available for jetliners up to the size of a Boeing 747. Available services include aircraft deicing.
Rampside immigration ser-vice is available 24/7, and the passenger terminal is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (early/late hours available on request). It features a passenger/luggage security screening area and pas-senger lounges with shower facilities. There is also an exec-utive bar; conference rooms with audio-visual equipment and seating for up to 30; and a private prayer room. Pilots enjoy individual snooze rooms; a work area; and a lounge with large-screen television. Even limousine drivers have their own waiting lounge and in-flight catering is available. Courtesy cars transport crew and passen-gers from the terminal to their aircraft on the ramp.
In late March, Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur Group (ACA), one of Europe’s largest private aviation companies, acquired the former Unijet FBO at Le Bourget from the Luxaviation Group. The location will be rebranded as Sky Valet, ACA’s ground-handling division.
“It is important for ACA’s development in business avi-ation to be present at the key stops, and Paris Le Bourget is Europe’s leading airport in the sector,” noted ACA chair-man Dominique Thillaud. Launched at EBACE last year, Sky Valet also provides service at Cannes Mandelieu, Golfe de Saint-Tropez and Nice Côte d’Azur airports. Combined, the company’s airport hosts saw 46,000 movements in 2014. The new Le Bourget location offers aircraft handling and parking, passenger lounges and work areas, a pilot lounge and flight-preparation area.
After having invested heav-ily during 2013 and 2014, Universal Aviation is mov-ing to a “stand-by” position. “Uncertain market conditions are part of the reason for this decision, but also we invested a lot in the past,” said Sandrine Jackson, managing director of the Paris FBO. Last year, Universal fully refurbished its 1,219-sq-ft Le Bourget FBO and added 130,182 sq ft (12,000 sq m) of parking space. In 2013-2014, with 4,500 move-ments, the FBO has been hit with diminished traffic, espe-cially in the large-aircraft sec-tor, following the decision by Qatar to redirect its VIP air-craft to Roissy-CDG. o
44 EBACE Convention News • May 19, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
The home-team hero, Dassault Falcon Service at Le Bourget has plans to increase its footprint with a new hangar. Crew space is also in line for an upgrade.
Le Bourget FBOs are investinguContinued from Page 42
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Thanks to rapid growth in the Indian economy, UAS Interna-tional Trip Support (Booth K073) has opened a new office in New Delhi to expand the com-pany’s services in the Indian
subcontinent. Last year, UAS opened offices in Hong Kong and Beijing, and these joined the network of UAS facili-ties, which include continen-tal headquarters in Houston,
Texas; Johannesburg and Dubai (Hong Kong is also a head-quarters facility). The company also operates regional offices in Lagos and Nairobi, as well as the new Beijing office, plus
ground-handling operations in 37 countries. The new India office is located at Indira Gan-dhi International Airport.
“It’s a great time for the Indian economy; the growing vitality of the entire subcontinent is clear,” said Mohammed Husary, UAS co-founder and executive presi-dent. “It’s also a rapidly growing business jet market. Naturally,
UAS will be there, on the ground, to meet the demand. This regional office guarantees greater, more customized services in the region and even better peace of mind for clients.”
The Delhi office is lead by Vinay Garg, UAS regional director, Indian subcontinent. The office handles domestic and international flights. “Clear communication and truly under-standing a client’s needs is the backbone of successful business aviation and something we excel at,” he said. “Whether you need to get to Mumbai or Islamabad on urgent business, the Maldives or Sri Lanka for a well-earned break or transit through Bangla-desh, we are here to provide the best service possible, as quickly as possible,” he said.
UAS plans to add more air-port supervisors and customized products in India.
Fuel PartnerIn other UAS news, the com-
pany and fuel distributor Epic Aviation have fully launched their new partnership under which Epic’s customers can pur-chase fuel at special rates from all worldwide locations supported by UAS. Customized UAS pric-ing is incorporated into Epic’s system and the rates are available at more than 3,000 FBOs and airports, according to Husary.
“This is an important step for this program and great news for Epic cardholders,” he said. o
46 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
EXECS MOVING UP AT BLACKHAWK
Blackhawk Modfications (Booth D023) has appointed Bob Kromer as its new senior vice president of business develop-ment and dealer relations. The Waco, Texas-based company also has promoted Edwin Black to the position of senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Kromer, a former flight test engineer with aircraft makers such as Piper and Mooney, has been in charge of sales for Blackhawk’s Pratt & Whitney PT6A engine upgrade program for turboprop aircraft such as Textron Aviation’s King Air and Caravan models. He will now focus on packaging the company’s wider engineering services and composite manu-facturing capabilities.
Most recently, Black had served as Blackhawk’s domes-tic sales vice president. His role is now expanded to oversee global marketing and sales. –C.A.
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48 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Training options widen, as Textron fields TRUby Rick Adams
Business aviation training has traditionally followed the path of OEM preference: when a company purchases a new air-craft from the manufacturer, the package often includes ini-tial training for the first couple of pilots and maintenance tech-nicians. If the training provider does an acceptable job, they may sign the client to a long-term training agreement, effectively shutting the competition out of recurrent training on that air-craft for multiple years.
FlightSafety International (Booth G073), which created the independent business aviation training market in 1951 and has remained the market leader, has been particularly adept at align-ing with aircraft manufacturers, building strong relationships with Gulfstream and Sikorsky, among others. FlightSafety is the exclusive authorized train-ing provider (ATP) for the new Gulfstream G500 and G600 air-craft, for example. Most recently, FlightSafety secured ATP status from Dassault Aviation for the new Falcon 8X ultra-long-range aircraft. It is also the ATP for Embraer’s Lineage and Legacy
executive jets, the Pilatus PC-24 jet, and for the new HondaJet (with the first simulator installed earlier this year in Greensboro, North Carolina).
CAE (Booth U073) has been naturally bonded with Mon-tréal, Québec-based neighbor Bombardier Aerospace in the bizjet sector, and has had some aircraft-specific ATP success with Dassault for the Falcon 7X and the new Falcon 5X, and Embraer with the Phenom.
But now a third simulator manufacturer is wedging into the market, and it’s owned by an OEM. TRU Simulation + Training (Booth V029) is a year-old unit of Textron, and TRU is becoming the apparent default for flight simulation train-ing devices for Textron-owned Beechcraft, Cessna, Hawker, and Bell Helicopter aircraft.
TRU President and CEO Jim Takats acknowledges that much of the alignment of business aircraft training relationships is “due to previous OEM relation-ships.” Nonetheless, he believes there are opportunities for TRU beyond the Textron family. “We are having discussions with other
OEMs on projects where the business case makes sense. We think there’s significant oppor-tunity for a third competitor to be successful in the market.”
TRU has announced that it will enter the European training center market early next year in Valencia, Spain, in a facility origi-nally built as a Bell service center. The first simulator will represent the Bell 429. A second yet-to-be-determined helicopter model is planned. Takats says TRU is also evaluating “business cases for business jets,” to determine which type of Cessna jet simulator to locate in the Spanish coastal city.
“We’re looking at locations in northern Europe and South America as well,” he added.
In the U.S. market, TRU last
summer acquired its customer, ProFlight. TRU will establish an East Coast training center in the Tampa, Florida area to join the current West Coast facility in Carlsbad, California. The ini-tial construction of three simu-lator bays is adjacent to “TRU South,” the internal nickname for what was originally Opini-cus Corporation, the company Takats founded and which he sold to Textron a year ago. The training center will feature a Cessna Citation CJ3 simulator and two additional sims for Tex-tron aircraft by the beginning of 2016. Architectural plans have been drawn to expand to as many as nine simulators in Tampa. The West Coast facil-ity will get a second simulator in early 2016. TRU is also produc-ing the level D simulator for the new Bell Relentless 525.
Independent training orga-nization Ifaero (Booth G074), located at Cannes Business Air-port, France is offering Cessna
Citation type-rating training using a flight training device delivered by Mechtronix, one of the companies that Textron acquired to form TRU.
FlightSafety Expands FleetTraining for the Dassault
Falcon 2000LXS with EASy II avionics is expected to begin in September at FlightSafe-ty’s Paris learning center at Le Bourget airport. FlightSafety will install one of the new Fal-con 8X level D sims in Paris; while the other will be located in Teterboro, New Jersey.
The first phase of an ambi-tious new FlightSafety-Abu Dhabi Aviation training facil-ity is scheduled to open in Sep-tember as well. The 8,000-sq-m (86,000-sq-ft) center will accom-modate eight full flight simula-tors initially and 17 eventually. Training services are anticipated for a variety of business aircraft, helicopters, commercial, and military aircraft.
CAE’s Montreal training center
Part of Textron’s TRU group, Ifaero trains in this Citation simulator in Cannes.
Above, FSI’s new HondaJet simulator and, right, its Airbus Helicopters sim.
FlightSafety International’s Sikorsky S92 full flight simulator
Training for Embraer Legacy 500 pilots commenced last fall at FlightSafety’s St. Louis, Mis-souri, U.S. facility, qualified to American, European, and Bra-zilian regulatory standards.
FlightSafety continues to be aggressive in deploying civil helicopter-simulators. It plans a 40-percent expansion of level D devices, including models for the Bell 407GX, Bell 412 EP-Fast Fin, Airbus Helicopter AS350 B3, EC130T2, EC145, Sikorsky S-76C+/C++, S-76D, and S-92. The new FS1000 simulators will feature night vision goggle (NVG)-capable CrewView displays with fields of view up to 300 degrees hor-izontally. FlightSafety spokes-person Steve Phillips said the
glass mirror design “enhances training for critical tasks such as prop feathering and land-ing gear deployment, brown-out training, search-and-rescue scans, and advanced mission rehearsal.”
CAE: Healthy MarketCAE business aircraft simu-
lator deployments have slowed the past couple of years, but an expansion announcement last fall promised more Bombardier, Gulfstream, Bell, and Sikorsky platforms “within the next 18 months,” or by early 2016. Pilots of Bombardier Global 5000 and 6000 aircraft started training earlier this year on the Global Vision cockpit at CAE’s joint-venture training center with Emirates in Dubai.
Bombardier’s aircraft train-ing center in Montréal (across the parking lot from CAE’s HQ and manufacturing facil-ity) will be outfitted with a new CAE-built Challenger 350 sim next month. In preparation for entry-into-service, Bombar-dier earlier reconfigured a level D device at its training center in Dallas, Texas, which is co-located with CAE’s flagship
bizjet training facility (originally known as SimuFlite).
Camille Mariamo, who leads CAE’s business aircraft, civil helicopter and mainte-nance training unit worldwide, said, “In general, the market is healthy. Some areas are bet-ter than others. The trend is starting to show on the right side. Business aviation training
continues to pick up.” Simu-lator utilization rates (includ-ing commercial airline sims) slumped in mid-2014, drop-ping from 72 percent in the April-June quarter to only 62 percent from July-September, but recovered to 68 percent in October-November-December.
One area of concern has been the market for helicopter pilot
training, particularly around the North Sea where falling oil prices aggravated an already diminishing production. CAE, FlightSafety and Thales have training centers in Scotland and Norway. “Some customers are being very cautious for the time being, but we haven’t seen any impact on training,” Mari-amo stated. o
www.ainonline.com • May 20, 2015 • EBACE Convention News 49
TRU’s Bell 525 simulator features “roll-on” adaptability for greater versatility.
This Vision flight deck from CAE simulates Bombardier’s Global 6000.
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PGA Avionics (Astron-ics group, Booth U131) is here exhibiting its upgraded mood
lighting system for bizliners and large-cabin business jets. Using the company’s Be-Bop’tic
optical fibers, it can be pro-grammed with scenarios such as wake-up, sunset, and others. The Châteauroux, France-based company claims to have found a way for an optical fiber to pro-vide homogeneous light from one end to the other.
Nicolas Duchéron, in-flight entertainment, connectivity and cabin management system (IFEC CMS) product manager, told AIN that with the upgraded system, the light’s coloring can be seen on a tablet or attendant touch-screen in another room. The flight attendant can thus control mood lighting while preserving passenger privacy. An iPad with PGA’s Smart Touch Cabin appli-cation can serve as the controller.
In addition, PGA is introduc-ing a new app here at EBACE, Smart Cabin Player. It provides access to all the content avail-able in the aircraft. The app con-trols video on-demand, HDMI sources, live streaming content–such as a moving map or exter-nal cameras–and games. It allows passengers to watch and listen to all types of media stored in PGA’s full-IP IFEC and CMS. Thanks to agreements with Hollywood Paramount Pictures and Univer-sal studios, PGA offers “DRM Early Content Approved AVOD.”
PGA’s engineers are working on the 4K standard (four times more pixels than full HD reso-lution) for the media center. “It will be available in September. We have prototypes,” Duchéron said. The difference with today’s HD standard can be seen with 55-inch and larger displays, he explained. PGA will be offering a 75-inch display next year, suit-able for bizliners the size of an A330 and up.
Other research and devel-opment work is taking place on Google glass, eye-tracking control and voice command. Duchéron added that, despite customer demand for Wi-Fi IFE equipment, a wired connection is preferred because it is more stable. PGA’s products use an ethernet network, which allows easy updates and upgrades.
PGA supplies equipment to various completions centers for between four and 10 bizliners per year. PGA is also provid-ing Dassault with push-buttons (such as audio controls etc.) for the Falcon 5X’s cabin. o
50 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
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Edwards assumes Mach-busting slotby Chad Trautvetter
Veteran business aviation leader Ernie Edwards joined Aerion Corp. (Booth S114) as senior vice president and chief commercial officer, the U.S.-based company announced
earlier this month. In his new position, Edwards is responsi-ble for all sales activity related to its Mach 1.5 AS2 supersonic business jet. He reports directly to CEO Doug Nichols.
In late 2013, Edwards retired as president of Embraer Execu-tive Jets, which he helped shape into a leading business aviation brand. Most recently, he served as non-executive chairman
of Veling Tayara, a Dubai-based business jet-leasing firm. Edwards also held senior man-agement positions with Cessna and Gulfstream and is the for-mer president of Swift Avia-tion Group, which introduced Embraer to the business air-craft market in 2002 by offering the Legacy 600, a variant of the EMB-135 regional jet.
Edwards told AIN that he started talking to Nichols and Aerion co-chairman Brian Bar-ents about the position earlier this year, adding that it “came to a head” when he recently met chair-man Robert Bass, the billionaire financing the company. “This is an opportunity to get into some-thing that will change the face of the industry’s future–to help the AS2 be the first-to-market supersonic business jet,” he said. “Aerion will simply revolutionize the way the world travels.”
According to Aerion, first flight of the three-engine AS2 is slated for the 2019 time frame, with entry into service expected in 2022. o
52 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
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Ernie Edwards sees his new role at Aerion as a fitting capper for his storied career.
EX-DISPATCHER MOVING UP AT ABS
To capitalize on growing charter demand in Europe, Prague-based ABS Jets (Booth P07) appointed Lenka Nahlovska supervisor of its air charter and brokerage depart-ment earlier this month. In her new leadership role, she will manage the charter and bro-kerage team, as well as handle market analysis and statistics, prepare for audits and report to corporate management.
Nahlovska recently re-joined the company after maternity leave. Before that, she was ABS Jets’ chief oper-ations dispatcher. “Her wealth of experience in flight-plan-ning operations will be ben-eficial when managing the activities of our sales team,” said ABS Jets CEO and board member Vladimir Petak.
After attaining a master’s degree in aviation from the University of Zilina in Slovakia, Nahlovska originally planned to be an air traffic control-ler at Prague International Airport. However, she instead accepted an offer to join ABS Jets, where she has been since 2004, when the company was founded. Besides her native languages Slovak and Czech, Nahlovska is fluent in English and has a working proficiency in German and French. –C.T.
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54 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
FSF accelerates advocacy push for Global Safety Informationby Mark Phelps
The Flight Safety Foundation is back at EBACE 2015 with updates on some of its most recent focused activities. Founded in 1947, FSF (Booth E095) is an independent, non-profit interna-tional organization focused on research, education, advocacy and publishing–all dedicated to improving avia-tion safety at all levels. This year, FSF’s senior director, business development and membership Susan Lausch will be here in Geneva pro-moting several top-of-mind programs and initiatives for EBACE visitors and participants.
At the head of the list is FSF’s Global Safety Information Project. A pet project of Peter Stein, chair-man of FSF’s business advi-sory committee, the project aims to leverage the bene-fits of expanded flight data monitoring (FDM). The principles of FDM center on collecting hundreds of parameters of flight data from flight data recorders, distilling the information and making it available to participating members for their own analysis. “We’re urging more business aircraft operators to contrib-ute data via FDM recorders and share their data for the greater good,” said Stein, who is passionate about the pro-grams potential to improve business avi-ation safety.
Data MonitiorngSo how can data monitoring help?
The collected information includes data on engine performance, navigation, air-speeds, bank angles, altitudes, climb-and-descent rates, cabin environment and much more. FDM can be useful for maintenance providers, as well. They can note trends in engine and systems anomalies, incidents of flap overspeeds (flaps being extended at excessive air-speeds), for example. Airlines were able to process information on incidence of unstable approaches, sometimes defined differently by each operator, but involv-ing excessive bank angles at low altitude, high sink rates close to the airport eleva-tion, for example.
Stein is quick to point out that the FDM project is not meant as a program to catch wayward cockpit crews in mis-takes. In fact, the data is meant to be “de-identified” early in the collection and collating process. “The idea is to look for trends,” said Stein, enabling operators to gauge their own data as compared with industry standard. Initially skeptical,
airline pilot unions no longer object to FDM principles, said Stein. And there are other tangible benefits.
For example, FDM data revealed an unusual number of unstable approaches
to the airport in Savannah, Georgia. Upon investiga-tion, officials found that a nearby military operating area topped at 4,000 feet, requiring a steep descent. After negotiation, air traf-fic control was able to lower the MOA crossing altitude to 3,000 feet, and the unstable-approach issue dissipated.
Stein and the FSF have a strong position on retain-ing protection for those who participate in the FDM pro-gram, and in fact, for those who participate in any of the safety reporting pro-grams around the world. The FSF’s Safety Information Protection initiative is aimed at defending the anonymity of the sources of safety infor-mation. Stein emphasizes the focus is not on provid-ing protection from certifica-tion action against offending pilots and other personnel (the so-called “get out of
jail” card), but rather, to protect the data from being used in civil litigation.
He cited the example of the Comair takeoff crash in Lexington, Kentucky in which the crew took off from the wrong runway at night, resulting in a fatal acci-dent. In the resulting civil law suits, plain-tiffs’ attorneys were successful in making public Comair’s accumulated voluntary safety reporting information.
“The Comair case had a chilling effect on the data-reporting network,” he said. Without state protection, he explained, the ability to motivate crews to self report is heavily compromised, and each inci-dence erodes the system that much further.
FSF counsel Ken Quinn sits on the ICAO task force producing documenta-tion on amending practices “to include stronger language on protecting safety data,” said Stein. Here at EBACE, one of Lausch’s missions is to educate and promote state protection of flight data monitoring information. o
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56 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
DGAC at odds with EASA on French HEMS crew regs by Thierry Dubois
Just across the border from Geneva, and throughout France, the helicopter EMS industry is confronted with a new requirement for a second crewmember and continues to search for a solution. The national civil aviation authority (the DGAC) is willing to be flexible, but the prospects of EASA granting exemptions are uncertain. Meanwhile, an innovative technical solution for safer flight paths is emerging, and some creative official des-ignating of helicopter mission definition is also in play.
The final deadline for the addition of a second crewmember was October 8 last year. For the two years before that France had opted out of compliance. A number of operators remain reluctant to add a so-called technical crewmember, noted Maxime Coffin, head of the DGAC’s general aviation and helicopter mission. Operators cited cost as the main imped-iment, and the road to compliance was made rockier, according to Coffin, by pilot unions, which advocated that the second crewmember be a pilot.
“Last summer, the situation was at a complete standstill. It was clearly impos-sible to comply with the rule in October
and we could not even request a post-ponement, as we could not suggest an alternative date,” Coffin said. The DGAC proceeded with a temporary exemption for five operators. EASA rules allow such an exemption for operational, urgent reasons, Coffin explained. He expressed relative confidence that EASA would approve it through December 31.
Justifying the temporary exemption, the DGAC claims operators would be put out of business if they had to hire more crewmembers now. It asserts the industry’s safety record and use of proven alternative means of compliance ensure an equivalent level of safety. For example, some operators have per-formed extensive reconnaissance flights to neighboring soccer playing fields and all the places from which they are likely to embark a patient. Others, Coffin said, enlist the help of firemen to iden-tify obstacles.
Asserting a National PrerogativeHowever, observers say these alter-
natives are unlikely to be accepted for a permanent exemption. The DGAC is therefore considering following the Swiss
example. Switzerland’s national author-ity, the OFAC, determined that flying a victim from the mountains to a hospital is part of search-and-rescue (a Swiss state prerogative); as a result, Swiss operators can use single-engine helicopters in some cases where European rules call for twins.
Although the European Commission might reject such a tactic, France could declare that HEMS flights are a state pre-rogative and thus eliminate the require-ment for the second crewmember. Coffin deems this approach–albeit radical–the most likely to succeed. “The Commission has not challenged Switzerland’s stance,” he noted.
The association that represents physi-cians who use EMS helicopters (AFHSH) recently floated an idea: use medical per-sonnel with proper training as the second crewmembers. The DGAC confirmed this would abide by EASA rules, and some operators endorsed the approach. But the AFHSH fell short of persuading all operators, and a pilot union cried foul.
A major counter-argument against those who criticize the new rule is NHV’s successful operation. The Belgium-based company has been operating for years in France (at several hospitals in the north of the country), with a second HEMS crewmember. A source familiar with var-ious operator structures told AIN that NHV invested heavily in crew train-ing and hiring. The goal was to be able to operate in different European coun-tries, including those that enforce the
second-crewmember rule. The source acknowledged that NHV is perhaps a more diversified company, with deeper pockets than most French operators. NHV declined to comment.
Could French operators learn lessons from other countries? Airbus Helicopters marketing v-p Régis Magnac reminded that business models vary from country to country. For example, a U.S. operator will receive different payments for pick-ing up a victim, depending on whether and how the patient is insured (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.). In the UK, charity orga-nizations fund a large part of HEMS operations. In fact, 14 percent of the heli-copters are operated by charities holding their own air operator certificate.
Airbus Helicopters has compiled its own global statistics about EMS heli-copter equipment per million inhab-itants. Although France is one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, it–like most Western European countries–falls only in the “medium” category, defined as between 0.5 and 2.9 helicop-ters per million inhabitants. In France, HEMS pilots fly much less per year than pilots in other countries.
Nicolas Letellier, AFHSH president, complained about red tape in general. A hospital helipad is under threat of clo-sure, he said, because a streetlamp pole is impinging on the published glideslope. “Yet everybody can see EMS helicop-ters flying every day at 150 feet above the obstacle,” he objected. Meanwhile, those patients who live far from well-equipped medical centers too often are driven there (as opposed to flown) because the French administration is impeding the develop-ment of HEMS, he added.
Finding Safer Flight PathsInaer France, one of the country’s
major HEMS operators, is involved in the P4F (path for flight) project, aiming to develop a tablet app for safer, up-to-date flight paths. The idea is to down-load real-time information from various sources, providing the pilot with an optimized route. Specialist CGX Aero is leading the effort, which is finan-cially supported by investment fund BPI France and local authorities.
The app will merge data from servers specializing in terrain, obstacles, aero-nautical information (airspace, notams, etc.) and weather. The software program will suggest the fastest route from A to B, under safe conditions, Loïc Giroud, the head of the project, told AIN. The pilot may use the app on the ground to plan the mission. When flying back to the base, updated information may enable a diversion to pick up a patient not on the original plan. At the least, the hospital will be quickly aware that for some rea-son the helicopter can’t do the job.
For communications, P4F will use a combination of Wi-Fi, cellphone net-works and satellite.
CGX Aero is planning full-scale flight-tests next year after gradual trials. Participants see P4F as a proof of con-cept and have no plan for developing a product yet, Giroud said. o
The requirement for a second crewmember aboard an EMS helicopter could prove so costly it would put operators out of business, say opponents of the rule.
Is it an EMS flight, or a search-and-rescue mission? French medevac operators may follow the Swiss tactic, classifying patient transfer as S&R to work around EASA rules requiring two crewmembers on EMS flights. The DGAC seems to be on their side.
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Alpha picks Jet Aviation for two Airbus completionsby Kerry Lynch
Alpha Star Aviation Services has selected Jet Aviation Basel to complete an ACJ A319 and ACJ A330, the two companies announced here at EBACE yesterday before they held a signing ceremony. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. The aircraft will be handed over to Jet Aviation’s Basel completion center in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Jet Aviation (Booth A050) has completed the design work on both models and expects the A319 will take about 10 months to complete, while the A330 will take about a year. Both aircraft will be fitted with VIP interiors.
Based in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, Alpha Star (Booth B073) provides management, charter, ground handling, avi-ation consulting, engineering, medevac and support services. The company holds both Part 125 and 135 certification from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation.
Jet Aviation Basel has com-pleted a number of Airbus ACJ models, including the 319, 320, 330 and 340, along with Boeing 737, 757 and 747 aircraft. The completions and maintenance facility, which employs more than 1,600 people, has its own in-house design, engineering, cabinetry, upholstery, sheet metal, compos-ite and paint shops. o
58 EBACE Convention News • May 20, 2015 • www.ainonline.com
Bell, AAS sign for Jet Ranger XsOn the opening day of
EBACE, Bell Helicopter inked a deal with Atlas Air Service of Germany for two Model 505X Jet Rangers. Von Mende said AAS is well known for its Cessna Citation sales and support and became an authorized Bell sales and ser-vice representative last year. “We found that at least half of our Citation owner-pilot customers also operated helicopters,” said
AAS CEO Nicolas von Mende. The two Jet Rangers, when deliv-ered, will serve as sales demon-strators. Von Mende sees personal use as the primary market, with training operations also showing sales potential. “Our customers are used to reliability, and so a tur-bine is very important,” he added.
Bell Helicopter v-p of global sales and marketing Patrick Moulay said there are some 80
Bell helicopters in Germany, almost all of them Model 206 JetRangers and 206L LongRangers. “We have sold more than 330 new Jet Rangers in the past year,” Moulay said. We’ve had an outstanding response, and we owe it to the brand. Everyone wants to buy the new Jet Ranger.” Fifty-six Jet Rangers have been sold in Europe, Moulay said. –M.P.
HAECO GETS STCs FOR SATCOM INSTALLATIONS ON BBJ
Haeco Private Jet Solutions (Booth B059) recently obtained three supplemental type certificates (STCs) for cabin modifications on a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). The approvals, from both U.S. and Hong Kong authorities, cover work to install and integrate an Emteq eConnect system with a Honeywell satcom package.
The Chinese company is located in Xiamen and has developed expertise in aircraft outfitting, and cabin com-pletion and reconfiguration. It has finished the installation work on the BBJ.
“Haeco Private Jet Solutions is now able to provide communication solutions to customers quickly and cost effectively,” said commercial vice president Henry Chan. The company has an engineering design subsidiary in San Antonio, Texas. –C.A.
GDC LAUNCHES AFRICAN BRANCH
Mohammad Alzeer, center, gen-eral partner, GDC Technics, announced here the formula-tion of GDC Technics Africa, to be based in Morocco. Shabbir Pirmohamed, right, credited with "turning around" GDC Technics, USA in Fort Worth, Texas, will take over as CEO the new division. He hands the reins of the U.S. loca-tion to Kevin Casey, left, who becomes CEO; leading the U.S. business into a new 850,000-sq-ft facility in Fort Worth, Texas.�
GREENPOINT’S SPECIAL GUEST
Bret Neely, v-p of sales for Greenpoint Technologies (left) hosts His Excellence Sheikh Abdullah Mushabab Al Shehri of Saudi Arabia (second from left). Greenpoint is outfitting a Boeing BBJ for Sheikh Abdullah based on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, as represented in the model on display at the Greenpoint booth.
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Attending the signing ceremony were, l to r, from Bell, Sebastien Moulin, regional manager for Europe; and Patrick Moulay, v-p global sales and marketing. From Atlas Air Service: Nicolas von Mende, CEO; Hans Doll, sales director; and Hans Obermeier, managing director.
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Alpha Star Aviation CEO Salem Abaid Al Muzaini, left, joins Jet Aviation president Robert Smith to celebrate a completions deal for a pair of VIP Airbus jets.
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