EBACE Convention News 05-22-14

Safety International Completions Finance Air Traffic Control

EBAA Safety AwardsThree companies earned Platinum Awards for safety from the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA). Qualifications include 50 years or 100,000 flight hours without an accident. In addition, gold, silver and bronze awards were handed out. Page 2

ABACE Show ReportChina represents an enormous market for business aviation, with almost unlimited potential. But limited infrastructure, strict government control of airspace plus high taxes and duties on parts and services need to be addressed. Page 6

Andrew Winch’s Dream CompleteLondon-based Andrew Winch Designs has been announced as the interior completions company for the first VIP version of Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliner. The aircraft has been sold to an undisclosed customer. Page 14

Concern Over Russian TensionsWith Russia representing a strong market for business jets over the past few years, new political tension is causing concern among aircraft lenders. Still, finance companies such as CIT intend to stay the course. Page 17

Saving the SESThe Single European Sky ATM Research is the “pillar” of the Single European Sky initiative. Last month, the European Parliament extended the program. Without Sesar, the future of modernized air traffic management is uncertain. Page 26

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The curtain is drawing down, following a banner EBACE 2014by David Donald

EBACE draws to a close this evening at the end of a successful show that has already seen new products launched, partnerships announced and aircraft ordered, with a full day of business still to go. Joint hosts EBAA and NBAA were pleased to see the show grow since the 2013 edition with nearly 500

exhibitors participating–an increase of 8 per-cent. Booth spaces sold for the show totaled 2,276 sq m (24,500 sq ft), up 4 percent from 2013. The contiguous nature of the revised hall layout has drawn approval from exhibi-tors and show visitors alike.

springtime in genevaWarming sunshine, trees in bloom and business jets on display. It has to be Geneva at EBACE time. See us next year, May 19-21.

rising tide With signs like these, hopes for a continued recovery burn deep within the hearts of business aviation fans.

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2 EBACE Convention News • May 22, 2014 • www.ainonline.com

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GE’s turboprops set for four more first flightsby Thierry Dubois

Engine manufacturer GE Aviation (Booth 5551) on Mon-day gave an update on its class H series turboprops, which are powering four aircraft for their first flights this year.

In Zhuhai, China, the Caiga TP150 single is expected to fly in the coming days with a H85, according to Jim Stoker, GE’s president and managing executive, business and gen-eral aviation turboprops. Later this year, Nextant is expected to fly its King Air G90XT, a remanufactured King Air with H75 engines. Recent first flights include the Technoavia

Rysachok utility light twin, with two H80s in March, and the Airtec L410 upgrade, with two H85s, in May.

A total of 125 H-series engines have been pro-duced and nine certifications received for as many appli-cations. Ramp-up plans call for 90 engines to be manu-factured this year and 110 in 2015, said Brad Mottier, v-p and general manager, business and general aviation and inte-grated systems. The H-series were designed and are man-ufactured in GE’s factory in Prague, Czech Republic.

Asked about key differ-ences between the H Series and Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6 family, Mottier gave an exam-ple related to the combustor. The H Series has no fuel noz-zle. Rather, it features fuel ports that rotate with the shaft, thus making for a very uniform fuel distribution, he explained.

Product improvements are

on the way, such as additive lay-er-manufactured (3D-printed) parts. Integration tests are un-der way and the hoped-for out-come is weight reduction. In ad-dition, electronic control should optimize propeller speed and pitch. Mottier also mentioned a reduced-RPM propeller gear-box, for lower noise and better cruise efficiency. o

fellowship on the flightline

Walking among the 55 air-craft on the EBACE static display has many benefits. Besides the opportunity to examine the newest and most exciting hardware up close, there is also the opportunity to reacquaint with old friends and col-leagues, or even strike up fresh relationships.�

eBAA sAfety of flight AwArd

Winners of the annual European Business Avi-ation Association (EBAA) Safety of Flight Awards were announced here at EBACE 2014. GlobeAir won the Bronze Award for 20 years or 40,000 hours of accident-free operation. London Execu-tive Aviation took the Silver Award for its 30 years or 60,000 accident-free flight hours of operation (see profile, page 18), and the Gold Award went to Flying Service for 40 years, or 80,000 hours without an accident.

Three companies took Platinum Awards, representing at least 50 years or 100,000 unblem-ished hours of flight: PrivatAir, Tyrolean Jet Services and VistaJet. “Simply put, when it comes to flight safety, these companies are the lead-ers,” said Brian Humphries, EBAA president , who presented the honors at this year’s EBACE show.

GE’s H75 will power Nextant’s G90XT, a remanufactured Beech King Air 90.

EBAA president Brian Humphries presents Platinum Award for safety to Julie Biringer, safety analyst for PrivatAir.

NetJets is celebrating its golden heritageby R. Randall Padfield

Fractional-share provider NetJets (Booth 6656) is celebrat-ing the 50th anniversary of the founding of Executive Jet Air-ways, a U.S. charter and manage-ment company that is NetJets’s corporate ancestor. The first cele-bration took place at an EBACE 2014 event yesterday, held with Bombardier at the static display.

Executive Jet Airways was founded on May 21, 1964, by a group of retired World War II U.S. Air Force generals led by Brigadier General O. F. “Dick” Lassiter. Early board members of Executive Jet Airways included Retired General Curtis LeMay, a four-star general and vice chief of staff of the Air Force and for-mer head of the Strategic Air Command; retired General Paul

Tibbets, who piloted the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first nuclear weapon used in war on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945; famed movie actor Jimmy Stew-art; radio and TV personality Arthur Godfrey; and business leader M.J. Rathbone, retired board chairman of Standard Oil.

The Executive Jet Airways name was later changed to Exec-utive Jet Aviation (EJA). Rich-ard Santulli, now chairman and CEO of Milestone Aviation Group, acquired EJA in 1984 and launched the fractional aircraft-ownership business in 1986. Berkshire Hathaway pur-chased EJA in 1998 and changed its name to NetJets in 2002. David Sokol became chairman and CEO of NetJets in 2009,

followed by current chairman and CEO Jordan Hansell.

“NetJets is the iconic brand in private aviation and is responsi-ble for many firsts in private avi-ation,” Hansell said. “Very few companies in any industry reach the golden anniversary milestone, and through the years NetJets has flourished since it was incor-porated in 1964 as a result of the hard work, dedication and com-mitment of its employees world-wide. We are very proud of our past, but we are focused on our future as we commemorate this special occasion.”

Other 50th anniversary cel-ebrations were planned at Net-Jets’s main headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday and at the company’s offices in Lon-don today and in Lisbon, Por-tugal, on Friday, according to Marine Eugene-Beveridge, head of sales at NetJets Europe.

Ironically, this coming week-end’s calendar is jam-packed with four major events and one holiday that together make the

weekend one of the busiest for NetJets Europe, Eugene-Bev-eridge told AIN. These are the Grand Prix in Monaco starting on Thursday, the UEFA Cham-pions League Finals in Lisbon starting on Saturday, the Cannes Film Festival closing on Sunday,

the French Open in Paris starting on Sunday and a bank holiday in England on Monday.

NetJets reports having more than 700 aircraft in its fleet world-wide, some 6,000 employees around the world and operations in the U.S., Europe and China. o

www.ainonline.com • May 22, 2014 • EBACE Convention News 3

NetJets Europe CEO Mark Wilson, left, joins Bombardier Business Aircraft v-p of strategic partnerships Frank Ercolanese marking a landmark date in NetJets’ history.

Pro Line 21 upgrades gain EASA nodby Thierry Dubois

Rockwell Collins (Booth 6129) has announced the EASA certification of its Pro Line 4 to Pro Line 21 avionics retrofit for the Dassault Falcon 2000 and Falcon 2000EX. In addition, an upgrade for FANS 1/A will be available in 2015 for the afore-mentioned two aircraft and the Falcon 50EX.

The Pro Line 21 retrofit fea-tures four 10- by 8-inch LCD panels and WAAS/EGNOS ca-pability as well as support for electronic charts and graphi-cal weather. The upgrade is also available for the Falcon 50EX. “The benefits include enhanced situational awareness and re-quired display real estate for operating in rapidly moderniz-ing airspace,” said Craig Olson, Rockwell Collins vice president and general manager for busi-ness and regional systems.

The retrofit has been offered in the U.S. for years and Rockwell Collins is now expect-ing European sales to take off. The first installation is due this summer at a Ruag maintenance facility in Germany.

One incentive for custom-ers to accomplish the upgrade may be increasing mainte-nance expenses for older cath-ode-ray tube displays. “We do repair CRTs but we’ll ser-vice them only as long as we can get parts,” said Adam

Evanschwartz, director of mar-keting for business and regional flightdeck systems.

EBACE 2014 is the first avi-ation tradeshow to see the combined offerings of Rockwell Collins’s commercial systems and information management servic-es (formerly Arinc) businesses in

one exhibit. The acquisition of Arinc provides corporate flight departments with tools that in-tegrate regional and internation-al trip support, fuel sourcing and the company’s Flight Opera-tions Systems scheduling and dis- patch software, according to Rockwell Collins. o

Attendees view the latest Rockwell Collins avionics.

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The avanTi advanTage

Piaggio’s unique Avanti II pusher turboprop twin is a performance standout, with jet-like speeds and fuel-sipping efficiency. The latest updated model, the EVO, will improve even further on its advantages.

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Outside in the static park 55 aircraft are on display, and the footprint of the static ramp has also been maintained. Exhibitors have once more realized the value that the show can bring in display-ing their products directly to potential owners and operators.

OEMs Steal The ShowNew aircraft often dominate the head-

lines when it comes to business aviation shows but, with few orders announced, this was even truer this week as manufac-turers chose EBACE to launch their new projects. The sales exception was Pilatus, which took the EBACE show by storm. On Tuesday the Swiss company opened the orderbook for its PC-24 business jet, having unveiled the project here in Geneva a year ago, and by the end of the first day’s trading the Swiss manufacturer had notched a staggering 75 sales as the com-pany prepares for the official roll-out cer-emony at Stans on August 1. Nine more sales were announced yesterday to raise the total to 84, and production slots are all taken through 2019.

Dassault Aviation led the fanfare on the show’s media day by unveiling its top-of-the-range Falcon 8X, a length-ened and longer-ranged derivative of its Falcon 7X, as well as showing off a cabin of the eagerly awaited super-mid-size Falcon 5X.

On the cabin front, however, the ultra-long-range Global 7000 fuselage mockup that Bombardier unveiled on its stand out-gunned the 8X in terms of sheer length. The company claims it to be the largest business jet mockup ever made, with a length of 111 feet. Bombar-dier says the Global 7000 will enter ser-vice in 2016.

At the same time Gulfstream tried to edge ahead of its Canadian rivals again in the ultra-long-range marketplace, lift-ing the lid on the G650ER, an extended-range version of the company’s flagship G650 that will be available from early next year. With a range capability of 7,500 nm the G650ER becomes the longest-legged business aircraft in the world.

Another new type revealed this week was the Piaggio Aero Avanti EVO, a major reworking of the distinctive Avanti design with significant performance, comfort and safety advances. Piaggio has already sold three of the new model. Meanwhile, Aerion announced its super-sonic bizjet would now be a trijet.

In the static park the major debutante is Embraer’s Lineage 1000E, making its first appearance at EBACE. Also in the Brazilian OEM’s lineup was one of the Legacy 500 experimental aircraft, taking a break from its testing duties to show off the type’s cabin interior for the first time ahead of certification due for mid-year. Nextant’s 400XTi has also been attracting interest, while the company has also been briefing interested parties on its forthcoming G90XT.

Textron is something of a new name in the business aviation world, but it now has the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker busi-nesses under one wing. The company used its EBACE display to underline the wide range of products it now has in its stable. Another Textron company is Bell, which is showing off its new 505 JetRanger X at EBACE for the first time in mockup form. The light helicopter is due to make its first flight later this year. o

Gulfstream airs its views during G550 flight over Alps by R. Randall Padfield

Gulfstream Aerospace has already signed purchase agreements for two or three G650ERs, Larry Flynn, president of the U.S. manufacturer (Booth 5129), told a small group of reporters during a breakfast flight in a Gulfstream G550 over the Alps yesterday morning. The company had announced the extended-range upgrade of the ultra-range, top-of-the-line G650 on Monday at EBACE 2014 in Geneva.

“We’ve just scratched the surface of the G650 customer base,” Flynn said, explaining that Gulf-stream did not tell its cus-tomers about the upgrade before the EBACE an-nouncement. He added that the Savannah, Geor-gia-based OEM also signed an agreement for a G450 with an Africa-based customer on Tuesday.

Asked about Aerion’s announcement at EBACE concerning its redesigned supersonic business jet, which now has three engines (see the Tuesday edition of EBACE Convention News), Flynn said, “I think everyone knows we’ve had an interest in super-sonic and we have a small R&D project that’s been underway for several years. The project is mostly focused on sup-pressing the sonic boom. Our intentions would be to fly a supersonic airplane over land. We want to have that capabil-ity, because we think that airplane will be more valuable and flexible.”

Flynn said Gulfstream had met with Aerion, but decided not to participate in the project because, “We’ve got enough

on our plate internally,” he said. “So we just wouldn’t be able to do them justice.” However, he does think there’s a market for a supersonic business jet, even one priced north of $100 million.

“Oh, there’s a market for it,” Flynn said. “I think it is a larger market, if the airplane can be flown over land. We’re convinced that speed is important. Wit-ness the G650, where we’ve been focused

on speed and range and have been very successful. All of our customers are flying at nine-oh [Mach 0.90].” He added that the two recent test flights to prove the G650ER were both flown at Mach 0.86 and above. “The airplane wants to fly fast,” he said. “And when we landed from those flights, we had more fuel than we needed, so obviously it has longer legs than what we advertised.”

General Dynamics owns the G550 (N855G) that flew the breakfast flight

and uses it for corporate travel. Based at Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., N855G flew nine Gulfstream people to EBACE and is flying them back to Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah, Georgia, today, and then back to Dulles.

The General Dynamics flight crew in-cluded pilots Mark Leahy and Steve Co-pley and flight attendant Maura Jor-dan. Scott Neal, Gulfstream senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing, and Steve Cass, vice presi-dent of communications, were also on the breakfast flight. o

The G550’s large oval windows provided unmatched views of the Alps.

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Larry Flynn, president of Gulfstream Aerospace

Banner EBACE 2014uContinued from page 1

New Dubai-baseD busiNess Jet LeasiNg Firm LauNchesCelebrating Veling Tayara’s launch are (l to r) director Nirvan Veerasamy, chairman Ernie Edwards (former Embraer Executive Jets president) and managing director Colin Steven. Veling Tayara, a new business jet leasing firm was launched yesterday at EBACE 2014. The Dubai-based company is a subsidiary of airliner lessor Veling, which counts Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines among its clients. Veling Tayara (the latter word meaning “aircraft” in Ara-bic) is focusing on five-year leases for young (three years old or newer) pre-owned and new midsize to large-cabin jets. It is targeting clients in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and former Soviet bloc, though it will also provide leases in other regions. “Our niche is the rich and super-rich that don’t want to go through the intensive financial screening that banks make them go through to obtain aircraft financing,” Edwards told AIN. He added that Veling Tayara has immediate financing available and can also provide structured leasing arrange-ments–a relatively new concept in the business jet market. –C.T.

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China continues to be Asian show’s main focus by Charles Alcock

China, as Asia’s largest pro-spective market for business avi-ation, has always seemed an obvious choice as the location for the Asian Business Avia-tion Conference & Exhibition (ABACE). But with demand for business aviation now bubbling up in other parts of Asia, and the industry having to show patience in waiting for China to fulfill its potential, some have questioned whether organizer NBAA might consider freshening up the event in some other venue. NBAA answered that question conclu-sively by doubling the length of the contract it has with city offi-cials in Shanghai to keep ABACE there at least through 2021.

According to NBAA and show co-organizer the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA), ABACE 2014 at-tracted a record-breaking 187 exhibitors and 38 static-display aircraft, with 78 of the exhib-iting firms hailing from Asia (almost double the 38 compa-nies at the 2012 show, the event NBAA established as the base-line). Visitor numbers exceeded the 7,714 people who attended the 2013 show.

Highlighting the strong growth of business aviation in China, Wang Zhiqing, deputy administrator of the Civil Avi-ation Administration of China (CAAC), said that as of the end of last year, China had 189 general aviation companies, a 41-percent gain over the previ-ous year’s figure, while the fleet had grown by 23.4 percent, to 1,654 aircraft, with general avi-ation flight time increasing 10 percent, to 569,000 hours.

However, after the past three years of rapid growth for gen-eral aviation, “momentum is slowing,” Wang said, and he vowed the CAAC will work to keep the industry expanding swiftly. “The essence of busi-ness aviation is fast and effi-cient transportation. It is not a luxury,” he said.

Japan More FriendlyMasaaki Kai, senior dep-

uty director general of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau, pointed to changes his government is

taking to make Japan more friendly toward business avia-tion. These measures include easing rules for Part 135 char-ter flights, and improvements for business aviation at Nar-ita Haneda, Central Japan and Kansai International Airports, as well as the airports at Kobe and Nagoya. “I have to admit the scale of business aviation in Japan is still small,” Kai said,

but he emphasized the coun-try sees support for business aviation “as part of a national growth strategy.”

The largest deal announced at this year’s ABACE came when China’s Minsheng Fi- nancial Leasing confirmed significant new business jet orders placed with both Gulf-stream and Bombardier in the fourth quarter of last year. The Gulfstream order for 60

business jets (40 firm and 20 options) spans the U.S. man-ufacturer’s product line from the super-midsize G280 to the ultra-long-range G550 and G650. The deal, which was agreed to during the fourth quarter of 2013 and announced at the show in Shanghai, is new business over and above the aircraft covered by an earlier memorandum of understanding signed back in 2011. The latest order was won through a competitive bidding

process and spans several years, with deliveries expected to begin next year and set to include a mix of G280s, G450s, G550s and G650s. During the show, China’s Mandarin Air took the first G280 to be delivered in China.

Minsheng’s order with Bom-bardier saw it sign for 10 super-midsize Challenger 350s worth approximately $259 million. The first aircraft, an upgrade of the Challenger 300 with greater wingspan and more range, is expected to enter service in the second half of the year.

Aerochine Aviation, an inde-pendent representative of Bell Helicopter for China, Hong Kong and Macau, signed a pur-chase agreement for five more Bell 505s. Shortly afterward, Aerochine signed another agree-ment to buy two more Bell 407s.

According to Diana Chou, managing director of Aero-chine, one customer has already signed for three of the new 505s, which will be used in sightsee-ing/tourism operations. Deliv-eries of these 505s should take place near the end of 2016, she said. The two 407s have been purchased by Yalong Gen-eral Aviation of Hainan Island. One of these helicopters will be delivered in June and the second early next year.

The Japan National Police Agency has ordered another AgustaWestland AW139 me-dium twin, scheduled to en-ter service next year for opera-tions in Kagoshima Prefecture. AgustaWestland and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace announced the sale at the ABACE show, noting that the new AW139

will replace an aging Bell 412 in the police fleet.

New DealsMeanwhile, AgustaWestland

and Sino-U.S. Intercontinental of China celebrated the grand opening of a joint regional busi-ness headquarters in Shang-hai on April 9. Last September Sino-U.S. Intercontinental was appointed an official nonex-clusive distributor for civil AgustaWestland helicopters in China, but not including Hong Kong and Macau.

Nextant Aerospace announ-ced that it has selected Avic In-ternational Aero-Development as its exclusive sales representa-tive for Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Ma-cau). This follows Nextant’s ap-pointment of Nextant Pacific as the Asia-Pacific dealer (not in-cluding Greater China) for its re-manufactured 400XTi twinjets. The company is currently de-veloping the G90XT, a modi-fied King Air 90 twin turboprop with new GE H75 engines and Garmin G1000 avionics.

Nextant Aerospace (Static Display) expects to receive Chi-nese certification for the 400XTi this year, and the first aircraft in the country will go to Avic Inter-national Aero-Development, part of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic) manufacturing group.

Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Service Cen-tre received CAAC and FAA approval for maintenance of 800-series Hawkers, the com-pany announced. It also has been designated an authorized


Speakers at the 2014 ABACE show, clockwise from top, Ed Bolen, president of NBAA, co-organizer of the ABACE event; Wang Zhiqing, CAAC deputy administrator; and Masaaki Kai, senior deputy director general of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau, addressed the role of business aviation can play in the economic growth of the Asian nations.

Enticing the nearly 8,000 visitors to ABACE 2014, exhibitors lined up 38 aircraft on the static display for inspection and photo ops.

Gulfstream’s G280 was on the static display at ABACE 2014, where Mandarin Air took delivery of the first of the type in China.

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Rotorcraft, such as this trio–two from AgustaWestland and one from MD Helicopters–also drew keen interest from attendees wanting to put them into service for offshore duty and use in mountainous terrain.

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service facility for Cessna Cita-tions by the newly formed Tex-tron Aviation, which owns Hawker and Beechcraft as well.

ExecuJet Aviation is set to open a new maintenance, repair and overhaul center just out-side Beijing this month through

its local joint venture, ExecuJet Haite Aviation Services. The Switzerland-based group has offices in Beijing and in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, and is currently constructing an FBO in Bali.

Piaggio Aero announced the appointment of Freesky Avia-tion as its first authorized ser-vice center in Mainland China.

Freesky, which is based at Tian-jin International Airport and also offers aircraft charter and management services, intro-duced the first Avanti II twin tur-boprop to China in 2012.

Honeywell Aerospace an-nounced that Bombardier’s new service center in Singapore will offer retrofits, maintenance and upgrades for Honeywell

products on the Canadian air-framer’s business jets. The agreement covers systems such as the Primus Elite 850 cockpit display, flight management sys-tem service bulletin upgrades, satellite communications sys-tems and the Ovation Select cabin management system.

Modular InteriorWith the aim of easing the

buying process for its customers, Airbus introduced a new model of its ACJ319 Corporate Jet at ABACE. Called the ACJ319 Ele-gance, the new derivative relieves customers of some of the nearly endless design decisions by offer-ing a new modular cabin that still allows them to choose from an array of lounge, office, dining and conference configurations.

“The ACJ319 Elegance has a fixed front and back: you get a bedroom and a bathroom at the back and at the front you’ve got a galley, two bathrooms and a crew rest,” explained David Velupillai, the company’s mar-keting director. “Then you, as the customer, choose what you put in the middle.”

Comlux has won a contract to conduct major maintenance and refurbishment work on a Boeing Business Jet based in Asia. The aircraft, operated on behalf of its private owner by Hong Kong-based management company Sino Jet, is due to arrive at the Comlux America completions center in Indianap-olis in the second quarter and will spend four months there.

Jet Aviation Management announced that it is adding two Gulfstream G450s and a new Gulfstream G550 to its managed fleet in Asia, bringing to 30 the number of aircraft it operates in the region.

The G550 and one of the G450s will be based in Hong Kong and maintained by the company’s maintenance facil-ity, a Gulfstream authorized warranty service center. Deliv-ery of the aircraft is expected by the end of next month. o


Airbus introduced its ACJ319 Elegance, which offers a modular cabin that allows customers to choose from an array of interior configurations, including lounge, office, dining and conference area.

ABACE ReportuContinued from page 6

O U R S I G H T SA R E S E TH I G H E R

B U S I N E S S A I R C R A F T . B O M B A R D I E R . C O M

Bombardier, Learjet, Challenger and Global are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. © 2014 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

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NetJets Europe to get Signature Challengersby R. Randall Padfield

Fractional-share provider NetJets Europe (Booth 6656) expects to receive its first new Bombardier Challenger 350, built to the specifications of NetJets’s Signature Series, in mid-2015. NetJets U.S. will begin taking deliveries of the model this summer. Additional aircraft on order are planned for delivery over the next few years.

The Challenger 350 will com-fortably seat nine passengers, said Marine Eugene-Beveridge, head of sales at NetJets Europe, here at EBACE 2014. “It is ideal for our European customers with its reach not only across the continent, but with easy access

from London to even farther-afield destinations, such as Tel Aviv and Lagos.” The 38,850-pound mtow super-midsize jet will have a range of 3,065 nm and more than seven hours of flight time. Its maximum speed is Mach 0.82 and maximum operating altitude 45,000 feet.

NetJets worked closely with Bombardier to build the Sig-nature Series to its custom-ers’ specifications for the cabin interior and technical and per-formance characteristics. The aircraft features larger windows, an HD wireless entertainment system, upgraded avionics, a wider wingspan and improved engine and efficiency features.

Shares of the Challenger 350 Signature Series have been available for pre-sale in the U.S. market for the last year, and nine whole airplanes have al ready been sold. “We have accelerated our delivery sched-ule with Bombardier after sell-ing through our initial allot-ment sooner than expected,” said Eugene-Beveridge. “With this uptake in the U.S., we are enthusiastic with the opening of the Challenger 350 for pre-sale to our European customers.”

The Signature Series Chal-lenger 350 is part of NetJets’ plan to add up to 670 new air-craft with a total value of $17.6 billion over 10 years. In addi-tion to the Challenger 350, Global 6000 and Embraer Phenom, the company will be adding the Bombardier Global 7000 and 8000 and Cessna Cita-tion Latitude.

Founded in 1996, NetJets

Europe, the marketing agent of NetJets Transportes Aéreos (an EU air carrier), claims to be the only pan-European busi-ness aviation company with its own fleet. NTA was the first

business jet operator to be awarded the IATA Operational Safety Audit certificate. NetJets Europe employs more than 1,300 people and operates more than 130 aircraft. o


Bombardier’s Signature Series Challenger 350s, similar to the model 300 shown above here at EBACE, will feature a premium interior configuration seating nine passengers. For NetJets Europe, the 350’s range of better than 3,000 nm is a perfect fit.

Marine Eugene-Beveridge is head of sales for NetJets Europe.

French Riviera airports ‘sister’ with U.S.’s MMUby James Wynbrandt

Aeroports de la Côte D’Azur (Booth 5234), which represents Nice, Cannes and Saint-Tropez, announced at EBACE 2014 the establishment of a sister airport relationship with Morristown Airport (KMMU) near New York City, as well as the launch of the French Riviera’s business aviation brand.

The sister airport alliance aims to provide unique prod-ucts and services to busi-ness aviation travelers flying between the French Riviera’s airports and Morristown. “One of the biggest busi-ness aviation traffic flows is between our airports and the New York area,” said Aero-ports director Michel Tohane. “As a starting position the idea is to facilitate the administra-tive details for customers, and

we are going to start building our partnership around those ideas. And also to learn from each other about environmen-tal issues and integration into the community.”

Maria Sheridan, Morris-town Airport’s senior direc-tor of government affairs and business development, said that customs service is expedited at the airport and that because of ground traf-fic, it can be faster to get to New York City from Morris-town than the more proximate Teterboro Airport.

Branding and logos high-lighting the new relationship will begin appearing online and in print marketing materi-als developed by the airports. Going forward, the sister air-ports may organize special

offerings, such as holiday trips to New York City. Tohane said the sisterhood could expand to include other popular busi-ness aviation airports around the world.

The Aeroports business avi-ation brand initiative aims to raise the quality of service at its airports. The organization has established a training pro-gram for its airports’ employ-ees with five-star hotels in the region, including the Hotel Adagio Monaco Palais Jose-phine, in an effort to improve the level of service delivered to customers. The airport staffs are likely to be tested on that issue in the next few days, with the Cannes Film Festival and Monaco’s Grand Prix both taking place. “We’re expecting 650 general aviation aircraft for the two events,” Tohane said. “We only have 150 park-ing places.” ohigh style from airbus and hermes

Airbus Helicopters is showing the latest iteration of the Hermes design house EC135. It features unique-shape skids and more variety in choices of leather and exterior paint, as well as updated Garmin avionics.

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piaggio aero (AIN).indd 1 13/05/2014 17:47


standing room only

The ramp space allowed for display aircraft here at EBACE appears jammed to the limits. This year’s show was characterized by cautious optimism, fueled by hope for a recovering economy. We're still a long way from euphoria, but the signs point to better times ahead for most business segments.�

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Prime Jet latest to join AirClub’s jet allianceby David Donald

U.S. charter, sales and man-agement company Prime Jet is the newest member of Air-Club, a corporate jet alliance launched in October 2012 to bring together a number of like-minded business aviation com-panies. Sharing the principles of offering the highest qual-ity services with the highest lev-els of safety, AirClub members also operate a pooled charter service to maximize utilization across their combined fleet, and they have introduced an inno-vative and system. Prime Jet (Booth 5134) joins a group that includes ACM Air Charter, Air Alsie, Air Hamburg, Flying-group, GlobeAir, London Exec-utive Aviation, Masterjet and PrivatAir, operating more than 170 aircraft.

Prime Jet is AirClub’s first U.S. member, which offers new opportunities for other mem-bers. “We needed a presence in the U.S., and Prime Jet is a per-fect choice,” said PrivatAir’s Christian Hatje, who is also Air-Club president. “Now I have friends in the U.S. who can look after my guests.”

Founded in 2002, Prime Jet currently has 11 Gulfstreams in its worldwide fleet, with six available for charter, ranging from a GIII to a G550. “Our company seems like a natural fit with AirClub,” noted Prime Jet CEO Cheryl Janke. She also

underlined the value of having like-minded companies in many parts of the globe. “The alliance can help bring resolution to problems that might be encoun-tered on worldwide trips.”

Joint ProcurementIn the meantime, AirClub’s

members continue to explore mutually beneficial avenues, such as joint procurement and joint training. The alliance is hoping to add new members and may be able to announce two more later this year. New mem-bers are expected from North and South America, Asia and Africa. The ultimate aim is to have about 50 operators around the world, operating a combined fleet of about 1,000 aircraft.

As well as welcoming Prime Jet, AirClub has announced new strategic alliances with companies in two complemen-tary sectors: luxury hotel group Kempinski Hotels and super-yacht charter management company Ocean Independence. In both cases AirClub has entered into a mutual preferred partner program that provides AirClub members with pref-erential rates, while Kempin-ski and Ocean Independence will promote AirClub’s services to their guests and clients. The three entities have identified several areas for joint promo-tion and activities. o

Le Castellet Airport co-brands with Universalby Thierry Dubois

Le Castellet Airport (Booth 4242A) and Universal Avia-tion (Booth 6534) announced at EBACE on Tuesday that the air-port’s existing FBO will be co-branded with the two company names. The airport, situated between Marseille and Toulon in France, will remain the owner of the business aviation terminal, which will be operated under Uni-versal standards for aircraft han-dling, safety management and customer service. Apart from the branding, no physical change is

planned at the FBO, as “it is beau-tiful at the moment,” Jonathan Howells, Universal’s international senior vice president, told AIN.

Airport manager François André explained that the airport will keep employing the FBO’s staff, while Universal will train them. The uniform will feature both brands. “We are consider-ing a new logo, which makes it clear we are in the French Riv-iera,” André added.

Le Castellet is not as famous as Nice or Cannes airports but its

promoters claim it is more conve-nient if the final destination is a sea resort like Saint-Tropez. The connecting helicopter ride lasts 35 minutes from either Nice or Le Castellet, according to André, but the helicopter can park right next to a jet at the latter airport, while passengers need a transfer by car at Nice airport. He also cited lower landing and parking fees, as well as the absence of any noise constraint at any time.

Le Castellet Airport is slated to have two approved GPS-aided approaches in the coming weeks. “These will be more direct,” André emphasized. The region’s clement weather does not war-rant investing in ILS equipment.

Le Castellet is the 12th location in Europe for Universal Aviation’s ground support activity. oUnilink on CUsp of fans approval for giv

Universal Avionics (Booth 6555) announced that Clay Lacy Aviation is primed to offer an STC for installation of the UniLink UL-801 Communica-tions Management Unit (CMU) to provide Future Air Navigation System (FANS) 1/A+ capabilities for the Gulfstream GIV and GIV-SP.

Installation in the initial certification aircraft began in January, with STC approval expected by the third quarter this year. An amendment to the STC for the GV will immediately follow initial certification, along with appli-cation for EASA certification.

The FANS installation includes the Universal Avionics UniLink UL-801 CMU, UNS-1Espw FMS and CVR-120R Cockpit Voice Recorder for FANS data link message recording. The installation also includes Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) and Automatic Dependent Surveil-lance-Contract (ADS-C) functionality. In addition, the UniLink UL-800/801 CMU is provisioned for Eurocontrol’s Link 2000+ and ADS-B out .

“The cost of non-compliance to long range business jets is significant, affecting routing, flight time and fuel burn,” said Robert Clare, Universal Avionics director of sales. “Operators may experience challenges flying within the North Atlantic Track System if the aircraft is not equipped for FANS capabilities, such as being routed to lower altitudes, causing a con-siderable increase in fuel burn.”

STCs for FANS installations on 20 platforms have now been issued or are in progress, according to Universal, including Boeings, Challengers, Falcons and Gulfstreams. –J.W.

vistaJet tries oUt rotary wings

Charter operator VistaJet, known for large-cabin Bombardier jets, has been testing short-distance ser-vice with an AgustaWestland AW109 GrandNew over the past year. The helicopter is based in St. Moritz and has been used to fly customers to such places as Milan, Geneva, Munich and Monte Carlo, as well as for heli-skiing excursions in the Swiss Alps.

“Since we don’t have light jets here at VistaJet, we wanted an aircraft that could cover shorter trips,” VistaJet founder and chairman Thomas Flohr told AIN.

Over the past year, VistaJet’s AW109 has logged about 150 hours, with the average passenger trip being about 40 minutes. Flohr said he is considering adding more helicopters, noting London and Mos-cow as possible bases. Here at EBACE, Flohr (left) and AgustaWestland head of region for Western Europe, Turkey and Italy Luca Tonini celebrated the one-year anniversary of VistaJet’s helicopter service. –C.T.

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Andrew Winch will design first Dreamliner VIP interiorby James Wynbrandt

Steve Taylor, president of Boeing Business Jets (BBJ), announced here at EBACE 2014 the company has sold its first VIP 787-9 Dreamliner, and the undisclosed customer has cho-sen London’s Andrew Winch Designs (AWD) and EH Aviation Advisors to handle the completion. Taylor noted that AWD has handled interior design for several BBJs. “This is going to be spectacular,” he said as he showed renderings of an interior scheme from AWD at the BBJ press conference. (Renderings of the client’s selected

interior were not displayed as per AWD’s confidentiality policies.)

Founded in 1988, AWD is noted for its yacht designs but established an aviation department 12 years ago in response to a client’s request to design the interior of his new BBJ2, Winch told AIN.

AWD’s Jim Dixon will head the 787-9 design team. EH Aviation Advisors of Basel, Switzerland, will be responsible for design integration, ensuring the interior plans are “buildable, reliable and main-tainable,” Taylor said.

Selection of the completion center is “still in development,” Winch said. No timetable has been set for delivery of the completion, but given the trust cli-ents place in him and his drive for per-fection, it could be several years. A VIP A340 the firm designed took four years to complete. As for the cost of such an interior, “All I can say is, it’s signifi-cant,” Winch said. “Each of our proj-ects is designed to our client’s specific tastes and lifestyles, individually tai-lored, as if a bespoke Saville Row suit.”

The 787 project had its gene-sis “years ago,” according to Winch, soon after Boeing announced the 787 Dreamliner. “As a company of dreamers, you can’t do better than the Dreamliner,” he said. o


Boeing Business Jets president Steve Taylor is understandably excited at the prospect of Andrew Winch Designs performing the first VIP interior completion on a 787-9 Dreamliner platform.

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Fly Comlux adds an ACJ318, another gem in its Airbus crownby David Donald

Fly Comlux has added an Airbus ACJ318 to its managed fleet. The aircraft was previously managed by another opera-tor but is now part of the Comlux stable in the Middle East. It is operated purely for its owner and will not be available for charter.

Comlux (Booth 5152) was the launch operator of the ACJ318 seven years ago, but has recently been without the short-cabin version of the ACJ until this new arrival. When Fly Comlux takes deliv-ery of an ACJ321 that is currently still in completion, it will be the only operator in the world to fly all of the single-aisle Airbus corporate jets, with single exam-ples of the ACJ318, 320 and 321 and three of the ACJ319 on its books. One of the latter is also undergoing completion, and all are in VVIP configuration. Fly Comlux has established itself as a major

ACJ operator, and one of only a few to have CAT IIIB landing and 180-minute ETOPS clearance.

In 2016 one of the ACJ319s will enter a retrofit program to install Airbus’s Shar-klet upturned wingtips, Comlux becom-ing the first customer for this upgrade for an ACJ319. Saudi Arabia’s Alpha Star Aviation Services is the first customer for an ACJ320 Sharklet retrofit, which will also be undertaken in 2016. Shark-lets reduce fuel consumption by about 4 percent, as well as enhance the aircraft’s ramp appeal, and have been delivered on new-build ACJs since last October.

This week Airbus announced an order for an ACJ320 from a Saudi Arabian owner, with the aircraft to be operated by Aviation Link, which already manages two ACJ319s and an ACJ320. o

Fly Comlux has the management contract for yet another Airbus ACJ, however it will not be available for charter.

le repas, c’est moi

Universal Weather and Aviation chefs Neil Pope, left, of London Stansted Airport and Herve Bourdon of Paris Le Bourget are offering their best creations on the company stand (6534).

Winch Gets Into Leather

Also here at the show, Andrew Winch and Foglizzo Leather (Booth 5123) of Torino, Italy introduced the Andrew Winch Collection of leathers, which the two companies developed in partnership. “We have worked with [AWD] on yacht projects, and airplane projects, so we thought, why don’t we do something more together?” said Marco Foglizzo. The collection fea-tures a variety of leather colors and grains, and they are available to archi-tectural firms and designers for use in their projects. –J.W.

Jets to expand Biggin Falcon maintenance activity

MRO specialist Jets is to further expand into Dassault Falcon maintenance at its London Biggin Hill airport base. The facility, which 328 Group acquired at the end of 2012, is an authorized service center for Falcon 2000s and Falcon 900s. “In the next 12 months we hope to further expand our remit with Dassault,” said manag-ing director Alan Barnes. Separately, at the same site, Jets (Booth 5546) has recently appointed more engineers dedicated to the Bombardier Challenger 300.

Operations at the company’s main base at Bournemouth remain focused on heavy base maintenance for the Hawker and Challenger aircraft. The two sites employ 30 and 35 personnel, respectively. Last month, Jets also set up a mobile rapid response team for AOG services.

The company is at EBACE 2014 marking 10 years of operation as it enters a period of strong, stable growth, Barnes predicted. –T.D.

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Jersey aircraft registry gets some expert helpby Ian Sheppard

Having enjoyed spectacular success with the launch of the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry in 2007, Brian Johnson moved to Appleby (Booth 4439) to help the legal services company and offshore specialist advise Jer-sey, in the Channel Islands near France, launch its own regis-try. Ironically, Johnson was recently thrown back into his old role as his replacement in the Isle of Man, Hartley Elder, took early retirement. But wear-ing two hats–acting director of civil aviation in the Isle of Man and as director of operations at Appleby–has not created a con-flict between the old and the new registries, Johnson told AIN.

One issue with the Jersey Aircraft Registry is that nearby Guernsey already launched its registry last December, nam-ing it the Channel Islands Air-craft Registry (2-REG). Here at EBACE this week it announced that it had registered its first air-craft, 2-TRAV, a Gulfstream GIV operated by ExecuJet Avi-ation Group.

Johnson said he has been brought in through Appleby “to teach them how to set up the aircraft registry modeled on the Isle of Man–with the same ideas with some improvements [which the Isle of Man has imple-mented since launch].” The ZJ-prefix has been reserved for

Jersey and although there is no go date as yet–as approval has to be given by the UK’s Privy Council that overseas British crown dependencies such as Jer-sey and Guernsey–Johnson said there has been a lot of interest, “so we are aiming for the third quarter of 2014.”

Johnson would like it if Jer-sey could replicate the success of the Isle of Man (which reg-istered 51 aircraft in its first year). He sees it not so much as a competition as giving cus-tomers a wider choice in the market, as some prefer the M-register. In fact he said that the Isle of Man, where Appleby also has an office, can handle setting up special purpose com-panies that can benefit from the Isle of Man’s VAT and cus-toms status with the UK, even

if the owner prefers the aircraft to be on the Jersey or another register. All of the three regis-tries (Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey) are limited to pri-vate aircraft, as commercial air transport aircraft are handled by the UK CAA’s G-register.

Meanwhile the Isle of Man’s success continues. On May 15 Johnson told AIN, “So far this month we have had 15 registra-tions in 15 days” at the Isle of Man registry, taking the total now to 434 on the seven-year old register. (It has registered 688 in total but some aircraft leave or are on the registry tem-porarily while being imported/exported to/from Europe, and it is permitted to register airlin-ers temporarily while awaiting new homes after repossessions, for example.) o


Tatiana Ojjeh, above left, owner of Artliner, and Patricia Low of the Patricia Low Contemporary Art Gallery, have joined forces to present a stunning collection of art at the TAG Aviation booth (5559) at EBACE. Ojjeh’s next project is to open the old experimental wind tunnels at TAG Farnborough Airport for creative audio and visual experiences. At lower right she is standing inside a tunnel.

Artliner back at EBACE, adding a touch of class

Tatiana Ojjeh’s company Art-liner is back at EBACE again adding a now customary touch of art to the show at the TAG Avi-ation chalet here (Booth 5559). The hotly-anticipated theme this year is “Between Here and the Surface of the Moon” featuring a collaboration between Artliner and Patricia Low Contemporary (which has galleries in Gstaad and St. Moritz). The exhibition is named after a work by Darren Almond and includes paintings, sculpture and photographs by 14 established international and up-and-coming artists, and points to “physical travel and adventure.”

Artliner’s next aviation proj-ect will be bigger and more ambitious than ever, open-ing the old, capacious aircraft research wind tunnels at TAG

Farnborough Airport for cre-ative audio and visual experi-ences in June and July this year (the opening is on Saturday June 7 and it will run until the last day of the Farnborough show).

“The project…will include a series of events, including music and performance,” said Ojjeh. “We are hugely appreciative of our superb sponsors, namely; Breitlng, Bombardier and Har-bert Management…all our spon-sors and supporters, including TAG Group…have really bought into the project, which is now set to expose the significance of the wind tunnels in a unique way.”

AIN enjoyed a preview of the wind tunnels last month, with the vast return duct show-ing incredible acoustics akin to a cathedral. –I.S.

Brian Johnson, left, helped develop aircraft registration procedures for Chris Kelleher, strategy policy manager for the economic development department, States of Jersey.

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parisian group boosts bizav

Hubstart Paris Region (Booth 5525), an alliance of organizations with the goal of promoting economic devel-opment of the Greater Roissy area encompassing the Paris-Le Bourget and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airports, is promoting the advantages of Le Bourget, in particular, as “Europe’s lead-ing business-aviation hub.” The group is also emphasizing two lesser-known Paris airports, namely Pontoise-Cormeilles-en-Vexin and Melun-Villaroche, which it considers “key sites in Europe for business growth and economic development.”� n

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Lenders show concern over Russian tensionsby Curt Epstein

Russia has been a growing market for business jets, but the recent Cold War-like ten-sions between the country and the U.S. have clearly raised con-cerns among aircraft financiers over the status of their clients’ aircraft. “Certainly I think the big news is the geopolitical stresses that we see with respect to the Ukrainian space as well as Russia,” said Michael Kah-mann, managing director and group head of CIT Business Aircraft Finance.

Here at the EBACE show, CIT (Booth 6143) announced that it has provided financing for a 2013 Embraer Lineage 1000 for a Kazakhstan-based energy resource management company. “We are pleased to

complete this transaction, which represents our first ultra-large-cabin business aircraft financ-ing in Kazakhstan,” Kahmann told AIN.

While the company declined to identify how many private aircraft it has financed in Russia and the CIS, CIT has had a great deal of experience operating in the area and like many lenders it has developed a suite of pru-dent measures above the typi-cal know-your-customer pro - cedures. “The transactions that we’ve done in those regions all have as a common denomina-tor an independent third-party manager that we vet very care-fully,” Kahmann said, noting that other safeguards in place include independent pilots and independently monitored main-tenance. “One of the reasons is [that] they are mobile assets, they can be flown anywhere and so you do have to watch them very carefully.”

Despite the current polit-ical concerns, CIT expects to remain engaged in the area. “We continue to look in a cau-tious but measured way in terms of being able to provide financ-ing to those regions,” said Kah-mann. “Cautious in the sense that we’re not immune or igno-rant of the realities of the polit-ical situation, but also measured in a sense that a lot of peo-ple in those regions have multi-national business ventures.” o


MIchael Kahmann, managing director, CIT Business Aircraft Finance.

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best of showrooms

No, you just can’t walk into a local Falcon dealer and kick a few tires, smell the leather and try one on for size. But at EBACE, the showroom comes to you. Full-size mockups, such as this one in the background for the upcoming Falcon 5X, and an eager team of experts are there to answer any and all questions. So, what are you waiting for?

Aircell offers programs for SwiftBroadband service

Inflight connectivity pro-vider Aircell (Booth 5223) unveiled at EBACE 2014 new SwiftBroadband airtime pro-grams for business aviation. Aircell has long been a distributor for Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband service and also manufactures SwiftBroadband transceivers.

Business aircraft operators can now choose from a variety of SwiftBroadband data and voice plans offered by Aircell with accompanying services.

Pay-as-you-go monthly data plans are available. These come with single monthly invoices for all Aircell SwiftBroadband, Iridium and Gogo Biz airtime

services. Data compression is included at no additional charge. Heavy data users are offered spe-cial annual plans.

A feature of the Gogo ser-vice is Aircell’s new Gogo Text & Talk subscription ser-vice, which allows passengers to call and text with their own smartphones and mobile num-bers. For those customers that activate a new SwiftBroadband service plan prior to Dec. 31, 2014, Aircell is offering one month of free data service.

Aircell also announced the appointment of Shuaib Sha-hid as its new manager for ser-vices sales. –T.D.

Bell caters to Europeans with expanded servicesby Rick Adams

Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter is riding the success of the upcoming Bell 505 Jet Ranger X and the two-year-old Bell 429 to increase sales activity in Europe. According to Patrick Moulay, managing director for Europe and Russia, sales activity was up 37 percent in 2013 versus 2012 after “more than dou-bling” the year before.

“We are investing in Europe,”

Moulay told AIN, including a new customizing hub in Prague so EU customers can pick up their EASA-certified aircraft closer to home instead of trav-eling to the U.S. or Canada.

Although Bell would not pro-vide specific total sales numbers, Moulay said sales of the new five-seat “short light single” 505, with Bell’s first-ever Turbomeca engine and dual-channel Fadec, is nearing 200 orders, of which

“a very large part have been signed by European custom-ers.” In Belgium, Bell has logged nine 505 sales. Most customers are private operators and flight training schools.

Moulay said the Bell 505, announced last year at the Paris Air Show and in mockup form at the Bell booth, is on track for first flight by the end of the year.

Some potential customers of the Bell 429 in Europe and the U.S. are frustrated that EASA and the FAA will not provide an exemption to oper-ate the aircraft under Part 29 certification. The 429 is certi-fied at the Part 27/7,000-pound (3,175 kg) takeoff weight, but it is also capable–in the opin-ion of Bell and some regula-tors–of flying safely at 7,500 pounds. To date, Transport Canada and 17 other national aviation authorities around the world have exempted the Bell 429 to Part 29.

“We have an aircraft which is capable of flying much beyond 7,000 pounds,” Moulay told AIN. The extra weight would “enable customers to use the full capability of the aircraft,” as well as create an extra safety margin by allowing the carriage of additional fuel,” he said. o

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Italy’s Mecaer Aviation Group has created a customizable VVIP interior configuration for the Bell 429, including a Silens noise abatement system and I-Feel touch-screen entertainment management.

UK’s LEA joins up with Luxembourg’s Luxaviationby Ian Sheppard

London Executive Aviation (LEA) has become the latest European busi-ness aircraft operator to join a group after predictions in recent years that consolidation would be necessary for survival in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The company has signed a deal with Luxaviation, of Luxembourg, “cementing Luxaviation’s position as one of Europe’s largest business aviation groups,” according to LEA. The deal was completed on 7 May having been signed on 7 April.

LEA joins Unijet of France and Belgium’s Abelag in becoming part of Luxaviation group, which also has an operation in Germany (from its acqui-sition of FairJets) and a commercial office in Singapore, which it hopes it will be a springboard to expansion in Asia Pacific.

Bringing LEA’s fleet of 27 aircraft under the Luxaviation umbrella cre-ates a combined fleet of 90 aircraft from King Airs to Globals, Patrick Margetson-Rushmore told AIN dur-ing a flying visit to LEA’s headquarters at Stapleford Airport, northeast of Lon-don, the week before EBACE. He added that Luxaviation has bought a significant stake in LEA but that he and George Galanopoulous, two of LEA’s co-found-ers, would continue in their current posi-tions running the company, with the LEA name being retained. New brand-ing is being developed to reflect the new ownership structure.

Patrick Hansen, CEO of Luxaviation Group, commented at EBACE: “The integration of London Executive Avi-ation…represents a further important

step in our international growth strategy and superbly complements Luxaviation’s market-leading operations in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.”

LEA said in a statement that the com-pany would “retain its identity, lead-ership and operational independence while benefiting from valuable synergies within the group. These benefits include economies of scale in the purchasing of fuel, insurance, training and other significant cost areas; increased air-craft availability and utilization within the group, with a broader range of air-craft types; and collaboration with other group companies to enhance best prac-tice in all operational areas.”

Margetson-Rushmore was keen to highlight that LEA had “not been bought out” but that the company had for a while been “interested to be part of a larger group to get the benefits.” He and Galanopoulos were clearly excited at the prospect that LEA could now get long-range aircraft itself, such as Globals and Gulfstreams, by learn-ing from the likes of Abelag. At pres-ent the largest aircraft LEA operates is a Dassault Falcon 2000, and it also has

Beechcraft King Airs, Cessna Citation Mustangs, Embraer Legacys and Bom-bardier Challenger 300s.

LEA is a significant boost for the Luxaviation group; not only does it add the UK’s largest business aircraft opera-tor to the group, it also brings a charter team that provides around 250 quotes a day. “We probably do as many quotes as the rest of the group put together,” said Galanopoulos. “We have a very char-terable fleet.” All but one of LEA’s fleet is available for charter, and it manages the aircraft for their owners, rather than owning them itself. The combined group will have 450 employees, including the 115 from LEA.

Margetson-Rushmore, who like Gala-nopoulos is an experienced pilot and is focused more on developing LEA, said that the company has “probably had 10 or 12 approaches in recent years, but you can’t put a square peg in a round hole.” Only when Luxaviation approached it in January did LEA finally find a part-ner that operated and thought the same “flexible” way as it did.

Galanopoulos concluded by saying the deal would “benefit everybody.” o

following the red carpet to recovery

If there is one message that comes through consistently here at EBACE, it’s that the rebound for business aviation in Europe is underway. It may not be moving at near the pace we'd like to see, but the signs point to progress. A strong showing among exhibitors and visitors here in Geneva is fur-ther evidence that blue skies and fair winds are on the way.�

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Consolidation is Key

Patrick Hansen, CEO of Lux Aviation, who like LEA’s Patrick Margetson-Rushmore has a background in “venture capital and M&A,” said the company had started with one jet five years ago, “but it was clear immedi-ately that we wouldn’t make any money.” So the company analysed the business avi-ation market in Europe, where most oper-ators had very few aircraft (250 with one aircraft and another 100 with fewer than four). It became clear from this that consol-idation was the only way to profitability. “So we started consolidation in 2011 when we took control of FairJets and then Abelag and Unijet and now LEA.”

He confirmed that Lux Aviation had taken a 70 percent stake in LEA with the founders retaining the other 30 percent. Lux Aviation now has more than 90 aircraft under five AOCs, including one in Singapore with an Embraer Legacy and a Challenger 604. “And we’re working on the next three.”

Hansen told AIN yesterday here at EBACE that Asia had been the compa-ny’s focus for some time but it kept find-ing opportunities to acquire companies in Europe that had a similar mindset, although very few pass the test of being “cash flow positive,” he said.

Hansen believes that the market in Europe will “most likely consolidate more and more” and fears for small operators that don’t take part, because they won’t be able to keep their cost base low enough to compete or handle the increasing amount of legislation and regulation that operators must cope with.

One condition of the acquisition of LEA is that the company will acquire new aircraft. “They have to build their fleet,” said Hansen–and that is LEA’s ambition anyway. By hav-ing a broader range of types Hansen believes Lux Aviation is now more attractive to air-craft owners wishing to have their aircraft managed and offered for charter. In addition, charter customers get lots of benefits–and this includes support in AOG situations (LEA is now the largest operator of Embraer Laga-cys, for example, with 11). –I.S.

George Galanopoulos, left, and Patrick Margetson-Rushmore started London Executive Aviation in 1996. Here they are pictured at the company’s Stapleford base near London, where they opened a new executive lounge.


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Innovative VIP interior for AW169 on displayby James Wynbrandt

Italian helicopter manufac-turer AgustaWestland (Booth 6629) is showcasing an inno-vative VIP interior concept for its in-development AW169 at EBACE 2014, replete with art-ist renderings, color samples and a scaled-down mockup. The four-passenger interior concept features earth tones and swiveling seats with trans-lucent shells. It was created by design firm Lanzavecchia + Wai for the “Flydeas for the City” contest sponsored by AgustaWestland and the contemporary design maga-zine Interni.

“The interior gives the peo-ple inhabiting the aircraft the

right to adjust it depending on their needs,” said designer Fran-cesa Lanzavecchia. “Everyone has their own chair to live in with a table, light and recharg-ing socket. It’s private, but it becomes public the moment you decide to [position the seats] in conference seating.”

Lanzavecchia + Wai is pri-marily a furniture design com-pany with no experience in aircraft interiors. “For us it’s amazing to be able to work with such a big and technical piece of equipment,” Lanza-vecchia said. “The concept was about transmitting in a calm and relaxed way the fast speed [of the helicopter]. Speed is the

keyword of AgustaWestland.”The leather sidewalls fea-

ture endless rows of long pock-ets for storing iPads or other personal belongings, or for tucking photos to display dur-ing flight.

“This meets our custom-ization requirements–we want to have a personalized air-craft,” said an AgustaWestland spokesman. “The aircraft must be the customer’s, not some-thing standardized.”

No timetable for comple-tion of the interior design has been set, he said. The AW169 is scheduled for certification in 2015. o


MedAire managing director Peter Tuggey, left, and product marketing manager Mandy Eddington demonstrate the company’s latest kits and its Trip Ready mobile app.

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for those who prefer to do it themselves

Flying your own modern personal light aircraft is like driving a fine luxury sedan through the sky. Modern com-puter avionics, custom leather interiors and heat/air conditioning climate control make piston airplanes like this Cirrus unlike anything that came before. And there’s the added security of a ballistic whole-airplane parachute.

MedAire’s review board develops new series of kitsby David Donald

Airborne medical special-ist MedAire (Booth 6543) has released a new series of improved airborne medical kits that were developed by the company’s med-ical products review board. The latest kits draw on the experience from more than 100,000 inflight medical events. The new range was created with ease-of-access and ease-of-use as key features for both crew and passengers.

At the upper end of the range is the Advanced Aviation Med-ical Kit, which includes con-tents that can stabilize patients in critical situations and begin the inflight treatment of common ail-ments. It includes antibiotics so that treatment of bacterial condi-tions can be initiated rapidly and a digital blood-pressure monitor. Updated Aircraft First Aid Kits include medications for motion sickness and oral rehydration salts and a wrist blood-pressure

monitor. The Aircraft First Aid Kit Rx includes a bronchodilator and anti-nausea drugs.

As well as meeting or exceed-ing regulations, the MedAire kits are integrated with the company’s travel risk management solutions, including MedLink. This a 24/7 global emergency response cen-ter for inflight medical assistance. The company also provides med-ical training for flight crew.

MedAire has devised the Trip Ready app that provides a wide range of useful informa-tion about destinations around the world. Users with MedAire membership can also receive timely information about dis-ease outbreaks, civil unrest or natural disasters that may affect their safety, giving them a tool to aid decision-making. The Trip Ready app was initially compat-ible with the iPad, but has now been extended to the iPhone. o

new vip ContraCts for airbus Corporate Jet Centre

Airbus Corporate Jet Centre has added new contracts in 2014 for its cabin and airframe services for Airbus Corporate Jet aircraft. Two Asian customers have appointed ACJC as their continuous airworthiness management organization (CAMO) for the outfitting phase of their ACJs, while an eastern European government operator of two ACJ319s has extended its VIP Pass contract for another year. The VIP Pass was introduced in 2009 as a total support pack-age covering CAMO services, maintenance checks and component support.

Three customers have chosen ACJC for A-checks and six-year checks so far in 2014, and the company has signed a five-year maintenance support services agreement with one of the Middle East’s largest ACJ operators. Other work this year has included several entry-into-service support contracts and also the first Sharklet winglet retrofits, applied to an ACJ319 and an ACJ320.

ACJC (Booth 6613) has also landed a contract to outfit an ACJ319 for an Asian cus-tomer, following on from two cabin completion projects from Asia that were landed late last year. The most recent contract covers a cabin fit in an atypical configuration, and this also includes CAMO support. –D.D.

Falcon 7X clocks speed recordA Dassault Falcon 7X earlier this

month set a speed record from New York Teterboro airport to London City (LCY) airport, cruising at Mach 0.88 for most of the 3,465-nm trip.

At 8:04 a.m. local time on May 2, Dassault test pilot Philippe Deleume and Dassault operational pilot Olivier Fro-ment took off with three passengers on board. The aircraft was fully equipped for normal operation. Five hours and 54 minutes later, at 6:58 p.m. local time, the trijet touched down on the 4,000-foot run-way at LCY. The data has been sent to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale

in Lausanne, Switzerland for recognition as an official world record.

From LCY, the Falcon 7X provides the longest range of any business jet, accord-ing to Dassault, to serve destinations such as New York or Dubai, for exam-ple. Flying from LCY’s short runway, it is limited in weight and thus in fuel. There-fore, on the outbound flight, it reached Teterboro in 7 hours 35 min, flying at its optimum long-range speed of Mach 0.80.

The Falcon 7X’s maximum range is 5,950 nm but, over shorter distances, it can cruise at speeds up to its maximum operating limit of Mach 0.90. –T.D.

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BBA plans overhaul shop for Middle East clientsby David Donald

BBA Aviation’s aftermar-ket services division is shortly to open a purpose-built major over-haul facility to service the Middle East region through its subsid-iary H+S Aviation. The facility will perform engine repair and overhaul (ERO) tasks for a range of turbines, and is scheduled to be operational by the end of the year (location to be selected).

H+S Aviation is headquar-tered at the former Portsmouth airport in the UK and collabo-rates closely with BBA Aviation sister company Dallas Airmo-tive. Between them, they oper-ate 12 regional turbine centers and have four major overhaul facilities, with the Middle East location to become the fifth. In addition, more than 100

field service representatives are located at the world’s busiest business aviation airports.

“In today’s evolving environ-ment, more and more engine ser-vice is done in the field and there has been rapid growth of aircraft flying outside of North Amer-ica,” said Mark Taylor, manag-ing director of H+S Aviation. “We are responding by expand-ing our global support network to be closer to the customer.”

H+S and Dallas work on engines from several OEMs, cov-ering more than 80 percent of the engines that are in use on general aviation turbine aircraft and heli-copters. H+S Aviation has a long history of working on Pratt & Whitney Canada products and is an authorized distributor and des-ignated overhaul facility for the JT15D and PT6T. Dallas Airmo-tive also provides similar services for the PT6A and PW500, while General Electric and Honeywell turbines are also supported.

Through its Team 250 H+S Aviation operates Europe’s largest authorized maintenance, repair and overhaul center (AMROC) for the Rolls-Royce M250 turbine, which powers numerous helicop-ters. In February the company signed an AMROC agreement covering the Rolls-Royce RR300.

Another of BBA Aviation’s subsidiaries is Ontic, which focuses solely on providing OEM-quality manufacturing support of legacy systems and components. Recently Ontic has concluded deals with Curtiss-Wright and Safran and has also taken over support of the Rolls-Royce Dart engine.

BBA Aviation is exhibiting at EBACE at Booth 4246. o


news clips

z DC Aviation Passes IOSA AuditExecutive charter operator DC Aviation (Booth 4859)

has again passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) with a very positive assessment, the Stuttgart, Germany-based company announced this week. In February, five auditors reviewed more than 1,000 standards and processes at DC Aviation. The areas covered aviation law and regulations, technology and safety and quality management and flight operations. Many new questions had to be answered as part of the audit, according to DC Aviation.

The IATA operational safety audit was originally devised for airlines but in 2007 DC Aviation decided to undergo the process, as a way to raise its safety standards. According to the company, only a few business jet operators subject their operations to the IOSA audit.

z ABS Jets Marks 10th Anniversary At EBACEPrague-based ABS Jets (Booth 2538), a full service

charter and management company, is celebrating its tenth anniversary at EBACE 2014. The company started with two jets and 20 employees and today has a dozen aircraft and more than 200 employees. Over the years the company has also added flight planning and ground handling, aircraft sales and consulting and maintenance to its portfolio.

“People are a key competitive differentiator that has led to ABS Jets’ success,” said Vladimir Petak, CEO and member of the company’s board of directors. “Committed people deliver value to customers and drive customer loyalty; customers bring growth to the business, and growth offers opportunities to a company.”

z Jet Aviation, AJT Team for AOG ServiceJet Aviation Basel is now cooperating with AJW Aviation

to develop a component support and AOG service for Airbus and Boeing business aircraft operators on a global basis. The team is a natural marriage of two key players in their fields and will result in quicker and more reliable spares support to owners and operators. Jet Aviation brings to the table a global 24/7 network of AOG teams, and the Basel facility is an authorized service center for both Airbus ACJ and Boeing BBJ aircraft. AJW Aviation operates spares stocks for Airbus and Boeing types at several locations around the world and supports nearly 500 aircraft.

z Esterline’s New EFB and AIS On DisplayEsterline CMC Electronics (Booth 3339) is showcasing

at EBACE 2014 its new PilotView information management solution, designed for integrated cockpit connectivity via an Aircraft Information Server (AIS). Making its EBACE debut, the system offers versatile aircraft network connectivity, secure file storage and aircraft interface capabilities with virtually any type of electronic flight bag (EFB). The new AIS addresses the increasing information-sharing and information-management requirements associated with cockpit, cabin, health monitoring and aircraft maintenance systems. It also reduces the complexity and implementation costs of similar systems, according to CMC.

The Montreal-based avionics provider also has on display here its new PilotView Class 2 EFB, the CMA-1612, featuring a 12.1-inch LED-backlit display with multi-touch support. The EFB delivers high-end processing capabilities for applications, while offering versatile aircraft network connectivity, according to Jean-Marie Bégis, CMC’s director of EFB systems. The CMA-1612 has been selected as a factory option on the Bombardier CSeries airliner and as a standard option for a variety of business jets from Dassault Falcon and Embraer.

abramovich’s ‘little bandit’

Businessman Roman Abramovich’s Boeing 767 is known as “Bandit” for the whimsical mask painted around its windshield. The trick is reprised on his Falcon 900DX, known affectionately as “Little Bandit.”

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dassault taps amac for falcon service

AMAC Aerospace (Booth 2946) and Dassault Aviation officials mark the launch of their authorized service center (ASC) business for Fal-con aircraft maintenance in Turkey. Left to right, Atilla Guney, AMAC Aerospace Turkey COO; Kadri Muhiddin, group executive chairman and CEO, AMAC Aerospace; Jacques Chauvet, senior vice president, worldwide Falcon customer service, Dassault Aviation. AMAC’s 1,500-sq-m facility at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul is now a Dassault ASC, enabling EASA Part 145 line maintenance up to level 4A+ on Fal-con 900 and 900EX EASy models. Falcon 2000, 2000EX EASy and 7X approvals are expected later this year. –R.A.

Europe responds well to Nextant’s offeringsby David Donald

Nextant Aerospace has been pleasantly surprised by the level of interest shown in Europe for its 400XTi remanufactured light jet, of which six are currently flying on the continent, and forthcoming G90XT turboprop. The company expects that inter-est will continue to grow and has expanded its sales network in the continent.

“The 400XTi is clearly the right aircraft for the region and we are proud to bring our new sales part-ners on board in Europe,” said Jay Heublein, executive v-p of sales and marketing. “As European economies are showing signs of sustained growth, aircraft buy-ers are keen to leverage the value of business aviation at the lowest cost. However, customers are still demanding market-leading range and speed, with a spacious and quiet cabin.”

This week Nextant is signing

three sales representation agree-ments. FortAero has been sales agent in Russia for a year, and operates two 400XTis in the country, but now has had its sales territory expanded to include the Francophone region of Europe: Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The company is partnering in its sales efforts with luxury Swiss watchmaker De Bethune, which enjoys strong relationships with high-net worth individuals and corporate entities in Europe.

For the markets in the UK, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland, SaxonAir (part of Klyne Aviation Group) has been appointed as the Nextant sales representative. In the sum-mer the operator will add a 400XTi to its AOC, making it the UK’s first operator. Sax-onAir managing director Chris Mace remarked, “As the UK

emerges from its austerity pro-grams there is a strong focus on value for money. The great thing about the 400XTi is that there is no tradeoff between price and performance. The aircraft is a proven money-maker for com-panies and as a charter aircraft.”

The third new sales entity is Nextant Poland, owned by lux-ury vessel manager Power Boats Poland. As well as the promise of the 400XTi, Nextant Poland sees a bright future for the King Air C90-based Nextant G90XT. “Our customers have come to depend on us to advise them on the right equipment and to sup-port them,” said general man-ager Maja Darowska. “The 400XTi has earned its reputa-tion, and with the value propo-sition of the G90XT we foresee similar success.” Elsewhere in Europe Time Air already cov-ers central Europe, while JetHQ is the representative in Turkey (and Middle East territories).

Nextant’s G90XT remanufac-turing program is being under-taken with key partners Garmin (avionics) and GE (H75 engines). The latter are manufactured at a facility in Prague in the Czech Republic, which will also provide maintenance support for Europe.

Nextant is to open a completion center for the G90XT there and also a completions showroom for the EMEA region.

To cater for a growing fleet Nextant has put in place a world-wide support network with 24/7 service. With a global parts dis-tribution service and strategically located depots, the network has demonstrated an average AOG return-to-service time of less than

nine hours. There are currently 13 authorized service centers, eight of which are in the U.S. In Europe, service centers are located at Augsburg, Germany, and in Geneva at Jet Aviation. Elsewhere there are centers in Dubai, Sin-gapore and Johannesburg, South Africa. Beyond its current net-work, Nextant has plans to open further centers in the UK, India, China and Australia. o


Jetcraft’s JetCoast targets green Bombardier bizjetsby James Wynbrandt

Global aircraft brokerage Jetcraft of Raleigh, North Car-olina, is introducing its Jet-Coast completions program, a refreshed facet of its acquisition services, at EBACE 2014.

An alliance between the

company, Jet Aviation (Booth 418), and Bombardier Aero-space (Booth 6656), JetCoast offers buyers customized com-pletions on new Challenger series and Global series jets. Under the program, Jetcraft

(exhibiting at the static display) buys green aircraft from Bom-bardier and oversees the comple-tions, which are performed at Jet Aviation’s facility in St. Louis, Missouri. The prices are about the same through either channel (Jetcraft is asking for $44 mil-lion for a JetCoast Global 5000 and $54 million for a JetCoast Global 6000), but Jetcraft can offer customers more custom-ization and faster delivery than available through Bombardier, according to the company.

“We’re in our first two Jet-Coast Globals,” said Jetcraft pres-ident Chad Anderson, who sees the program as a win-win-win for customers, Bombardier and Jet-craft. “The OEM already has a strong backlog of aircraft and lots of institutional buyers [that don’t need or want customization],” he said. “It’s easier for the OEM to complete those aircraft on order rather than do near-term deliv-ery with frequent changes to the specs,” as often happens with cus-tom completions.

The program actually dates to early this century, Anderson said, as an alternate completion channel for Challenger 604s. Jet-craft eventually completed and sold 30 new 604s before moving into Challenger 605s and selling close to another 20. “Here we are in 2014, and now Jetcraft cli-ents have evolved into more and more global aircraft, so we’re moving into the Global 5000 and Global 6000,” Anderson said. “It’s the natural next step from the earlier days.” o

where would you like to go?

EBACE exhibitor Hadid International Services, an aviation handling specialist based in Dubai, UAE, has offices in Libya, Algeria, Niger, India and Pakistan. Founded in 1981, Hadid considers itself a full service provider.

galley gallery

One element of Bombardier’s impressive Global 7000 mockup, the largest in business jet history, is this full-size galley. Nextant has 400XTis operating in four European countries, with a fifth to join the roster this

summer. The company demonstrator at EBACE is sporting a new-look 2014 cabin interior. D

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Alpha Star ramps up its tech, adds EFBs, LiveTV, wingletsby Thierry Dubois

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based charter operator Alpha Star Aviation Services (Booth 3824) has equipped its entire fleet with electronic flight bags (EFBs). The six VIP aircraft include three Airbuses (ACJ318, ACJ319 and ACJ320), one Gulfstream G550, one Hawker 900XP and one ATR 42. The company intends to have its pilots using EFBs–iPads con-nected to a Rockwell Collins system–dur-ing the entire flight in the short term. “Our crews were trained by Lufthansa and FlightSafety,” CEO Salem Al Muzaini added.

Alpha Star also announced that it is adding its A318 to the air operators certificate that it has from Saudi Ara-bia’s civil aviation authority. The air-craft will therefore become the first of the type to reach Saudi Part 135 safety standards, the company claimed. Alpha Star’s ACJ318 is fitted with a LiveTV system that receives programs via U.S., European, Arabsat and Nilsat satellites.

Airborne Internet connectivity offers speeds of up to 4.5 Mbps.

In 2016, Alpha Star will have Airbus’s Sharklets (winglets) installed on its in-service ACJ320. The retrofit comprises local structural reinforcement of the outer wing, a software upgrade to several flight-control computers and replace-ment of the existing wingtips by Shark-lets. The operator has thus become the first Airbus ACJ320 owner to order the retrofit. Alpha Star expects to save about 4 percent in fuel burn, while also enhanc-ing performance and appearance.

Separately, the Saudi operator has obtained ISO 9001 quality system cer-tification, which comes on top of its implementing the international stan-dard for business aircraft operations (IS-BAO).

In addition to charter flights, Alpha Star, founded in 2010, also offers air ambulance, aircraft management, line maintenance and consultancy services. o


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sightseeing in a boeing

One cure for aerial claustrophobia is bigger windows. Fokker Technolo-gies has teamed with Boeing Business Jets to bring just that feature to mar-ket. The Panoramic Window is 54.5 inches wide, slightly larger than three conventional window bays. It also stands 40 percent taller than the con-ventional window height. Find out more at the Fokker booth (3223).�

Jetcraft: European recovery lags U.S. by 12 to 18 monthsby Chad Trautvetter

“The European business aviation market recovery is lagging that of the U.S. market by 12 to 18 months,” Chad Anderson, president of business jet bro-ker Jetcraft (static display), told AIN here at EBACE 2014. “Many European oper-ators are rightsizing their fleets, which makes this a stronger recovery. However, there is still a lot of price fragility in the pre-owned business jet market.”

If anything, Anderson said, the U.S. market is helping to prop up the recovery in Europe. “Europe has an ample supply of good, young pre-owned business jets, which are quickly being snapped up by buyers in the U.S.,” he said. “Essentially, this region is presently an export market for pre-owned jets.”

But there are still buyers in Europe, “particularly those in it for the long term,” he said. “The market for pre-owned busi-ness jets is pretty strong in the UK and Germany. We also consider Africa to be an extension of the European market, and we’re seeing strong demand there, especially in Nigeria and the metroplexes in South Africa.”

Due to the tensions in Ukraine and Crimea, “Russia, which has typically been a strong player in the market, is an unknown at the moment,” Anderson said. “In the short term, there are more sellers than buyers there. However, we see these tensions as a temporary flare-up. The geopolitics there should settle soon.”

With prices of pre-owned jets “bounc-ing along the bottom” and ample supply, Anderson said the good news is that there are a lot of great values in the resale mar-ket. While sellers are getting less for their aircraft, “The real opportunity for them is when they purchase another aircraft, which they can also buy at a depressed price,” he added.

The European business jet market has typically been driven by light and midsize jets, a segment that Anderson said is driven by high-net-worth individ-uals who make “emotional purchases rather than business ones.” But as sales in these segments have diminished, he said the business jet market in Europe is now being buoyed by increased demand for large-cabin jets, which are typically bought by corporations that must jus-tify the expense.

Over the next 12 to 24 months, Anderson expects the pre-owned busi-ness jet market in Europe and elsewhere will carry on with its recovery. That said, he believes prices will continue to bounce along the bottom. o

Jetcraft president Chad Anderson said one reason for a recovery lag is uncertainty in the Russian market.

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Analysts predict slow rebound for Europeby Ian Goold

Business aircraft manufac-turers here at EBACE this week will be hoping to disprove sug-gestions that demand for new airplanes in Europe from cur-rent (or prospective) operators will decline. While Bombardier Aerospace foresees the region remaining second only to North America in its long-term requirements, equipment sup-plier Honeywell has detected less short-term enthusiasm. Globally, both companies’ mar-ket forecasts predict delivery of almost 10,000 new business air-craft in the next 10 years.

Over the coming 20-year period, Bombardier predicts that “despite its continued eco-nomic challenges,” Europe is still the second-largest mar-ket for new business-jet deliver-ies behind North America. The Canadian manufacturer says European operators will receive 1,670 new aircraft during 2013-22 and an additional 2,230 units in the following 10 years, these aircraft comprising some 16.25 percent of the 24,000 units forecast in the market sec-tors served by Bombardier.

Honeywell, which bases its forecast on the declared “pur-chase expectations” of more than 1,500 non-fractional busi-ness-aircraft operators world-wide, said that in 2013 European intentions to acquire additional or replacement aircraft were equivalent to 25 percent of their current fleets–well below “the 30- to 33-percent levels” seen in its previous three surveys. It puts the European share of esti-mated global five-year demand at 12 percent, down from 18 percent 12 months earlier.

The company suggests that aircraft owners might finally have responded to recession: “The

resilience previously shown by European operators in the face of lackluster economic condi-tions may have reached the point of fatigue, with weak growth prospects expected for 2014.”

Its analysis has been in- fluenced by reduced survey participation by Russia, which previously “has supported the region with strong local purchas-ing ambitions, [but like the rest of

Europe] has slipped in reported purchase plans.” Honeywell notes that Russia’s “small [response] sample has added an element of volatility not present in prior surveys and may be understating the true demand.”

European operators’ planned purchases suggest “fairly even demand in the next three years,” averaging about 20 percent per

year. Nevertheless, Honeywell does expect operators in Europe (excluding Russia) to fly more often this year after a slight decline and to fly to more varied destinations. “Modest growth is expected in 2014, driven in part by improved economic prospects in Western Europe, but also [by] a stronger outlook for Eastern Europe,” the report said. o


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Brussels takes drastic action to save Single European Skyby Bill Carey

The Single European Sky ATM Research (Sesar) effort, the “technolog-ical pillar” of the future Single Euro-pean Sky (SES) vision, has a new lease on life. In April, the European Parlia-ment voted to extend the mission of the entity managing the research and devel-opment program, known as the Sesar Joint Undertaking (SJU), by eight years until 2024. The SJU expects the Euro-pean Union Council of Ministers will approve the extension this summer.

The SJU’s extension means that Eu-rope will continue driving air traffic man-agement technology improvements even as the continent digests the ongoing restruc-turing of its ATC infrastructure. In a sep-arate action during its plenary session in March, the parliament approved amended Single European Sky legislation known as SES 2+, which redoubles the EC’s effort to break down state barriers and reorganize the continent into more efficient “func-tional airspace blocks” (FABs), which have been slow to begin functioning.

Among several changes to the pro-gram, the SES 2+ legislation calls for “full organizational and budgetary separation” of national authorities from the ATC or-ganizations they oversee; opening ATC support services to competitive bidding; and strengthening ATM performance targets. SES 2+ also strengthens the cen-tral role of Brussels-based Eurocontrol as

“network manager” to perform network-level services across Europe, including air traffic flow management, route design and coordination of radio frequencies and ra-dar transponder codes.

Need to Improve FABsLast month, the European Commis-

sion (EC) issued formal letters of notice to Germany, Belgium, France, the Neth-erlands and Luxembourg to “improve” their FAB–the first of the nine regional airspace entities to receive such notifi-cation. The five countries and non-EU state Switzerland ratified a treaty forming Functional Airspace Block Europe Cen-tral (FABEC) in June 2013, missing the EU’s December 2012 deadline.

“We have to finally overcome national borders in the European airspace,” said EC transport commissioner Siim Kallas. “FABs are a necessary, vital component of the Single European Sky. Right now these common airspaces exist only on paper; they are formally established but not yet functional. I urge member states to step up their ambitions and push forward the implementation of the Single Sky.”

Trade unions representing controllers and some air navigation service provid-ers (ANSPs) have protested the reforms embodied in SES 2+, arguing that its cost and performance targets are unrealistic and compromise safety.


The Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre, a member of FABEC, provides ATC for the upper airspace of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northwest Germany. It is a prime example of the harmonization of airspace and a model for cross-border projects in the spirit of the SES.

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Last year, the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) was among airspace us-er groups that advocated stronger measures to achieve the Single European Sky vision. “European airspace users are negatively im-pacted and therefore extremely concerned by the lack of achieve-ments: the Single European Sky needs to be put back on track by stronger leadership from the European Commission and en-forced commitment by member states,” the EBAA said in a joint statement with the Association of European Airlines, the Euro-pean Low Fares Association, the European Regions Airline Asso-ciation and the International Air Carrier Association.

While the SES institutional framework has been slow to form, the Sesar research pil-lar is considered successful. In addition to approving an exten-sion of the SJU’s mission from December 2016 to 2024, the Parliament endorsed the EC’s proposal to contribute €600 million ($831 million) toward its operations through the EU’s Horizon 2020 framework pro-gram for research.

In a draft opinion recom-mending the SJU’s extension last year, Antonio Cancian, rappor-teur with the parliament’s trans-port and tourism committee, said: “In the context of recent developments concerning the im-plementation of the Single Euro-pean Sky performance pillar, in-cluding unsatisfactory and slow progress in setting well-function-ing performance and charging schemes or the functional air-space blocks which are still to de-liver the expected results, the rap-porteur sees the technological pillar as the leading element in the implementation structure of the whole Single European Sky concept. That is why the continu-ity of its structure, both in terms of funding and human resources, is of crucial importance.”

The Brussels-based SJU, a public-private partnership that includes industry contributions,

has entered the deployment phase of the Sesar effort, the fi-nal phase planners envisioned to create the SES by 2020. It has a new executive director, Flori-an Guillermet, who previously worked for Eurocontrol, French air navigation service provider DSNA and Air France before joining the SJU as chief program officer in 2008. Guillermet’s

appointment as executive direc-tor became effective on April 1. He is the organization’s sec-ond permanent executive direc-tor, succeeding Patrick Ky, who now heads the European Avia-tion Safety Agency, and Claude Chêne, who served in an acting capacity after Ky’s departure.

Earlier this year, the SJU pub-lished a fourth set of 20 Sesar

technology validation exercises it plans to conduct this year. Among them, it will conduct a “shadow mode” trial at Saarbrucken Air-port in Germany to assess the functionality of a “remote tower” concept–providing ATC services from a remote location to an air-port with low-to-medium traffic density of 20,000 movements per year of less. A second trial at Röst

airport and Vaeröy Heliport in Norway will validate the feasibil-ity of providing simultaneous air traffic services to multiple remote aerodromes by a single operator.

The SJU managed 68 total validation exercises over three previous releases. It proved the remote tower concept at several Scandinavian airports in the third release. o


Florian Guillermet took over as the new executive director of the Sesar Joint Undertaking on April 1.

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FSF’s new chief pushes for progressby Robert P. Mark

The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) has a new president and CEO, Jon Beatty,

who until recently held the same posi-tions with International Aero Engines.

He comes to the aviation safety advo-cate with solid manufacturing industry experience, having begun his career as a quality engineer with Sikorsky. He was confirmed in his post in April and is now heading up FSF’s efforts to promote fur-ther advances in flight safety.

One of the foundation’s top concerns is go-arounds, not just the lack of pilots actually performing the maneuver, but also how poorly many of those pilots han-dle this seldom-used event. The FSF (Booth 1315), in con-junction with 15 other aviation organizations, studied the issue and in June 2013 released find-ings about the true risks of a lack of pilot proficiency.

A recent survey of 2,500 working pilots showed 96 per-cent of approaches are sta-ble. Of the other 4 percent, however, almost none were terminated with the aircraft performing a go-around, a maneuver the foundation calls a part of normal, everyday flying. “We have a pretty good protocol right now for how we fly approaches,” Beatty told AIN. “What is less well documented is when to make a go-around decision. The most recent accidents [Asiana 214 and UPS 1354] have both involved approach and landing [configurations].”

Experts agree that, at least in the case of the Asiana Airlines July 2013 crash in San Francisco, a timely go-around would have prevented the accident. The data has not yet been released on last August’s UPS crash in Birmingham, Alabama.

“There are now more than 40,000

copies of the FSF’s approach and landing accident reduction toolkit in use around the world,” added Beatty. “We’re working on an update to that toolkit right now.” The foundation plans to release the find-ings this year of that additional survey on go-arounds, which was initiated in 2012.

Also among the top three concerns for the foundation and its new CEO is enabling data sharing, while also max-imizing data protection. The FSF is working with Mitre, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Organiza-tion to develop the ability to share data and apply analytics to solutions to help

improve aviation’s already outstanding safety record. The FSF also co-chairs the ICAO task force on safety information protection in-tended to establish legal guidelines to protect data from punitive use, except in the case of gross negligence of illegal activity.

“Data will, of course, set us free,” said Beatty. “But up until now there has always been a lot of data that peo-ple don’t want to share

because they’re fearful of what might happen to it. Right now ICAO has some of the information and IATA also has some. The world would be a better place [if we could all see the data], but one of the obstacles is that lack of a common database. So many individuals treat this information as proprietary. I think we should be comparing ourselves to the industry, not our competitors.”

The foundation’s goal is to help cre-ate a system where the data is cleansed so that only the relevant facts appear, and the person or company sharing that data is unidentified. “We need to give all orga-nizations a vision of how overall industry safety could be improved if we can raised the bar on everyone,” stated Beatty.

Safety AuditsThe FSF is also quite proud of its

safety audit arm, which is known as the basic aviation risk standards (BARS) pro-gram and is based in the organization’s regional office in Melbourne, Australia. The foundation created these specialized audits to assist operators in the natural resources sector and other remote oper-ations. The BARS program benefits all companies that contract aircraft opera-tors to carry people, so each can focus on safe operations, not redundant audits.

Beatty is still getting used to his new desk in the Flight Safety Founda-tion office in Alexandria, Virginia. AIN asked if he had a dream for what the foundation could become. “I like a ver-sion of the Boy Scout motto for this,” he said. “I hope to make the founda-tion a better organization by the time I leave than the way I found it... I think the FSF brings the voice of reason to this industry. We’re the only pure safety organization...I think we make a per-fect third leg to the three-legged stool of manufacturers and regulators.” o


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Flight Safety Foundation

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Afirs is an elegant fix for flight-data trackingby David Donald

The recent tragedy of the still-missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 has brought the tracking of aircraft sharply into focus, and at a conference last week in Montreal ICAO forged a consensus to develop aircraft tracking as matter of priority. While this is a welcome move, the ability to transmit more than just positional data is critical in allowing ground experts to not only determine the causes of losses, but also to give aircrew a better chance of averting a loss.

Continuous streaming of aircraft data has been possi-ble for some time, but it comes at a high price and typically has high bandwidth demands. Flyht Aerospace Solutions (Booth 6242) has an elegant answer in the form of its Afirs (automated flight information reporting sys-tem), a virtually tamper-proof system that is already flying on around 350 aircraft, although not all have streaming capability.

Afirs uses the Iridium satel-lite network to transmit data,

which has a number of bene-fits, such as worldwide cover-age (most satcom systems do not cover the polar regions). It has also been proven to offer robust links, with aircraft able to main-tain a connection even at extreme off-normal attitudes. However, Iridium is a low-bandwidth solu-tion, so Flyht has developed a smart compression system that finally allows full aircraft data to be streamed through the Irid-ium network. Bandwidth require-ments, and therefore cost of operation, are also reduced by designing the system so that it only streams data when auto-matically triggered to do so.

Automatic ReportsIn normal circumstanc-

es Afirs provides a technical re-porting service for operators. It periodically transmits techni-cal reports of around 60 to 100 aircraft and system parame-ters, plus positional information, back to ground operations, It can also include a fuel-management

function that allows operators to save on their fuel costs.

However, if an abnormality is detected, the system immediately and automatically generates and transmits a report to alert ground operations. Typically such events are abnormalities that are not crit-ical safety of flight issues, but that will require closer monitoring and possible remedy after the aircraft has landed. The report allows ground operations to mobilize the necessary maintenance teams and parts to minimize downtime when the aircraft lands.

In an exceptional emergency situation, such as a depres-surization, engine failure, fire, unusual attitude change or any other event that may threaten the safety of the aircraft,

Afirs automatically begins live streaming of data. This detailed flow of information not only charts in real time the aircraft’s progress and status, but also provides an instant bank of information enabling ground experts to aid the aircrew in taking remedial action, by com-municating through an Iridium voice channel. Operators can also choose to have emergency streams relayed to equipment OEMs and air traffic, rescue or other agencies.

In the event of an aircraft loss, the streamed Afirs data also pro-vides accurate track and last-posi-tion data and acts as a backup to the primary “black box” flight data recorder. The ground system records data to allow an instant

playback of similar information as recorded by the FDR, and also provides access to aircraft data from before the time that the emergency was first detected and notified.

Flyht quotes a price of around $50,000 for the Afirs equipment, and a similar amount for an installation, which takes two or three days to perform if not part of a wider maintenance activity. To offset the acquisition invest-ment, the company claims that Afirs can pay for itself in a short time due to the potential fuel-sav-ings it generates. While it is an everyday tool intended to stream-line commercial and business avi-ation operations, its potential value to safety and accident inves-tigation is incalculable. o


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The Afirs system has a simple control panel on the flight deck, although it operates automatically and cannot be turned off in the air. The electronics are packaged into a box accommodated in a standard avionics rack. In normal operations Afirs sends positional and system status reports on a pre-set time interval, shown here set for every five minutes.

Air BP helping airports with World Cup deluge by David Donald

Brazil’s airports are standing by for a huge influx of executive aircraft as the FIFA soccer World Cup gets under way next month. Supporters, teams and other stakeholders will turn to business aircraft for transportation to and from Brazil, and also as a means of traveling around the country during the competition. Recog-nizing the need to meet the tem-porarily increased demands for fuel services, Air BP (Booth 634) has launched a number of initia-tives to augment its well-estab-lished Brazilian fuel services.

During the games Air BP will operate a Fast Track program for aircraft flying to and from the competition. Provided that an operator gives the arrival airport at least three hours’ notice, Air BP will guarantee to have a refueler at the client’s aircraft within 20 min-utes of landing. Alternatively, cli-ents can book a pre-arranged refueling time. This initiative will help operators that may have tight turnaround times and might be

otherwise be held up in longer-than-usual fuel queues.

Another initiative is to hold domestic and international fuel prices at current levels until the end of July, allowing oper-ators to plan their fuel costs well in advance. Fast Track ser-vices and frozen pricing will be implemented at all 16 airports

in Brazil where Air BP oper-ates. Special fuel pricing deals are being created for what are likely to be the two most popular entry-points during the competi-tion: São Paulo-Guarulhos and Galeão-Antônio Carlos Jobim near Rio de Janeiro.

To complete its World Cup initiatives, Air BP has teamed with Tri-Star Handling Con-cierge of São Paulo to offer navigation, flight planning, weather and Notam services. Additional services can be pro-vided by Tri-Star Concierge, and special rates are available to Air BP customers. o

gulfstream gaggle

Gulfstream brought a full complement of five business jet models, tes-tament to the expanding value of the European market. Air BP is expecting a huge rise in demand for fuel services during the World Cup and

has put in place a number of initiatives to assist operators during the competition.

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