ebace convention news 5-22-13 issue

PUBLICATIONS

Flight Test Engines Charter Medical FBOs

Travolta Joins Challenger Test TeamJohn Travolta goes further than merely admiring Bombardier’s new Challenger 300; he even stars as part of the flight-test team working on the new jet’s certification testing. “It’s a really pilot-friendly airplane, and I want one,” he said. 0

GE Honda HF120 Delays DetailedGE Honda Aero now expects the HF120 turbofan for the HondaJet to be certified by the end of 2013. Certification has been delayed by about four months following a problem encountered during a 150-hour block test. Page 10

VistaJet Keeps On GrowingVistaJet says that it is executing a carefully considered expansion plan, thanks to growth in revenue hours of 20 to 25 percent. By year-end, the charter operator’s fleet is planned to grow to 35 Bombardier jets. Page 39

MedAire Map Highlights Risks of TravelCompanies can assess the health risks for employee travel to various regions by consulting MedAire’s HealthMap, then mitigate the risks by proactively preparing for travels to these areas. Page 40

European FBOs Shine in AIN SurveyWhile Europe’s economy struggles to get back in the air, its FBOs are soaring. AIN’s 2013 international FBO survey revealed eight that scored 8.0 or higher in the top category, including facilities in the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France. Page 42

Wednesday 5.22.13GENEVAEBACE

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Pilatus unveils long-awaited PC-24 twinjetby Matt Thurber

Accompanied by plumes of dry ice pour-ing from the edges of a black-curtained mockup and the music from the Superman movie, chairman Oscar Schwenk called for the unveiling of Pilatus Aircraft’s long-awaited new twinjet project, the PC-24.

“Customer-first is our mission state-ment,” Schwenk intoned just prior to the unveiling. “Therefore we asked our cus-tomers what they wished to complement the [Pilatus] product line.” What they asked for, he said, was an aircraft with the capa-bilities of the PC-12, but faster and with a bigger cabin. “The PC-24 is unique. It’s the only aircraft combining the versatility of a turboprop with the cabin size of a medium-size jet and the performance of a light jet.”

The PC-24 airframe is all-metal and is designed to operate from short and unim-proved runways, as little as 2,690 feet To great fanfare, Pilatus unveiled a mockup

of the new PC-24 yesterday at EBACE 2013.

Europe: Opening for business? by James Wynbrandt

Few punches were pulled as speak-ers took on the challenges facing business aviation in Europe at the opening session of EBACE 2013 yesterday morning, with government policies, outdated infrastruc-ture and the slack economy the primary targets. Hosted by Fabio Gamba, CEO of the European Business Aviation Associa-tion (EBAA), speakers included NBAA

president and CEO Ed Bolen; Patrick Ky, managing director, SESAR JU (Sin-gle European Sky ATM Research pro-gram Joint Undertaking); Daniel Weder, CEO of air navigation service provider Skyguide; and–via recorded video mes-sage–Siim Kallas, vice president of the European Commission and its Commis-sioner for Mobility and Transport.

On the upside, Gamba noted that this year’s EBACE is on pace to match last year’s record-setting numbers, with static display space sold out and exhibitors and attendee counts expected to equal last year’s, which is “excellent news given the challenging econ-omy in the region,” he said. He then added, “We have reached the limits of the air trans-port system, conceived 70 years ago, when they couldn’t see the diversity and volume of traffic. We’re seeing cracks in the system.

Bolen said that from U.S. business aviation users, the biggest concern about

Continued on page 4 u

Continued on page 2 u Patrick Ky

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Nextant names Aviators as its dealer in Indiaby Thierry Dubois

Indian business aviation specialist Avi-ators announced here at EBACE yester-day that it had ordered three Nextant 400XTi jets, while also revealing that it has been appointed Nextant Aerospace’s exclusive sales agent for India. The first “i” version of the remodeled Beechjet 400 is due to be delivered to Aviators in the first quarter of next year.

Nextant (here on the static display) has hopes for more sales in the country, as 33 entry-level aircraft were delivered there between 2007 and 2011, the man-ufacturer said.

Aviators will base its three jets in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore for opera-tions within the entire country, managing director Arun Sharma told AIN. He is plan-ning on employing four pilots (that is, two flight crews) per aircraft. Moreover, Avia-tors will employ the medical personnel for the operation. The goal is to help save lives with rapid response times, Sharma said.

Nextant claims the 400XTi has the range to travel “point to point,

anywhere on the subcontinent, even in the summer heat.” Sharma explained that the fixed-wing jet will complement

its upcoming AgustaWestland AW139 EMS helicopters, slated to start opera-tions next year. o

2 EBACE Convention News • May 22, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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Arun Sharma, second from left, of Indian business aviation specialist Aviators, joins Nextant executives (left to right) Jay Heublein, Peter Walker and Sean McGeough celebrating Aviators’ order for three Nextant 400XTi jets.

Show StarterS

Kicking off the 2013 edition of EBACE were, left to right, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen; SESAR executive director (soon to head EASA) Patrick Ky; Sky-guide SA CEO Daniel Weder; and EBAA CEO Fabio Gamba.

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Europe is, “How are we going to com-ply with ETS [the EU’s emissions trad-ing scheme]? It doesn’t make any sense as we see it.”

Kallas addressed the Functional Air-space Blocks (FABs) that are supposed to streamline the EU’s 27-member nations’ air traffic management responsibilities, but that has only added to the confusion.

“The situation is far behind expectations, as I see it,” he told attendees from the large video screen.

Invest and ModernizeKy, who is about to move from man-

aging Sesar to leading EASA, hit on an underlying problem with one of his open-ing comments, “People ask, ‘Do we really need to invest and modernize [Europe’s Air Traffic Control system]?’” This was a question that his presentation effectively answered by showcasing many shortcom-ings of current operations. Weder pointed

to a lack of understanding of business aviation among many air navigation ser-vice providers as another challenge con-fronting the sector.

But people who use business aviation are generally high achievers and optimists who show a willingness to roll up their sleeves and solve problems, as Gamba demonstrated in his closing remarks: “As frustrated as we may be with current conditions, I’m convinced of an exciting future ahead,” he said. “But for it to mate-rialize, we must lay out the essential con-ditions for that to occur.” o

Europe: is it opening its doors for business?uContinued from page 1

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Eurocopter is offering ‘exec’ and ‘VIP’ 175sby Thierry Dubois

Eurocopter (Booth 7050) unveiled a mockup of the executive version of its EC175 medium twin helicopter at EBACE and is also offering an even more luxurious VIP version.

Thanks to a healthy market for top-of-the-range business and private aircraft, the Mari-gnane, France-based manufac-turer expects that the EC175, in these versions, will be more successful than the EC135 Hermès and the EC145 Mer-cedes-Benz launched at previ-ous EBACE shows. Prices for the new variants are around €17 million ($22 million) and vary with options. The VIP version is some €500,000 ($650,000) more expensive than the execu-tive option.

Cabin interior designer Peter Eidsgaard of Pegasus Design explained that he wanted to “remove the feeling of a heli-copter” and wanted the cabin interior to look like a house, a jet or a yacht. He “simplified lines” in an attempt to make the

background adaptable to the various versions. In addition to the executive version (nine to twelve passengers), three styles for the VIP variant (six to eight passengers) are available.

Frédéric Lemos, Eurocop-ter’s senior manager for busi-ness and private aviation, said executive/VIP sales are expected to reach a combined five exam-ples per year. This would be much higher than for the two aforementioned programs as Eurocopter sold only a couple of EC135 Hermès and a hand-ful of EC145 Mercedes-Benz.

He expressed hope that the MoU for the first VIP EC175 will be converted to a firm order at EBACE 2013. The first delivery is planned to take place late in 2015. Lemos clarified that the executive/VIP EC175 will not be sold in China, due to Eurocopter’s agreement with Avic on the joint EC175/AC352 program.

Completions will take place in Europe but Eurocopter still has to decide precisely where that

will be. One option is “to do it in house,” Lemos explained, and an external supplier has been assessed, too. Auch, France-based JCB Aero (Booth 2243), the company that manufactured the mockup’s interior, and which claims to be a fully skilled com-pletion specialist, will not out-fit production executive/VIP EC175s, Lemos said. o

www.ainonline.com • May 22, 2013 • EBACE Convention News 3

Eurocopter is offering a VIP version of the EC175, even more luxurious than the executive version unveiled here.

Signature gets personal with a customer portal

Signature Flight Support has launched its customer portal–My Signature–to give customers 24-hour access to their personal-ized service profile.

My Signature allows oper-ators to create and update their unique customer profile, which includes service pref-erences, aircraft and engine

information and the ability to view and reprint fuel pur-chase receipts. Customers can also check current fuel pric-ing, where applicable. In addi-tion, they can book preferred hotel rates in cities where Sig-nature FBOs are located, and take advantage of discounted rates in other cities with

Signature’s HotelTrak-pow-ered booking program.

Signature and Global Crew Logistics first partnered in 2009 to customize HotelTrak for use by the former’s FBO network. “Adding the ability for cus-tomers to have access to Sig-nature’s custom HotelTrak via My Signature allows us to offer an enhanced service sav-ing them time in the hotel book-ing process, and offering them discounted rates we have negoti-ated on their behalf,” said Signa-ture flight support president and COO Maria Sastre.

Signature’s global foot-print recently expanded with the launch of its affiliate FBO program, Signature Select, in the Europe, Middle East, Africa region.

Signature Select offers independent FBOs the abil-ity to use the same systems, service and safety standards training, sales and marketing and purchasing power of Sig-nature Flight Support. Each member location maintains its independent brand with the addition of the Signature Select badge. –G.P.

it’s sure isn’t just another jet

Hangar 8 doesn’t want to blend in. The company motto painted on the tail of this Bom-bardier Global is “Separate yourself from the herd," and when it comes to fulfilling that philoso-phy, you have to agree this paint scheme has earned its stripes.�

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switzerland gets its First eC155

Helicopter broker Heli Asset has sold the first Eurocopter EC155B1 medium twin into Switzerland, accord-ing to the Paris-based company. Zurich-based busi-ness aviation charter operator Heli-Link, a subsidiary com-pany of DC Aviation of Germany, took delivery of the 2008 EC155, configured with eight VIP seats. Heli Asset says it placed 18 helicopters in 2012. –T.D.

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(balanced field length) at mtow. Intended for Part 23 certifica-tion, the PC-24 can be flown by one pilot. Two Williams Inter-national FJ44-4A engines help the PC-24 climb to its maximum altitude FL450 in under 30 min-utes and achieve a high-speed cruise of 425 ktas at FL300. Range with an 800-pound pay-load (four passengers) at long-range cruise speed and NBAA 100-nm IFR reserves is 1,950 nm. Maximum takeoff weight is 17,650 pounds and maximum payload 2,500 pounds.

With seating for six to eight passengers or up to 10 in com-muter configuration, the PC-24’s cabin volume is 501 cu ft, “much more than bigger aircraft that cost twice as much,” Schwenk said. The cabin has a flat floor.

The PC-24 naturally features a large cargo door like the PC-12, and the baggage compartment is pressurized. Also like the PC-12, the PC-24 can land on unim-proved runways.

Key to the PC-24’s short-field

performance is a unique design feature of the jet’s two 3,435-pound-thrust Williams engines. An additional 5 per-cent power is available via a new automatic thrust reserve feature, according to Williams Interna-tional. The engines also employ William’s Exact passive thrust vec-toring nozzle technology, which uses the Coanda effect to provide a three-degree “vectored” thrust during high-power operations. The Exact feature was planned for Piper’s cancelled Altaire single-engine jet, although using a higher seven-degree vector.

An anti-ice and noise-sup-pressing inlet is supplied by Wil-liams, as is an integral pre-cooler “to condition engine bleed air and reduce drag losses.” The PC-24 doesn’t need an APU because the FJ44s use Williams’s Quiet Power Mode to provide ground power efficiently and with little noise. The engine has a 5,000-hour TBO and hot-sec-tion interval of 2,500 hours.

Avionics consist of a Honeywell Primus Apex flight deck, but branded as the Pilatus Advanced Cockpit Environment. The most basic version includes four 12-inch displays, Honeywell SmartView

synthetic vision, Tcas II, iner-tial reference system, Waas LPV approaches and graphical flight planning on the moving map.

Pilatus has already begun building the prototype PC-24 at the company’s Stans, Swit-zerland headquarters. The first PC-24 will roll out in the third quarter of 2014 and fly before the end of the year. EASA and FAA certification is planned in early 2017.

The PC-24 will sell for $8.9 million in 2017 economic terms, according to Schwenk. Pilatus isn’t taking orders at this year’s EBACE show but will open the order book next May.

Financing for the program is entirely from Pilatus. Schwenk introduced the PC-24 as a “super versatile jet” or SVJ, because, he explained, it’s in an entirely new category for business jets. o


Pilatus finally unveils PC-24 jetuContinued from page 1

Dassault cuts parts cost with ‘right-sized pricing’by Gregory Polek

Dassault Falcon has decided to embark on what it calls a com-pletely different approach to pricing in an effort to counter cus-tomer perceptions that spare parts cost too much. The new approach, called “Rightsized Pricing,” takes into account what Dassault sees as customer expectations of the worth of a particular part rather than basing the price strictly on manufacturing costs.

The new pricing formula will involve conducting a detailed analysis of customer expecta-tions using sophisticated soft-ware tools and processes that take into account key criteria of individual spare parts, such as size, weight, complexity and function and other pertinent parameters.

The plan, said the com-pany, will lead to numerous price adjustments and new pric-ing benchmarks, giving cus-tomers what Dassault Falcon

characterizes as more perceived value for money and helping them cut operating costs.

Over the last 10 years, Dassault Falcon has overhauled its pric-ing for parts at least three times. In 2012, the process reduced the price of more than 14,000 parts, said Dassault, while plans call for pricing adjustments for another 18,500 parts this year.

“These moves have had a pos-itive effect but they’re still not enough to meet our exacting standards of customer satisfac-tion,” said Dassault Falcon senior v-p of customer service Jacques Chauvet. “As much as we’ve reduced prices, the perception is still that in some instances they remain too high. Nearly everyone has an example of a part whose size, technology or material of construction suggests one level of price but the invoice turns out to be quite expensive, leaving the cus-tomer perplexed.” o

halls of plenty

The exhibit floor here at EBACE in Geneva is lined with business aviation’s most tantalizing new products and flowing with humanity. Professionals and customers from around the globe gather here to see the latest hardware, and to exchange ideas.

Feeling Lucky?Drop your business card at the Aeronautical Professionals Mal-ta booth (No. 583) today for a chance to win one of two aircraft type ratings worth $23,000. Priz-es will be awarded today at 4 p.m.

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Change is the only constant at heritage-rich Dassaultby Charles Alcock

Last December, Dassault Aviation named Eric Trappier as its new chairman and CEO. The 52-year old Frenchman, who was previously the group’s international executive vice president, succeeded Charles Edelstenne when he retired on January 8 after more than half a century of service to the Dassault group.

Trappier joined Dassault in 1984 and most of his career has been on the military side of its business, including leadership roles in marketing its Mirage and Rafale fighters worldwide. He has also previously served as the group’s vice president for the Middle East and Africa, as well as head of worldwide sales.

Ahead of this week’s EBACE show, during a visit to Dassault’s U.S. operations, Trappier spoke with AIN about what it’s like to take charge at such an historic company and the challenges that lie ahead.

For most of your time with Dassault, your focus has been on the company’s military programs. Now you have to consider the Falcon family, too. What is your perspec-tive on the current state of the business avi-ation market? Is this a business in which Dassault can continue to do well?

After just three months it is still quite new for me. Business jets are now a big part of the company–about 70 percent of our turnover [revenues]. This will continue for several years to come and it represents quite an evolution of the company over the last 30 years. We were mainly a military company before and now we are mainly in business jets. It is a change that will be in place for the next few decades and we will maintain both. It is vital for us to have the military and the civil sides. We have synergies from hav-ing a design office that can design both types. Also, our factories, such as Mèri-gnac and Martignas, are able to produce military aircraft and business jets along-side each other. There is real cross-fertil-ization between the two teams. What aspects of Dassault present them-selves as new to you?

What is new for me is the completions stage [of manufacturing] because this is very specific to business jets. That’s why I went to the U.S. to see it myself–in Little Rock. We produce everything, including the cabinets and the seats. Over the last few years our methodology has become a new industrial process for the comple-tions and this was new to me. I continue to learn from it. What I have seen has given me many ideas to prepare the future, and this is true for the military side too.

We need to have new products and give work to our engineering department and ensure the workload for our facto-ries over the next few decades. The bal-ance between the military and civil side is important because the cycles are not totally inline. We have to prepare for this and be ready to sell Rafale exports and to increase business jet orders at the same time, so our factories have to be ready to produce both types at the same time. Flexibility is the key. We may face cri-ses or we may face growth, but we have

the same company nucleus, adapted to the market, and this makes us very unique.

How do you see Dassault on the world market?

We are more and more a global com-pany because we are addressing a world market requirement. More than 80 per-cent of our turnover is export and our customers are everywhere in the world. We need to support them wherever they are and we need to support their culture and their requirements. We are known for designing the best aircraft in the world, whether military or civil, but we are also known for addressing the support needs of our customers worldwide.

In your military activities you have dealt with customers including top-level govern-ment and military leadership around the world. Is that very different from the busi-ness jet sector where your customers could include Hollywood actors and entrepre-neurs? Does it require a different approach to customer support?

Yes and no. When you become CEO you do not become the chief Falcon salesman, you still have the sales team dedicated to different regions and they know their customers and their require-ments. What matters is to have a view on what the market is going to be.

In my time working on the military side I’ve traveled a lot and I’ve met a lot of Falcon customers and also custom-ers of competitors such as Gulfstream and Bombardier.

We know that the requirement is to try to travel as fast as you can and with more comfort so that you will be more effective at work. For many of these people the business jet is a second home and also a tool. Yes, I know many of the customers but I don’t know them in detail.

Defense markets are now under pres-sure, in Europe. Does this mean that logically the Falcon side of the business could become even more important to the Dassault balance sheet?

Again, yes and no. There are too many conflicting hypotheses so we need to be flexible. I agree with you on budget

constraints in Europe, unfortunately. We are fighting to keep the right level for France. But if tomorrow we can sign an export contract for a country like India, where there are no budget constraints, then that could make a big difference.

To start, India will buy 126 aircraft [having pre-selected Dassault’s Rafale for its next-generation fighter require-ment], and some of these will be man-ufactured in India. There are other countries like Brazil that have a huge demand for defense. The same thing has happened for the Falcon.

In previous years our main market has been the U.S. but now 50 percent of the market is from the BRIC countries alone [Brazil, Russia, India and China]. We are ready to slow down or increase rate of production to satisfy this changing demand. To gain the markets of tomor-row we have to develop new programs and that requires huge R&D investment. New markets like China have forced us to rethink things. We are sure that we did not know China before and we are listening.

You’ve had the chance to fly on Falcons many times. Do you feel this has given you a real understanding of what makes them special?

My first reaction was to want to be in the cockpit and my response as an engi-neer to this was that it made an excel-lent impression. When I saw these aircraft using the technology developed on the mil-itary side, I was reminded that we are the only company in the world producing our own flight control system for both military and civil [applications].

But we have also improved the expe-rience again and again for the passenger.

There are many details in which we have taught the engineers, who have been pri-oritizing aircraft performance, to consider the comfort of passengers in terms of cabin atmosphere and how they can sleep and eat. In recent years the improvement here has been huge.

Visiting Little Rock [where Dassault does most Falcon completions] I could see that it is a real joint team between the U.S. and the French. There are a lot of aircraft in Little Rock so the workload is significant. The quality is very good but we have plans to improve it in the coming years and we will be investing more in Lit-tle Rock. These will be improvements in design and production, and this will also improve our costs and competitiveness.

Your company has a very rich heritage, founded by an exceptional individual with real vision. Do you feel a real sense of history?

It is hard to say we are walking in the feet of Marcel Dassault. He was the founder of our company, he was a genius and we are very proud of what he did. The [Dassault] leader I’ve known best is Mr. Edelstenne. What we will try to do as a team is to be as good as they were.

I started with this company and I’ve never been with any other, and most of the engineers are the same. It is something they are very proud of and this is the spirit of Dassault, and Marcel Dassault’s love of flying on both military and civil sides. For us he was like God.

Does this encourage you to take a long- term view?

It is not that we are encouraged by this but that by definition and genetics we always think about the long-term. For us every deci-sion we are taking is in the short-term but it is also to prepare the long-term. You will never see a Dassault manager thinking only short-term. We are, at the same time, working on what we are doing for 10 years from now, and also working to provide better support for our Falcons today. We are uniquely interested in the details. This is fundamental to aeronau-tics: taking care of quality and safety in detail.

Is there a danger with this heritage that peo-ple become so proud that they don’t challenge themselves to think that the customer might want something else?

If we were too sure about what we are doing we would become arrogant, but that is not the case because we know that to survive you have to be open to what is going on around you and adapt yourself. Dassault has a strong

tradition and knows its roots very well, but we also know that we decide where we want to go. And for where we want to go, nothing is writ-ten yet. We will write this ourselves. We work hard every day to adapt ourselves.

What is good is that we have the Dassault family as our main shareholder and they trust in aeronautics, right down to the grandchildren of Serge Dassault.

We are concentrating on making the right aircraft at the right price, and making money to reinvest in the next generation of aircraft. In any case, we have to be humble because in aviation you have to be hum-ble because [the future is uncertain]. You have to be very serious about what you are doing. Being sure you know where you’re going doesn’t mean you are arrogant. o


Dassault views its civil and military product lines as two sides of the same coin, with many positive synergies. In a photo shoot ahead of the EBACE show, one of its Rafale fighters escorted its Falcon siblings in a flight over France’s Atlantic coast to Dassault’s facility near Bordeaux.

INTERVIEW

Eric Trappier

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DAC gets PMA OK for iPad unitby Matt Thurber

DAC International has received FAA parts manufac-turer approval (PMA) for its GDC64 tablet aircraft inter-face unit (TAIU). The unit serves two functions: to provide

the correct power supply to recharge Apple iPad tablet com-puters; and to safely connect iPads to aircraft sensors to sup-ply useful data to iPad applica-tions. The GDC64 is hard-wired

to the aircraft and doesn’t rely on wireless connectivity.

With four Arinc 429 input ports, eight discrete inputs and a serial connection for weather receivers, the GDC64 could be

used for many new capabilities. For example, aircraft position, air data and weather informa-tion could be delivered to an iPad to drive synthetic-vision displays and moving maps with weather overlays. This would eliminate the need to carry external wireless devices such as GPS receivers, ADS-B weather receivers, AHRS devices or a

portable XM Weather receiver. So far, the GDC64 has been

installed in a Learjet 60 by DAC sister company Atlantic Aero and a Dash 8 by Samco Air-craft Maintenance (with Fokker Services managing the certifica-tion). The Dash 8 application is for Norwegian airline Widerøe, which is using the iPad as an EASA-approved Class 2 Type-B electronic flight bag (EFB). Widerøe’s iPad EFB uses Arinc 429 data from the Dash 8, including position, speed and more in an app developed by Dublin-based Flightman.

Free AppTo encourage the develop-

ment of more apps that can take advantage of the GDC64’s data hooks into the aircraft, DAC International (Booth 627) offers a software development kit (SDK) and also a free iPad app for set-ting up and configuring the Arinc 429 data. Avionics and airframe OEMs as well as avionics install-ers, iPad app developers and soft-ware companies are interested in adopting the GDC64 or creating app functionality for the device, according to DAC general man-ager Francisco Hernandez. A Turkish company purchased a GDC64 and obtained the SDK to develop applications for air-lines, he said. “[Maintenance tracking provider] CAMP Sys-tems (Booth 931) has talked to us about an app for their software.”

The GDC64 retails for $7,000 and is designed for most aircraft types, including helicop-ters and Part 25 jets. DAC Inter-national is an Apple-approved MFi licensee, which means that the company can install custom Apple IC chips in the GDC64. These chips, according to DAC, “provide the GDC64 an autho-rized means of accessing the iPad’s wired USB ports.”

The impetus for designing the GDC64, Hernandez said, is because with many complex air-craft, “you can’t get away with wireless in the cockpit.” o


DAC International’s GDC64 taps into aircraft sensors to deliver data to creative new iPad apps.

Renowned for Swiss excellence in business aviation, AMAC Aerospace is now the largest privately owned facility in the world providing completion and refurbishmentservices.

Harmonizing individual aesthetics, utmost safety and precision engineering forfunctionality makes the craft of completions and refurbishment an exacting one.That’s the trio of factors that determines both the integrity of your aircraft andthe realization of your dream interior. A highly experienced and committed staff is crucial to successfully delivering on time and within budget. Our workshops are manned with the best craftsmen and outfitted with state-of-the-art cabinet,upholstery, sheet-metal, composite and electro/avionics workshops. A vibrant working shop-floor, where we perform completion and refurbishment projects simultaneously, awaits our exclusive clientele. We look forward to welcoming you!

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Travolta’s Challenger flights ‘not a PR stunt’by Charles Alcock

That Bombardier’s new Chal-lenger 350 has the seal of approval from its celebrity brand ambassa-dor John Travolta is hardly sur-prising. What did grab people’s attention at EBACE yesterday was that the movie star has been work-ing as a flight test pilot support-ing the airframer’s efforts to get the new super-midsized jet certified.

“I felt like an astronaut,” he told

a packed Bombardier booth here in Geneva yesterday. “We did full performance takeoffs and climbed straight to 41,000 feet. This aircraft is definitely going to break records. It’s like a homesick angel.”

Stressing that he hadn’t joined the other Bombardier flight test crew as a PR stunt, Travolta was soon expounding effusively about the attributes of the latest

Challenger. “I didn’t think the stall was ever going to happen and when it did happen we recovered so smoothly,” he enthused. “The flight displays are just so clear and pilots love that. The situational awareness is superior to anything I’ve ever seen. It’s a really pilot-friendly airplane, and I want one.”

Travolta later told AIN that he frequently is asked for advice on private aviation by friends in Hollywood. He got actor Chris Meloni (erstwhile detec-tive Elliot Stabler on NBC’s TV drama Law & Order) hooked on flying and has also guided Tom Hanks into finding the best options for private flying. o

Saudi handling offered by Hadid/WallanHadid International Services

has launched a new partnership with Wallan Aviation to provide ground handling for business aircraft at airports throughout Saudi Arabia. The two com-panies signed an agreement together here at the EBACE show yesterday.

The new services will start almost immediately at Riyadh’s King Khaled International Air-port and within three months will be extended to all airports around the Kingdom. The joint Hadid/Wallan team will provide both airside and groundside support, having made arrange-ments to be able to use equip-ment provided by local FBOs as necessary. The services will include all aspects of handling, including refueling, transporta-tion and hotel reservations.

“Hadid is proud to have formed this alliance with Wal-lan, which has complementary capabilities and a rich heri-tage very similar to ours,” said Hadid president Baha Hadid. Riyadh-based Wallan is Cessna

Aircraft’s exclusive dealer in the Middle East as well as being an authorized independent repre-sentative for Bell Helicopter in the region.

Dubai-based Hadid has been in business for more than 30 years, specializing in flight plan-ning, permit processing, han-dling, fuel transportation and arranging charter flights. It has

a strong presence in the Middle East and Africa, but can also support customers worldwide.

Here at the EBACE show, vis-itors to its exhibit (Booth 1043) can sample real Arabic coffee and an exceptional selection of dates. Visitors can also try on traditional Arabic clothing and have photos taken in a simulated desert landscape. –C.A.


Left to right: Hadid’s Issa Zuriqi and Rasoul Taijo signed an agreement yesterday with Wallan Aviation’s Saad and Fahad Wallan to provide services in Saudi Arabia.

GE Honda aims to deliver HF120 approval this year by David Donald

GE Honda Aero Engines has announced that its 2,095-pound-thrust HF120 turbofan intended initially for the HondaJet is nearing completion of certifi-cation tests and is on track for delivery of the first entry into service engines before the end of 2013. “We now have a line-of-sight for certification and we are gaining experience on the fleet,” said Terry Sharp, GE Honda Aero president. “We are gearing up for the production environ-ment, which should come by the end of the year.”

Certification has been delayed by about four months follow-ing a problem encountered around a quarter of the way into the strenuous 150-hour block

endurance test. Sharp described the failure as occurring in a bolt clamp in the gearbox system and stressed that there were no turbine machinery issues. Fol-lowing a minor redesign and some changes to the assem-bly process the HF120 engine began the block test again, and it was successfully completed in April. The block test is brutal: it includes 45 hours at maximum continuous exhaust gas temper-ature (EGT) at red-line fan and core speeds; 19 hours at maxi-mum takeoff EGT and red-line speeds; and hundreds of burst/chop cycles. In July the block test engine will be disassembled for a complete inspection.

Currently, GE Honda (Booth 647) has submitted 180 of the 189 documents required for certification, and 158 have been approved. The final cer-tification test is medium-bird ingestion, which will be under-taken in July at GE’s Peebles,

Ohio facility. One-kilogram birds will be fired at the engine at both the inboard section (“core shot”) and outer end of the fan (“tip shot”). Final doc-uments will be submitted in the third quarter this year, with approval expected in the fourth quarter. EASA certification has also been applied for; this would typically follow around six months after FAA approval.

Altogether, the 13 HF120 test engines have accumulated more than 7,300 hours, includ-ing 232 hours of in-flight test-ing on a Cessna CitationJet testbed. The engines have notched up more than 9,700 cycles, including 3,000 cycles by one engine alone as part of

the endurance validation pro-gram. GE Honda plans to run this engine as a fleet-leader to the design TBO of 5,000 hours before the HF120 is ready for deliveries to begin.

In anticipation of certifica-tion GE Honda is stockpiling components and conducting supplier readiness reviews. Ini-tial production engines will be assembled at GE’s Lynn, Mas-sachusetts plant, but early next year production will transfer incrementally to GE Honda Aero’s Burlington, North Car-olina facility. This process is expected to take around a year to complete. o

Steve Ridolfi, left, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, welcomed actor-pilot John Travolta to the stage yesterday to describe his participation in test flying the Challenger 350.

GE Honda’s HF120 is an advanced small turbofan with counter-rotating HP and LP spools.

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VistaJet selects JSSI for Platinum support by David Donald

VistaJet announced yester-day that it is enrolling 50 Bom-bardier Global 5000s and 6000s with the Platinum engine and APU hourly-cost maintenance program operated by Jet Sup-port Services Inc. (JSSI). Val-ued at more than $205 million at 2013 list prices, the deal is possibly the largest ever con-cluded for any hourly-cost maintenance program.

JSSI was selected after careful evaluation, lead-ing to what VistaJet founder and chairman Thomas Flohr described as “a very clear winner situation.” VistaJet already had two Globals and an AgustaWestland helicopter enrolled with JSSI. “We believe it’s a wise decision to get the Global aircraft covered under this program,” Flohr added.

Under the agreement JSSI will support the Rolls-Royce BR710A2-20 engines and Honeywell RE220 APUs from its many worldwide service partners. The Platinum pro-gram covers scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, rental engines, supplemen-tal lift, engine removal and replacement and shipping. As well as driving down mainte-nance costs, the program also provides budget stability.

Last year VistaJet announced a massive 56-aircraft order for Globals (with another 86 on option). Deliveries are now start-ing, and all deliveries henceforth will be enrolled in the JSSI pro-gram (see also story on page 37).

Following the Global sup-port deal, VistaJet is examin-ing the possibility of further

support programs for its other aircraft types. At the same time, it is also keeping a close watch on the Challenger 350 that was revealed this week at EBACE. VistaJet has been a member of Bombar-dier’s focus group for busi-ness jet development and has ensured that various options are incorporated. “We would want a higher spec than what is being shown here,” said Flohr, referring to the Chal-lenger 350 fuselage on display at EBACE. “For instance, we would want a crew seat for a flight attendant. All of our aircraft carry flight atten-dants, even the Learjets, and they need a seat that allows the customer to maintain their privacy.” o

Pilatus PC-12s have flown 4 million hours since 1994

The global fleet of nearly 1,200 Pilatus PC-12s reached a major milestone this month by accumulating four million flight hours since the first copy of the turboprop single was deliv-ered in October 1994. Accord-ing to Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus, the highest time PC-12 has logged more than 24,000 hours in operation as an air ambulance with Air Bravo in Ontario, Canada.

“We are delighted and proud to reach this momentous occa-sion in the history of the PC-12 program. To those of us who

have been with the PC-12 since its inception, four million hours seemed to be an event our suc-cessors would experience,” said Pilatus general aviation vice pres-ident Ignaz Gretener. “Today, the PC-12 fleet adds one million flight hours every two years.”

As part of the celebration this year, Pilatus’s design team outfitted a demo PC-12 NG with an Otto Lilienthal-themed paint job, graced with carefully applied “tailfeathers” painted on the PC-12 NG’s empennage. The Lilienthal PC-12 NG is on static display at EBACE. –C.T.


Neil Book, JSSI’s president and CEO (left), and VistaJet founder Thomas Flohr shake hands after cementing their engine support agreement.

NetJets’ European fleet to operate Phenom 300sby Gregory Polek

NetJets Europe plans to operate Embraer Phenom 300s by early 2014, the two compa-nies announced here at EBACE yesterday. Holding a firm order for 50 of the specially outfit-ted “Signature Series” light jets, NetJets took its first delivery on May 1 for its U.S. operations and expects to accept roughly two airplanes a month. Also holding options on another 75 of the Brazilian jets, NetJets has committed as much as $1 billion to the purchase and, according to NetJets Europe president and COO Mark Wilson, the planned investment in the European fleet will ensure proper economies of scale “in short order.”

Speaking with AIN follow-ing the announcement, Wilson explained that although sev-eral European customers have already expressed interest in the product, yesterday’s for-mal launch means that NetJets begins the process of signing customers. He wouldn’t predict any customer signings here at EBACE, however. “I don’t know about that,” he said. “We’ll see. Sometimes these things happen very quickly and sometimes they don’t. Ultimately, our plan is to make sure we get a large number of these aircraft sold by the time it arrives early next year.”

Wilson noted that NetJets eval-uated “dozens” of different air-craft types for the new operation, but settled on the Phenom 300 due to its position at what he described as “probably” the top end of the

light jet market, its ability to fly “a little farther” than its competitors and its overall performance char-acteristics. “We’re really excited about the performance it’s got and the ability to operate in our pri-mary operating area in Europe; it

covers it completely. It’s not going to be used just for short hops.”

Now offering Hawker 400s and Citation Bravos in the light-jet category, NetJets Europe will likely replace many of those air-planes with the Phenoms, said Wilson, as well as use the little Embraer jets as a growth plat-form. “Over time we will replace [the Hawker 400s and Citation Bravos], but it is over time,” he stressed. “We’re going to add capacity in the first instance and then we’ll see…” o

Mark Wilson, president and COO of NetJets Europe, with Embraer Executive Jets president Ernest Edwards.

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TBM 850 Elite gets makeover with a redesigned interiorby Thierry Dubois

Daher-Socata is here at EBACE (Booth 1643) with its model year 2013 TBM 850 Elite, featuring a special cabin equipment package. The Tarbes, France-based company sold 38 examples of the single-engine turboprop last year, while its specialist aerostructures activities mean that it is involved in still-under-wraps business jet programs.

The 2013 package includes “a deluxe leather interior with a storage cabinet, wooden or carbon-fiber fittings, and 14V DC power plugs.” On top of this comes the “highly extended exclusive maintenance program,” which reduces scheduled maintenance costs over five years or 1,000 hours.

Separately, a new maintenance pro-gram (NMP) recommends maintenance intervals of 200 hours (instead of the pre-vious 100 hours) or 12 months, whichever occurs first. The NMP is available on new production aircraft, while the transition for previously delivered TBM 850s can be made during their annual inspection.

Additional safety options in the 2013 Elite package are a GPS-linked emer-gency locator transmitter and a pulsed light system. The latter alternately

flashes the landing, taxi and recognition lights 45 times per minute to increase the aircraft’s visibility. The Elite ver-sion of the TBM 850, unveiled last year, offers greater payload flexibility thanks to reconfigurable and removable seats, as well as a freight safety net.

Daher-Socata delivered a total of 298 TBM 850s as of year-end 2012, and the combined fleet of TBM 700s and 850s has surpassed one million flight hours. The 38 TBM 850s the airframer sold last year represented its “fourth best year,” said the company.

The sales equated to “an 18-percent share of the market segment.” The major-ity of TBM 850s purchased in 2012 were acquired by U.S. customers (66 percent); Canada ranked second, with 13 percent, followed by Brazil and Germany’s (8 per-cent each). One sale was achieved in the UK last year, where the market is show-ing “signs of recovery.” Thailand joined the club of TBM countries with a con-tract for its first TBM 850 in June.

To expand its product range, Daher-Socata is still hesitating about launching a twin-engine program, and has studied using the defunct Grob SPn

as a basis. However, CEO Stéphane Mayer has confirmed that the company will not relaunch it–for now. “Business aviation is beginning to show signs of full recovery, so funding the develop-ment of a new aircraft will hopefully be easier in two years, most probably with a partner,” said Mayer.

While Daher-Socata is mostly known in business aviation for its TBM 850 tur-boprop single, it also plays roles in other in-development aircraft programs. For the Falcon SMS, Daher-Socata is pro-viding Dassault with the upper fuselage for the passenger cabin and the lower

forward fuselage section, as well as two doors–one emergency exit and one bag-gage door, Mayer told AIN.

Separately, Mayer said, “A major U.S. business jet manufacturer has selected us for components that will be part of a new family of three aircraft.” He revealed that the components are landing gear doors and that they will be made of composite materials.

Daher-Socata has long been active in composites research and develop-ment for business aviation, and has even built a demonstrator for a TBM 850-sized fuselage. o


The 2013 edition of the TBM 850 Elite features a special cabin equipment package and a deluxe leather interior, as well as reconfigurable and removable seats. The aircraft’s all-glass integrated Global 1000 avionics suite features two primary flight displays, a multifunction display and TCAS.

Daher-Socata delivered 298 TBM 850s last year, with the majority going to U.S. customers.

328 Group now ‘328’ & ‘Jets’; delivers first exec CRJ200by Kirby J. Harrison

328 Group has returned to EBACE in Geneva (Booth 388) with a new brand identity that has seen the company image split into its two prime areas of expertise: “328” and “Jets.”

The move reflects 328 Group’s increas-ing portfolio of interior manufacture and design work on aircraft, ranging from small helicopters through larger fixed-wing aircraft the size of the Airbus A340, and its expansion of maintenance exper-tise under the “Jets” brand. The change also comes following the recent acqui-sition of a new maintenance facility at London Biggin Hill Airport, a previous Jet Aviation facility.

Under the 328 brand is 328 Sup-port Services GmbH, the type certifi-cate holder for the Dornier 328 (jet and turboprop series), as well as 328 Design GmbH. 328 will continue to concentrate on support for the worldwide Dornier fleet, as well as building on its success with its STC (supplemental type certif-icate) design activities and manufactur-ing, primarily centering on executive VIP cabin completion and refurbishment.

The Group’s main facilities are at Ober-phafenhoffen, near Munich, Germany. Its current Jets operational UK base is at Bournemouth Airport and its third home is the new center at Biggin Hill. “We are

also eyeing other locations for mainte-nance and completions in the future,” said 328 Group CEO Dave Jackson.

In other 328 Group news, 328 Design has announced it has received an EASA STC for converting Bombardier CRJ200s; in collaboration with Ruag Aircraft Ser-vices (Booth 1071), the first CRJ has been converted from regional airline configura-tion to a 10-passenger executive layout.

The cabin was fitted with Emteq’s eConnect and eQuation system, allow-ing passengers to use personal electronic devices to connect to and to control the cabin. Video and audio content in the in-flight entertainment system is streamed via wireless local area networks.

Work began on the twinjet in July 2012 and the airplane was delivered to an unidentified customer in late March this year. It was the first collaboration of 328 Design and Ruag, a partnership that is not likely to be the last, said 328 Design COO and head of design Jörg Gorkenant.

328 Group employs more than 250 avi-ation experts and supports more than 200 aircraft globally. Services offered range from maintenance and exterior paint to STC design activities, parts manufacture and support for numerous aircraft types, executive aircraft interior completion and refurbishment, and avionics upgrades. o

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Aircell boosts service after acquiring AirfoneIn-flight connectivity equipment and

services provider Aircell (Booth 543) completed its acquisition of the Airfone business unit of LiveTV, representing a boost to the capacity of Aircell’s Gogo and Gogo Biz in-flight Internet services.

The agreement includes LiveTV’s 1 MHz air-to-ground spectrum license, as well as the Airfone in-flight

communications service, network infra-structure and back-office operational assets.

“We’re delighted to welcome Airfone customers and dedicated employees to the Aircell family,” said Aircell executive v-p and general manager John Wade.

With a history dating back to the 1970s, the Airfone service currently operates on

frequencies adjacent to those used by Air-cell’s Gogo Biz in-flight Internet service in the business aviation market. To support the ongoing expansion of those services, the Airfone service will be permanently decommissioned on Dec. 31, 2013.

To help ease the transition for affected operators, Aircell is offering special replacement incentives on a number of its voice and Internet systems. The incentive program–available exclusively to current Airfone subscribers through Decem-ber 31–allows customers to preserve or expand their in-flight communications capabilities at below-market costs.

Airfone subscribers, according to Wade, can visit www.airfonetransition.com to obtain complete details about the pending network shutdown, includ-ing timelines, frequently asked questions, replacement system options, contact information and more.

“In-flight communications have become an indispensable part of the business aviation experience,” added Wade. “To ensure operators aren’t with-out needed communications capabilities after the December 31 Airfone service shutdown, customers with MagnaStar units are encouraged to begin planning their transition now.” –K.J.H.

With the acquisition of Airfone, in-flight connectivity specialist Aircell expects a boost to the capacity of Aircell’s Gogo and Gogo Biz in-flight Internet services, including Wi-Fi information sharing.

Air Culinaire names European sales manager

Air Culinaire Worldwide has appointed Maithri Samaradivakara as its new sales manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will be based at the company’s kitchen at London Luton Airport.

Samaradivakara has extensive previ-ous experience of the in-flight catering business, having previously been mar-keting director with UK-based Cuisine Air. He will be responsible for identify-ing further market opportunities for Air Culinaire, which is a subsidiary of flight planning group Universal Weather & Avi-ation (Booth 363). He also is in charge of securing catering contracts and handling customer service and support. –C.A.

Maithri Samaradivakara, Air Culinaire sales

manager, EMEA.

Jet Aviation’s diverse services help ensure continued growthby Charles Alcock

European business aviation flight activity may still be down, but overall prospects for one of the industry’s largest service groups are on the rise, according to Jet Aviation president Dan Clare. In an interview ahead of this week’s EBACE show Clare said the Switzerland-based company’s management and charter business is picking up well, with balanced growth between the markets in the U.S. and across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. At the same time, he hailed a recovery in Jet Aviation’s aircraft comple-tions business.

According to Clare, who is approach-ing his second anniversary at the helm of Jet Aviation, the growth in its manage-ment fleet has seen an even spread in new arrivals from among manufacturers such as Dassault, Bombardier and its General Dynamics sister company Gulfstream. It now claims one of the largest fleets under management in the world, having added 23 aircraft so far in 2013, with three of these being available for charter, includ-ing a Falcon 900EX and Bombardier Global 5000 and Challenger 604. The company added eight jets in the U.S., seven in Europe, four in Asia and two each in Africa and the Middle East.

“Charter is still a tough business but it’s not hurting us since we got rid of our

own fleet,” Clare told AIN. He described the management sector as “fractured” in the sense that some operators have come under significant commercial pressure, with owners more willing to move their aircraft. “But we haven’t seen a lot of people coming and going,” he added. “It is very rare that someone leaves us unless they sell their airplane.”

Meanwhile, Clare and his team believe they have now turned around what he acknowledged had been a troubled com-pletions operation in Basel, Switzerland. “We have re-engineered the Basel facil-ity from top to bottom and the quality of the work and the rate of deliveries, and we now see this [sector] as an opportu-nity for revenue growth,” he explained, adding that in 2012 the center delivered six aircraft.

In the area of FBOs and maintenance, repair and overhaul services, Clare reported stabilization of demand in the European market and new growth in demand in other markets. Maintenance activity at its Dubai and Singapore bases has been increasing and in Singapore it is in the process of tri-pling the size of its facility.

“I think we’ve achieved a lot in the past 18 months or so, moving our headquar-ters from Zurich to Basel to get closer to operations and closer to customers,” said

Clare. “We’ve grown new businesses like Jet Professionals [the company’s business aviation recruitment agency] and have gotten out of some locations that were no longer core.”

As it introduces new services, such as increased support for the Embraer air-craft family, Jet Aviation (Booth 519) has

stepped up investment in training and infrastructure. It expects to be announc-ing further expansion at new locations in the near future. “It’s still a very competi-tive market but customers still recognize value, and I still see a lot of loyalty from them because of our continued value proposition,” said Clare. o

Jet Aviation president Dan Clare says the group’s business has been performing well on several fronts, but particularly in the aircraft management sector where it has added 23 aircraft to its fleet so far this year, including this Dassault Falcon 900EX.

Honeywell adds apps for PC-12by Matt Thurber

Honeywell is making flying the Pilatus PC-12 NG easier with four new iPad apps optimized for the big single-engine turbo-prop. The apps cover mainte-nance and operational solutions and is to be available in Apple’s App Store in July, although the myGDC app is already available, with an updated version com-ing in July. More information is available at Honeywell’s EBACE exhibit (Booth 487).

“With the recent prolifera-tion of tablets, our customers are increasingly using portable devices for a range of flight-plan-ning tasks,” said Victor Valente, Honeywell Aerospace v-p of busi-ness and general aviation EMEAI (Europe, Middle East, Africa and India). “We are using these chang-ing patterns to bring affordable wireless capabilities and iPad solu-tions to the market that puts the

information pilots need most liter-ally at their fingertips,” he added.

The myGDC app gives PC-12 NG pilots access to Honeywell’s Global Data Center, where they can create and file U.S. and Euro-control flight plans, view weather and notams, access airport infor-mation and download trip kits. Flight plans can be created on the iPad and wirelessly uploaded to the PC-12 NG’s Honeywell Apex avionics.

The new INDS app simplifies the uploading of Jeppesen charts, maps and navigation data to en-sure compliance with FAA data-currency requirements. The app al-so helps shorten data upload times.

With the maintenance down-load app, PC-12 NG condition-monitoring and fault-history databases can be downloaded and sent wirelessly to designated parties, which should speed up provisioning and repair pro-cesses, said Honeywell.

For PC-12 NGs with Aspen Avionics’ CG100P Connected Gateway, the FlightPath app can display flight progress parame-ters on worldwide terrain maps on the iPad. This gives passen-gers flight information without installing specialized displays. o

Gama Aviation sees big jump in Sharjah traffic

Gama Aviation’s Sharjah Air-port FBO has posted a 75-percent increase in corporate aviation movements during the past 12 months. The company responded to the increased traffic by add-ing five new employees to serve its expanding customer base. The increased traffic demonstrates

that the FBO has established itself as “the stress-free preferred gateway for business and private visitors to Sharjah, Dubai and the Northern Emirates,” accord-ing to Dave Edwards, managing director, Gama Aviation Sharjah.

Gama (Booth 1155) has a new maintenance and storage hangar

at Sharjah, large enough for a Boeing BBJ and Airbus ACJ; both models are represented in its managed fleet. There is also space to significantly expand its regional headquarters at Shar-jah, said the Farnborough, UK-headquartered firm.

The company credits much of its success at Sharjah to its close working partnership with the Sharjah Airport Authority and the Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation. Last year, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority awarded Gama its Part 145 air-craft maintenance approval.

“We are delighted that our customers are recognizing the value of Sharjah International Airport for business aviation,” Edwards said. “This is enabling us to commit to further invest-ment to support and grow ser-vices in the region. I’m confident that our current and future cus-tomers will appreciate the addi-tional support services we are now able to provide.” –M.P.

Dave Edwards (left), managing director of Gama Aviation FZE, credits much of the company’s success to cooperation from the Sharjah Airport Authority, led by managing director Ali Salem Al Midfa.


JSSI is celebrating 10,000th av assetby Mark Phelps

JSSI (Jet Support Services, Inc.) signed a contract here at EBACE with Geneva-based operator Air King Jet, mark-ing the 10,000th aviation asset to be covered by a JSSI hourly cost maintenance program. In this case, the deal is for Plati-num coverage for the engines and APU on Air King Jet’s new Bombardier Global 6000 (the aircraft is due to be delivered after the show).

Chicago-based JSSI (Booth 1251), whose European office is located at England’s Farnborough Airport, has been providing maintenance pro-grams for aircraft engines, air-frames and auxiliary power units (APUs) since 1989. Similar to an insurance policy, the partic-ipant makes regular payments, and maintenance is completely covered under the program.

Air King Jet currently oper-ates two Bombardier Global Expresses, both of which already have JSSI protection on engines and APUs. JSSI’s Plat-inum program is geared specifi-cally to long-range jets such as the Global series.

The company’s Platinum program for its Global 6000 covers scheduled maintenance inspections; unscheduled main-tenance events; 24/7 world-wide technical support; future mandatory and recommended service bulletins; future air-worthiness directives; JSSI technical advisor on site dur-ing engine shop visits; allow-ance for troubleshooting labor costs; rental engines; removal and replacement; shipping; and supplemental lift during air-craft downtime.

The ultimate in full main-tenance coverage at JSSI is its Tip-to-Tail program, covering airframe, engines and APU. The all-inclusive program cov-ers virtually every assembly and system on board with one contract, making JSSI the sin-gle contact for all maintenance, scheduled or unscheduled. The program also covers reg-ular preventive maintenance, inspections and replacement of life-limited components.

The regular payments are usually based on the number of hours the aircraft flies, and the service provider (it could be the engine or airframe manufac-turer, or a third-party mainte-nance organization) covers the maintenance and is reimbursed by JSSI. The program is attrac-tive to corporate flight depart-ments, in particular, because it spreads out the expense of air-craft maintenance into regular payments that are easier to track and fit into a corporate budget. It eliminates the possibility of high-cost surprises.

There’s another sound finan-cial reason for turning to JSSI to manage maintenance costs, said the company, and that is return on investment. Aircraft that are maintained under such programs are far more valu-able on the pre-owned market, it believes, and buyers know that operators of JSSI air-craft are encouraged to address every squawk, since the work is already “paid for.” Parts are also less expensive based on bulk buying power–JSSI works with large numbers of aircraft. Another advantage is JSSI’s assortment of affiliated shops throughout the world. Should the operator need unsched-uled service on a trip outside its usual itinerary, it’s helpful to know that JSSI knows whom to call to get the airplane off the ground again. o


news clips

z Blackhawk Names New Sales Managers Blackhawk Modifications president Jim Allmon announced

the appointment of two new regional sales managers. Kevin Swash has responsibility for Southeast Asia and Oceania, bringing with him a wealth of experience in Australia and Indonesia in the fields of engineering and business development. Bill Cadow has been appointed to cover the eastern U.S., having formerly worked in various sales fields for Hawker Beechcraft.

Based in Waco, Texas, Blackhawk Modifications (Booth 1947) specializes in engine performance upgrades for turboprops, performing modifications for the Beechcraft King Air 90 and 200, Cessna Caravan and Conquest and Piper Cheyenne.

z Jet Aviation Basel Selected by Custom ControlVIP cabin equipment supplier Custom Control Concepts

(CCC, Booth 385) announced that it has appointed Jet Aviation Basel as its exclusive authorized service center for Europe. Under the terms of the agreement, Jet Aviation will perform component-level repairs on CCC equipment and provide necessary return-to-service approvals. CCC has agreed to provide training, equipment and parts.

CCC, based in Kent, Washington, is a manufacturer of custom in-flight entertainment equipment, lighting and cabin management systems. Products include in-flight audio and video systems, communications systems and interfaces to handheld devices.

z Harrods Adds New Maintenance ApprovalsHarrods Aviation (Booth 671) has entered into two

engineering partnerships with Bombardier and Dassault Falcon Services at its Luton base in London, the company announced at EBACE.

Bombardier awarded Harrods Aviation authorized service facility and line maintenance facility status, allowing it to provide warranty support for the Challenger 300 and 605, Global Express/XRS and Global 5000 and 6000.

The partnership with Dassault Falcon Services (DFS) involves the establishment of a new satellite office at Luton airport, where DFS has sent a “Go Team” similar to those already based in Nice in France and Moscow, Russia.

DFS makes technicians available around-the-clock to troubleshoot AOG cases, including at Farnborough, Biggin Hill, Northolt, London City, Gatwick and Stansted airports, all in the UK. The teams also perform unscheduled and line maintenance services.

z ExcelAire Receives LCY Operations ApprovalCharter/management provider ExcelAire announced

during EBACE that it has received approval to operate its five Embraer Legacy 600s into London City Airport (LCY). Located in the heart of London, LCY is the closest and most convenient airport for easy access to London’s financial district. With steep approaches and special noise-abatement departures, flight crew require special training and aircraft require enhanced certification to operate from LCY; ExcelAire has worked hard to make sure its pilots passed the necessary tests.

The company maintains office and hangar space at Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York, with aircraft based throughout the northeastern and midwestern U.S.

“With our London City approval, ExcelAire offers an option that few U.S. private jet operators can provide and it gives our business clients a competitive advantage,” said ExcelAire president David Rimmer. “Flying into London City Airport is one example of how private jet travel can offer passengers more convenient access to their destination,” he added.

Arinc Direct touts Xplore iPad service

Arinc Direct (Booth 1200) is showcasing the preproduc-tion version of Xplore, a com-munications service that offers, on an iPad, Acars messaging, voice and a messaging platform for SMS and instant messag-ing and BlackBerry email ser-vices. The new product is “in the final stages of testing before certification and full produc-tion,” according to Arinc Direct, which is taking pre-orders at the EBACE show.

Xplore, which works via Irid-ium and Inmarsat satellites, is designed for use with busi-ness jets, helicopters and turbo-props flying in remote locations. Regions such as Africa and Aus-tralia are key targets. For exist-ing Arinc Direct customers, the Acars messaging functionality is said to be “completely interoper-able” with their existing account.

Arinc Direct has further devel-oped synchronization of data between two or more iPads. When using the Arinc Direct iPad app in the cockpit, pilots can share data via Bluetooth. Arinc Direct has also added real-time cloud syn-chronization of data. –T.D.

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JSSI president and CEO Neil Book, right, congratulates v-p of business development Kevin Thomas on signing up the 10,000th aviation asset to be supported by JSSI since 1989.

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TBM 850 a strong seller for OEM Daher-Socata

Daher-Socata airplane divi-sion senior v-p Nicolas Chabbert gave an optimistic outlook at EBACE for sales of the French manufacturer’s TBM 850 turbo-prop single. At about 40 exam-ples of the aircraft, deliveries this year will be close to last year’s 38–but this time the backlog is much stronger: “We have sold 95 percent of the planned produc-tion,” Chabbert said.

Moreover, only 8 percent of the TBM fleet is reported to be for sale on the second-hand market. None of them has the current avionics standard–a Garmin G1000 suite. “Our situ-ation on the pre-owned market is ideal,” said Chabbert.

Daher-Socata can be found at the show at Booth 1643, and

it has brought a TBM 850 to the EBACE static park.

Chabbert also announced that Abalone Group, a specialist in providing temporary work-ers, has taken delivery of a new TBM 850 Elite. The Nantes, France-based company is the first corporate customer for the Elite. The executives and man-agers of Abalone–a small firm employing 70–will use it for long-distance trips.

“We noticed also that activ-ity on board our corporate air-craft is the continuity of our office activity so the travel time is typically productive time…on [flights of] several hours, com-fort of the private plane reduced fatigue,” said Abalone project manager Sacha Moutel. –T.D.


Harrods joins Air Elite Network chainWorld Fuel Services (Booth

359) announced that Harrods Aviation, located at Stansted and Luton airports, has agreed to join its Air Elite Network FBO chain–becoming the first in the UK to do so. The deal brings the total number of FBOs in the net-work, established by World Fuel in late 2011, to 29 worldwide.

Both of Harrods’ FBOs pro-vide convenient access to London; the Luton- and Stansted-based FBOs offer passengers luxurious lounge and washroom facilities, workstations, complementary refreshments, conference facilities and a range of Harrods merchan-dise available for purchase. Har-rods also offers exclusive VVIP lounges for high-profile custom-ers or small traveling parties that require total privacy and discre-tion during their visit. Beyond the normal crew amenities one would expect from a modern FBO, Har-rods Aviation at Stansted offers crews the use of two private bunkrooms. Meanwhile, Harrods Aviation at Luton offers multiple

conference meeting rooms and additional security.

Both locations can accommo-date all aspects of aircraft arrival and departure requirements including passenger handling, air-craft ramp and hangar parking,

ground-support equipment and the arrangement of all third-party services. The Luton facility can accommodate aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 767, while the Stansted FBO can handle aircraft as large as a Boeing 747-400. –G.P.

Paul Norton, managing director of Harrods Aviation (left) and Noel Siggery, business aviation fuel supply manager for World Fuel Services, will now be working together.

Dubai-based trip-planner demonstrating a new app

Dubai-based trip support specialist United Aviation Ser-vices (UAS, Booth 371) is here giving live demos of its new Trip Management System (TMS). TMS is “a web-based and mobile trip management appli-cation” that will give customers real-time access to UAS’s range of business aviation services. For example, customers will be able to track, in real time, the status of their flights and ser-vice requests. They will also have access to handling and fuel confirmations.

Instead of having to make

separate phone calls or emails to separate teams for elements like permits, fuel or flight itin-eraries, customers can use TMS to receive the same level of information as UAS’s

operations team. “It’s like hav-ing a full operations team right in your phone,” said UAS co-owner and executive president Mohammed Husary.

TMS will be available for free, online and as an app for iPhone, Android and Black-Berry smartphones. Beta test-ing was completed at the end of last year but release to customers has been postponed to the third quarter of 2013.

UAS has a network of part-ners, vendors and representa-tives across the globe. It has offices in Mali, Ethiopia and Kyrgyzstan to manage sta-tions in those regions. It has now opened an office in the U.S. and plans to seek devel-opment and growth opportu-nities elsewhere. –T.D.

Rolls-Royce has a 3-D app for its BR725Rolls-Royce has launched a

new mobile technical publications service for the BR725 engine that powers the Gulfstream G650.

The application takes techni-cal data that was previously sup-plied in Adobe PDF format and transforms it into three-dimen-sional animations that can be dis-played on an iPad or other tablet device. This allows the engineers to easily view the tech pubs and drawings as they work on the

engine. Through Rolls-Royce’s Myengineaero.com web-based support service the technical data can be kept updated with the latest information.

“We are always seeking to improve and innovate to support our customers, who would pre-fer a ‘show and do’ instruction rather than the traditional pdf,” explained Neil Brown, direc-tor of R-R’s small and medium engines.

“We wanted to do something different and, as the Gulfstream G650 has iPod and iPad con-nections, we thought this solu-tion had potential. There is even a strap attachment to hold an iPad, to enable engineers to interact with the information as they are working,” Brown said. The company is now looking at other manuals that could be adapted to become 3-D publications. –D.D.

Trip support specialist UAS is offering direct access to flight and service request status.

TAG opens FBO in Sion With the announcement here at

EBACE of the opening of a new FBO facility at Sion in Switzer-land, TAG Aviation (Booth 344) has added another major base. Located in the Rhône valley to the east of Lake Geneva, the Sion operation provides a range of pas-senger, FBO/handling and aircraft maintenance services. It boasts a passenger terminal with three VIP salons and a dedicated crew lounge, a 3,200-sq-m hangar and 12,000 sq m of aircraft parking.

Meanwhile, TAG Aviation Maintenance’s facilities at Sion provide comprehensive services for Dassault Falcon, Bombar-dier Challenger and Learjet

models, as well as a spectrum of line maintenance services for other aircraft types. Among its specialties are avionics upgrades, including the EASy II upgrade for Dassault Falcons.

Sion joins a network of TAG facilities that includes the award-winning FBO here at Geneva.

TAG also operates a major facility at Farnborough in the UK and an FBO at Madrid-Barajas in Spain with a mainte-nance center at nearby Torrejón. It holds air operator certificates at these three locations and oper-ates two more maintenance cen-ters, one located in Paris and the other in Lomé in Togo. –D.D.

TAG’s new Sion facility provides maintenance and engineering services, including avionics and other upgrades

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Daher-Socata’s TBM 850 turboprop has been a hot seller, with 95 percent of planned production sold.

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Emteq improves eConnect controlby Mark Phelps

Of all the new products it is has on display at EBACE this year, New Berlin, Wisconsin-based Emteq (Booth 1557) expects the most buzz to be around its eConnect advancements. Since

eConnect was introduced in the fourth quarter of 2011, Emteq has continued to update the cabin electronics control system, ensur-ing it will not only serve as a cur-rent top-line CMS/IFE system

but can also adapt to future needs. Some of the newer features roll-ing out here at EBACE include an advanced acceleration and compression software integra-tion, proprietary moving map,

and optimized personal elec-tronic device (PED) interface.

The eConnect system has been extremely well received, said Emteq. Its most compel-ling asset is that it is a very flex-ible system that can provide full CMS, IFE (in flight entertain-ment) and wireless router capa-bility in one line replaceable unit (LRU). The LRU is also scalable

to accommodate the system needs of any particular aircraft, according to the company. Flex-ibility is also an asset of Emteq as a company, it maintains, with its ability to respond to the needs of customers and quickly imple-ment solutions; especially com-pared to larger OEMs.

Emteq reports eConnect has been installed on aircraft rang-ing from the HondaJet up to a Boeing 767. The Emteq office in Bachenbulach, here in Swit-zerland, is providing tech-nical management for these programs and is proving to be a very successful model for sup-porting European customers, said the company.

One recently completed installation was carried out in cooperation with Ruag in Munich on a Bombardier CRJ200. The aircraft operator chose to install eConnect as a full CMS and IFE system. The bilingual system GUI provides control of window shades and lighting. It also interfaces with mounted monitors and the air-craft audio system as well as wirelessly streaming IFE con-tent to personal electronic devices (PEDs) on board.

IFE upgrade on Global XRSEmteq recently won the

bid on a program to install an IFE upgrade in a Bombardier Global XRS, adding a wireless PED interface, as well as cabin management controlling the Quasar II Full Spectrum Light-ing system. The installation is scheduled for the third quarter of this year with FAI in Nurem-berg, Germany.

Many of Emteq’s ongoing installation programs include sev-eral other advanced cabin prod-ucts that the company is also introducing at EBACE this year, including Quasar II. According to Emteq, Quasar II provides vivid colors and dynamic scenes; and does it all with the ease of 115-volt AC functionality.

Another innovation on show here in Geneva is intelliUSB SR–an on board charging system for PEDs. With the growing ubiquity of iPads, iPhones, Droids, tablets and other devices, being able to charge them in-flight is now vir-tually a necessity. The intelliUSB SR bridges the gap in the mar-ket as a universal charging device, and it’s now smaller than ever. o


Emteq’s eConnect cabin electronics management system innovations are on display here at EBACE.

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Charter operator LEA adopts cautious approach to growthby Ian Sheppard

London Executive Aviation has been one of the stalwarts of Europe’s private charter sector for almost two decades. Trading conditions have never been tougher than in the last few years, but the UK firm is surviving by sticking to its core values, as founders Patrick Margetson-Rushmore and George Gala-nopoulos told AIN in an interview prior to this week’s show.

Since starting in 1996 with a single pis-ton-engine aircraft, London Executive Aviation (LEA) has gradually grown its presence at airports around the UK capital, with a fleet of 28 aircraft. It now has man-aged aircraft available for charter at Lon-don City, Farnborough, Luton, Stansted, Biggin Hill, Stapleford and Oxford.

The fleet–consisting of a dozen Cessna Citations (four Mustangs, two Bravo/IIs and six Excels), two Bombardier Chal-lenger 300s, nine Embraer Legacys and a Dassault Falcon 2000LX–is used to oper-ate some 500 flights a month to a vast range of 5,000 or more destinations across Europe and the Middle East, assisted by a 24/7/365 operations support center. For shorter hops, it has two King Airs based at Stapleford, in the northeast London sub-urbs, where the company was founded and still maintains its corporate headquarters.

“There’s an oversupply of air-craft available for charter,” said Margetson-Rushmore. In Russia, the company has found some operators are quoting 20 to 30 percent below cost to secure business. “And our gross margin is 10 percent, the same as most operators’,” he added. “We have three aircraft that are Russia market related: two Legacy

600s and a Legacy 650.“What is surprising is in Russia there is

virtually no regulation…even a bank will own an aircraft and charter it out quite openly, without an AOC. It’s like the Wild West,” said Margetson-Rushmore. But he said most charter customers still use repu-table operators, especially so their insurance remains valid and because of the various tangible and intangible repercussions that can result if something goes awry.

Over the last three months the com-pany has taken on an Embraer Phenom 300, a Dassault Falcon 2000LX and a Legacy 650. It now has three 650s and six 600s. The Phenom 300 is the first example available for charter in the UK, he added.

Aircraft Management“Historically, when we started we

were predominantly charter–and it’s fair to say that we are still one of the larg-est charter operators in Europe, and one of the largest [aircraft] managers,” said Margetson-Rushmore. “In the last five years we’ve seen more of an emphasis on management, but that’s not because we want to do less charter.”

In LEA’s customer base, the major-ity of owners are happy to allow their aircraft to be chartered, therefore earn-ing income to help offset costs. The ratio of charter time to owner’s use is 80:20, said Galanopoulos. “It’s really good at times. This is quite a high split,” added Margetson-Rushmore.

Over the past eight or nine months business appears to be picking up, with more interest especially on the manage-ment side. “I suspect people have become

more settled in terms of the economic sit-uation,” said Margetson-Rushmore. So far this year, for January to March, the number of quotes given compared with the same period in 2012 is up 32 percent.

In the company’s view, its reputation means that it can be strict about standards, and is not desperate for aircraft to manage. “We don’t promise unrealistic expectations, and as a result people often go elsewhere,” said Margetson-Rushmore. “Also, we try to be as transparent as we can be in terms of costs of running the aircraft.” Ultimately, LEA is looking for long-term relationships, with most of the company’s clients staying

ith it from the beginning. “We quite often turn down manage-

ment opportunities,” said Galanopoulos. “For example, managing the Hawker 800 because we don’t see it as a good char-ter aircraft. You need to choose a charter aircraft that will make money…and one-of-a-kind won’t make you money either.”

LEA doesn’t create a base every-where it manages an aircraft. However it does take a very hands-on approach. “That’s one of the unique things about our firm–we’re the owners and directors and actually get involved with the cli-ents,” said Galanopoulos.

All planning and coordination is car-ried out at the Stapleford headquarters, while local arrangements are made to crew and maintain the aircraft through partner-ships with companies where the aircraft are based. This is how the Legacy based at Tallinn, Estonia, is managed, and the Russian aircraft, too–by using local peo-ple who can assist the LEA team.

Low-cost ChartersLEA made a brave move when it

decided to offer lower cost charters–as much as 40 percent lower than average European charter prices–by acquiring a fleet of Cessna Citation Mustangs five years ago. It couldn’t have foreseen the financial crisis that started to bite in 2009, but that certainly put the squeeze on the light jet end of the charter market.

So what is next for LEA? “We have looked at increasing the number of aircraft and where the physical geography would take us. We won’t go somewhere just for the sake of going there, for example, to China,” said Margetson-Rushmore. He said other companies are placing people in different parts of the world first, “just

to talk with local people.” LEA is being more cautious, however, wary that over-seas firms could use a company like theirs to learn the business and then go it alone.

So would LEA add long-range jets, such as Gulfstreams or Bombar-dier Globals? “We’re not actively seek-ing that but if a client wants to buy a Gulfstream or Global, we’d manage it,” said Galanopoulos.

For now, Margetson-Rushmore identi-fies the Legacy or Challenger 300 as “ideal for tours, families moving around Europe and so on,” thanks to its 3,236-nm range. He believes that the Phenom 300 will become “very popular,” especially once fractional ownership rival NetJets Europe starts to take delivery of the 50 Phenom 300s it ordered in 2010.

In terms of aircraft in the pipeline from manufacturers, Margetson-Rushmore said, “We’ve got our eyes on the Embraer 450/500, which are going to be extremely nice aircraft, and the [Cessna Citation] Latitude and Longitude should be good.”

Is there a threat from new start-up operators in the market? LEA’s CEO believes not. “People underestimate the amount of manpower you need to deal with the administration. They still think they can make money with air taxis and by building a large fleet of small air-craft,” he said.

LEA at one time envisioned having 20 to 30 Mustangs. “Thank God [the first few] didn’t make money [at the time],” concluded Margetson-Rushmore.

Like many of its peers, LEA still feels burdened by the high administrative cost of regulation. Despite this, Galanopou-los reflected that the European Aviation Safety Agency is better than the old UK Civil Aviation Authority, which had at one time become “archaic…run by ex-British Airways and RAF dinosaurs…You couldn’t even import an aircraft into the UK without spending millions on it. All that has gone thanks to EASA.”

Another area where Galanopou-los believes EASA has moved things on for the better is in pilot certifica-tion, which recently went pan-Euro-pean. “Having a common license is massively better,” he said, “so if you need a guy for a contract in Moscow, the pilot doesn’t have to be from the UK.” LEA has pilots from all over the world, especially from Europe. o


London Executive Aviation’s fleet of almost 30 aircraft includes new examples of Dassault’s Falcon 2000LX (above) and Embraer’s Phenom 300 (below).

According to LEA managing director George Galanopoulos (left) and CEO Patrick Margetson-Rushmore (right), there is still oversupply in the European charter market but at least some indicators that trading conditions are improving.

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Lufthansa Technik gears up for increased Asia-led demandby Kirby J. Harrison

Cabin MRO, completions and refur-bishment giant Lufthansa Technik (Booth 1031) is expanding its innova-tion engineering capability at its base in Hamburg, Germany. This year, accord-ing to Andrew Muirhead, who runs the Innovation Business Unit, the 55-person core team will be boosted by seven addi-tional employees, and further staff posi-tions will be required in 2014 and 2015.

The unit was formed in 2008 with an original investment of more than $14 million and has been responsible for the development of numerous prod-ucts, from the award-winning NiceView moving-map system to NiceMood LED lighting, to the next generation of execu-tive cabin seating.

New technology aside, among the company’s more recent developments is a new product bundle for the technical lifetime support of executive aircraft on a global level.

In addition to pre-defined service packages, including access to a pool of highly qualified engineers and mechan-ics and material support through the

Lufthansa Technik logistics network, cus-tomers will have assured support in inci-dents involving aircraft-on-the-ground (AOG) and emergencies. “Our customers will get 24/7, global, ‘free-of-charge’ trou-ble-shooting hotline support for up to 10 man-hours as ‘airside assistance,’ regard-less where the aircraft operates,” said Wal-ter Heerdt, senior v-p of marketing and sales. “This means that after signing a stand-by support agreement, no further fees or charges will apply until the cus-tomer requests additional service at prior agreed-to prices and conditions.”

Engineering and troubleshooting ques-tions will be handled by Lufthansa Tech-nik’s central maintenance control center. On-call assistance and technical support is guaranteed by Lufthansa Technik over all air transport association chapters.

Asia ActivityMeanwhile, at the Asian Business Avi-

ation Convention & Exhibition (ABACE) in Shanghai last month, Lufthansa Technik made its presence well known. The company, which delivered eight

outfitted Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJs) and Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) in 2012 to Chinese and other Asian custom-ers, announced its intention to deliver another BBJ to the Chinese Nanshan Group in the second quarter of 2013. It also noted that four more cabin comple-tion projects for Asian customers remain in its order book. The cabin completion work was done by Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg and at its U.S. subsidiary BizJet International in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Among other projects for customers in Asia is a new contract with Yunnan Jingcheng Group for a BBJ cabin com-pletion to begin in November this year.

“This contract is clear evidence that our business strategy is on the right track,” said Heerdt. “It’s no surprise that aircraft orders and deliveries continue to soar in the Asian market and Lufthansa Technik is working very hard to continue its role as the market leader for providing services into this area.”

Further, Lufthansa Technik will be providing its Total Technical Support to the Asian owner of two ACJ319 business jets. “It confirms our goal,” said Heerdt, “not just to be a high-quality completion center, but [also] to offer our VIP custom-ers a complete service package, covering the whole life-cycle of their aircraft.” o

A Lufthansa Technik rendering features a stateroom proposal for an executive Boeing 787.

Hangar8: geared for growthby David Donald

Last month London Oxford Airport-based Hangar8 wel-comed two additions to its growing fleet of aircraft avail-able for charter–a pair of Bombardier Global Express aircraft, operating from Oxford and London Luton Airport. The new jets strengthen Han-gar8’s long-range fleet and highlight the company’s contin-ued worldwide growth.

According to Hangar8’s CEO Dustin Dryden, such growth is necessary to survive. “There’s no room in this marketplace for small operators any more. The biggest wins. You could end up with just five big players in this market,” he predicted. Larger operators provide for major sav-ings in terms of buying power–for instance, in terms of training and insurance. “But you must have quality,” added Dryden. “Clients are now more discern-ing, and bad operators soon fall by the wayside.” Customers are also demanding more trans-parency in their operators, and partly for this reason Hangar8 is a public company with com-pletely open finances.

In November last year Han-gar8 completed the acquisi-tion of International Jet Club at Farnborough. This opera-tor fitted well with Hangar8’s own operations, and added a number of long-range aircraft to the fleet. Most of them are operated solely on behalf of the owners, and the IJC branding is being retained.

Hangar8’s current man-aged fleet of more than 50 air-craft, with a combined value of around $800 million, also shows a move away from smaller air-craft to larger, long-range types that offer better operating eco-nomics. As part of that change, Hawker types (11 aircraft) have been displaced by those from

Bombardier, which Hangar8 believes is the most important OEM–it has 12 Challengers and seven Globals on the books. There are also Dassault Fal-cons, Gulfstreams, Embraers and Cessna Citations, plus four helicopters, operated in South Africa. A Legacy 650 is in the process of being added to the fleet as well. The largest aircraft in the current line-up is a single Boeing BBJ that normally oper-ates from London Biggin Hill.

Asset ManagementHangar8 offers an all-in-one

package for owners, providing financial management, flight and cabin crews, operations planning and full servicing. The company handles leasing arrangements and can arrange sales to facilitate clients who wish to “up-size.” The company also arranges ad hoc operations for existing cus-tomers who may require a larger aircraft for a short duration.

“We are an asset manage-ment business with a logistics arm,” explained Dryden. “We do not see ourselves as a char-ter company.” Charter is, nev-ertheless, an important element of the business for clients look-ing to produce revenue from their aircraft ownership. Han-gar8 holds worldwide AOCs in several countries, including from the UK and in Africa, where an AOC is necessary for long-term operations. Around 70 percent of Hangar8’s cli-ents have contract terms of 12 months or more.

Providing a cost-effective, high-end management service to “discerning clients” means that Hangar8 has in place a high-quality training and main-tenance program, it said, with maintenance centers in the UK (at the company’s headquarters at Oxford), the CIS and Africa. Having regional centers negates the need for time-consuming and costly transfers of aircraft back to Europe for scheduled checks. The company’s Part M mainte-nance approval allows it to per-form continuing airworthiness

management services across all fleet types for aircraft operated under the EASA, FAA, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Bermudan and Isle of Man registries.

All of Hangar8’s mainte-nance staff are licensed, set-ting the company apart from many operators, and provid-ing greater flexibility for staff to provide 24/7 cover anywhere in the world. Preventive checks are routinely carried out across the fleet, and most customers opt for a package in which a dedicated engineer is allocated to their aircraft, giving them greater peace of mind.

Growth RegionsOperations are conducted

with aircraft based at more than 20 locations throughout Europe, the CIS, the Far East and Africa. While growth in Europe has largely been restricted to

the high end of the market, Hangar8 has seen considerable growth in the mid-level mar-ket in Africa, where the ground transportation infrastructure can be poor or even nonexis-tent. The company’s African fleet has grown from two to 11 aircraft in a short space of time; and with its knowledge of the local market, Hangar8 believes it can set up operations almost overnight to meet the require-ments of local customers, many of whom are in the oil, gas and mining industries.

Another area where Hangar8 is active is in Russia and Kazakh-stan, and further east into Asia. There are exciting possibilities in these regions, believes Dryden, but he said the market is more cautious than that in Africa. “You need to be seen. You need to be trusted,” he commented. “You have to come as a big player.” o


Hangar8 has seen spectacular growth in Africa, mainly associated with oil, gas and mineral industries. The Hawker fleet is particularly busy in this region.

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Hangar8 Cayman-Ready

Just prior to EBACE, Hangar8 received the documents that secured a land-mark dispensation from the Cayman Islands aircraft registry, allowing Hangar8 to operate Cayman-registered aircraft under its UK AOC, as long as the aircraft type itself is already covered by the AOC. This allows Caymans aircraft to be chartered out, and also to be operated under public transport regulations, which are exempt from VAT and minerals tax. The Cayman Islands registry hopes that this develop-ment will help deter owners from moving their aircraft to other registers, such as the Isle of Man, where public transport operations are not permitted. –D.D.

Now based at Oxford Airport, this Global Express with luxury 12-seat interior has just joined Hangar8’s

fleet. Despite its Cayman Islands registration, it can be offered for charter under a dispensation that

allows it to be flown under Hangar8’s UK AOC.

Twelve-percent growth at Air Charter Serviceby Matt Thurber

During the first quarter of this year, Air Charter Service saw overall growth of 12 percent, with 20 percent year-over-year growth in its executive jet divi-sion. The London-based char-ter brokerage was founded in 1990 by chairman Chris Leach and now includes 17 offices on five continents. Annual revenue is more than $420 million.

Air Charter Service arranged more than 6,500 charter con-tracts last year and more than 1,600 in the first quarter of 2013. The company also spe-cializes in commercial and cargo charters and offers a jet card–the Lindbergh card–for business jet customers.

A recent job was arrang-ing charter of a Boeing 747-400 from Nairobi, Kenya, to

Maputo, Mozambique, working with the charity Save the Chil-dren. The 747 hauled nearly 100 tons of tarpaulins and rope used to build shelters for people left homeless by massive flooding.

“We offered to arrange the flight permissions in advance of the charter being confirmed,” said Justin Lancaster, group cargo director, “as we knew they could take up to 48 hours and we didn’t want a delay once every-thing else had been agreed. The aircraft positioned into Nairobi less than 15 hours after Save the Children gave the go-ahead. It was early morning when the air-craft landed and trucks carrying the cargo were still arriving at the airport at the time, so we started the pallet build before everything had been delivered.” o

Chris Leach, chairman of Air Charter Service, said

that first quarter executive charter numbers have

grown 20 percent over the same period last year.

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European charter slow in 2013, but growth seen on horizonby Charles Alcock

Unsurprisingly, consider-ing the wave of further bad eco-nomic news from the sunnier parts of the Eurozone, char-tered business jet departures from southern European cities dropped far more steeply over this past winter than in north-ern Europe. New charter data prepared by online charter por-tal Avinode exclusively for AIN shows departures out of south-ern Europe dipping below 10,000 in January 2013. This was almost 1,000 below the total for the same period last year and a big drop from the almost 20,000 departures seen in July 2012. By comparison, the inevitable sea-sonal fluctuations have been far more gradual for flights out of Northern Europe (see Business Jet Departures in Europe chart).

The data from Avinode (Booth 1047) also shows demand for flights to Rus-sia and the Commonwealth

of Independent States bolster-ing overall charter departures to points outside the European Union (EU), with an increase of 11 percent (510 additional flights) from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of this year. Both the Middle East and Latin America also saw double-digit percentage increases over the same period, but with lower flight volumes. By contrast, flights to North America, Asia and Africa, somewhat surpris-ingly, dipped (see Business Jet Departures from the EU to other Regions chart).

Business jet charters within the EU largely have followed a standard seasonal pattern over the past two years. However, movements for the first quarter of 2013 were, in fact, 7.6 percent down on the same period last year (see Business Jet Flights within EU chart).

The discouraging news does


Top Departure Countries in EUBusiness Jet Charter Flights

CountryQ1 2012

vs Q1 2011

Q1 2013 vs

Q1 2012

United Kingdom -1% -5%

France 4% -5%

Germany 3% -11%

Switzerland 5% -7%

Italy -10% -16%

Spain 2% -4%

Turkey 5% -2%

Austria 2% -12%

Netherlands -3% -6%

Belgium 13% 1%

Sweden 5% -4%

Poland -15% 14%

Czech Republic 17% -7%

Portugal -11% 4%

Denmark -2% -13%

Top Departure Airports in EUBusiness Jet Charter Flights

AirportQ1 2012

vs Q1 2011

Q1 2013 vs

Q1 2012

LFPB - Paris, Le Bourget 2% -6%

LSGG - Geneva 1% -5%

LIML - Milan, Linate -5% -16%

LSZH - Zurich 9% -9%

EGGW - London (Luton), Luton -2% -2%

EGLF - Farnborough 0% -6%

LFMN - Nice, Nice Cote d'Azur 11% 4%

LIRA - Rome, Ciampino -10% -23%

LOWW - Vienna (Wien), Vienna Schwechat 8% -20%

EDDM - Munich, Munchen 4% -19%

LTBA - Istanbul, Ataturk 3% -4%

LETO - Madrid, Torrejon 0% -74%

EDDS - Stuttgart 6% -9%

EGKB - Biggin Hill 7% 3%

LEBL - Barcelona 4% -4%


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not stop there because Avinode’s tracking of flights out of the most popular EU airports and countries shows almost uni-versal decline of 2 to 23 per-cent between the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. Slight exceptions were Nice Côte d’Azur and London Biggin Hill airports (see Top Departure Airport chart) and Belgium and Portugal (see Top Departure Country chart).

Overall, charter flights departing EU airports showed a 7-percent decline from the first quarter of 2012 to the first three months of this year. Avinode’s Heavy Jet category was up 3 percent, but both the Light Jet and Midsize segments were down by 11 percent and 7 per-cent, respectively. o


Charter FlightsDeparting EUQ1 2013 vs Q1 2012

Light jet -11%

Midsize jet -7%

Heavy jet 3%

Grand Total -7%

Biggin Hill’s RAs completing

netJets g550

London Biggin Hill-based RAS Group is working to complete its first Gulfstream aircraft after receiving the necessary approvals from the U.S. manufacturer. The air-craft, a NetJets G550, arrived at the RAS facility in March and was recently stripped to bare metal and given a new livery “in the NetJets style, a process that involves three weeks of carefully pro-grammed work,” said RAS Group director Chris Ransley.

The approvals from Gulf-stream Aerospace included painting and refurbishment of the entire Gulfstream range of business jets–from the 100-series up to the new G650–while RAS sister com-pany RAS Interiors was granted approval for interior fabrication and installation. –I.S.

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Qatar to build New Doha FBO by 2015by Peter Shaw-Smith

Qatar Executive is investing in the development of a private jet terminal at Doha’s Hamad International Airport.

The opening of the new gateway for air-line service has been delayed, follow-ing a failure to achieve the planned “soft

opening” on April 1, but this appears not to be holding back plans to serve business aviation traffic there.

“The opening of Hamad Interna-tional Airport will…begin a new chap-ter for commercial aviation, [and] also position the State of Qatar as a lead-ing center for business aviation,” said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker at the Abu Dhabi Air Expo show in March. “The new facility will be one of the world’s most prestigious and

technologically advanced FBOs and [will] open by 2015.”

Qatar Executive (Booth 382) is the flag carrier’s private aviation division, with growing activities in aircraft char-ter, management and handling. For now, business aviation traffic uses the existing Doha International Airport, where han-dling is available from another Qatar Air-ways subsidiary, Qatar Aviation Services.

Currently, Qatar Executive operates six wholly owned jets in an all-Bombardier fleet consisting of three Challenger 605s, two Global 5000s and a Global Express XRS. “In response to the growing trend for long-range travel, Qatar Executive is

looking [to expand] its fleet and is [contin-ually conducting] negotiations on aircraft orders,” said Al Baker. “Our fleet expan-sion will ensure that we continue to offer one of the best available products in the region and worldwide, while keeping our fleet young and modern.”

Africa increasingly is figuring promi-nently in Qatar Executive’s flight profile and the company says underdeveloped business travel on the continent com-pared with other regions makes custom-ers welcome the opportunity to use its services. “Qatar Executive is geographi-cally [well] located to take advantage of different global traffic flows. From the Gulf, our long-range business aircraft can fly to virtually any city in Africa, especially the oil-rich countries on the west coast, like Nigeria and Angola,” Al Baker said. Qatar Executive also caters to leisure travelers who fly to Afri-can tourist centers such as Tanzania or Botswana for safaris.

Qatar Executive is also positioning itself as a leading provider for char-ters for large groups traveling to Doha. “With Qatar being one of the world’s leading sports hubs that have high eco-nomic activity, we have been experienc-ing huge demand in this segment and can offer narrowbody Airbus A320s in a two-class configurations–for example, for sports teams, business delegations and even musicians and orchestras,” said Al Baker. o


Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker is stepping up the expansion of the airline’s Qatar Executive subsidiary with plans for a private terminal at Doha’s new Hamad International Airport, and further expansion of a charter fleet that already counts several Bombardier products, including this Global 5000.

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P&WC laments financing, bizjet pricing pressuresby Gregory Polek

Among the few economic forces behind the rather tepid recovery of the market segment

covering small and medium-sized business jets, perhaps the most influential rests with the

world’s financiers. While the large business jet segment stays buoyant due to its comparative immunity from the vagaries of liquidity availability, for the rest of the market a lack of attrac-tive financing terms remains a serious problem, according to Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) president John Saabas. “The risk profile associated with

business jets–smaller business jets–has changed, in terms of the interest rate at which people will lend money,” he said. “That hurts the ability to sell.”

Saabas explained that follow-ing the banking crisis, changes to the rules governing the measure-ment of risk profiles of certain kinds of loans hit business jets particularly hard, while defaults on loan payments led to a glut of low-time airplanes for sale, resulting in plummeting values.

“I think after the last crisis there were a lot of airplanes not paid for…half paid for; they were dumped off at bargain prices,” he said. “[The numbers of] less-than-five-year-old aircraft for sale were never as high and the prices never as low. If you’re an OEM try-

ing to sell, [and] the used price of something with 500 hours on it is thirty percent less than your list price, what are you going to do? You’re going to drop the price of the new to be able to sell. Or you have to add new features or give away other things.”

Still, Saabas expressed opti-mism for the future based on signs of gradual economic improve-ment in the U.S. and rising con-fidence in markets in general. But that doesn’t mean aerospace com-panies can sit still and wait for a recovery. Pratt & Whitney Can-ada, for example, continues dem-onstrator testing on its PW800, a large turbofan model designed for the now defunct Cessna Cita-tion Columbus. Using the same core as PW1000G geared turbo-fan developed for the Bombar-dier CSeries, the engine remains vital to the company’s efforts to more effectively penetrate the heavy business jet market.

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Pratt & Whitney Canada still has hopes of finding an application for its PW800 turbofan, which had been selected for the now scrapped Citation Columbus.

John Saabas, Pratt & Whitney Canada president, acknowledged that the market for small- and medium-sized business jets remains soft, which is why the engine maker is setting its sights on providing powerplants for larger new models.

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sector, P&WC’s existing appli-cations include the PW305 turbofan on the Bombardier Learjet 60 and the Hawker 1000, the PW306 on the Gulfstream G200 and Cessna Citation Sovereign, the PW307 on the Dassault Falcon 7X and the Learjet 85 and the PW308 on the Hawker 4000 and Dassault Falcon 2000EX/DX/LX.

Saabas named three factors that have helped companies sell airplanes like the Bombardier Global 6000, Gulfstream 650 and Dassault Falcon 7X trijet. First, he said, lenders still offer attractive financing rates for large business jets younger than 15 years old; second, the wealthy individuals who generally buy such aircraft don’t necessar-ily need financing, and, finally, the growing number of private jet buyers in regions such as the Middle East and Asia generally want long-range equipment for intercontinental flights.”

“There are only 300 heavy, large, long-range jets made a year,” noted Saabas. “So even if that grew at a couple of per-cent a year, the number of bil-lionaires is growing at 3 or 4 percent a year…You don’t

have to make a whole bunch of sales to keep that part of the market strong.”

While stressing the impor-tance of the PW800 to P&WC’s fortunes, Saabas balked when asked about reports of the engine possibly going on a new Gulfstream jet.

“We have no program to

announce…we have a demon-strator program,” he said. “We don’t get money from UTC [parent company United Tech-nologies] to launch a full pro-gram until we get a committed customer. We don’t have that…We’re in discussions with every-body. But until the skinny lady sings, there’s nothing.” o

The PW308A engine powers the Hawker 4000, while the PW308C is on the EX, DX and LX members of Dassault’s Falcon 2000 family.

Inmarsat, Honeywell take broadband higher

Inmarsat and partner Honey-well are poised to launch what Inmarsat describes as the “game-changing Global Xpress aviation service,” that will ultimately pro-vide high-capacity broadband coverage and worldwide data transfer rates of up to 50 mbps.

Inmarsat (Booth 921), a major player in mobile satellite communication services, offered a preview of GX Aviation at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Ham-burg, Germany, last month.

“GX Aviation is going to change the face of in-flight con-nectivity,” said Inmarsat v-p of aerospace Miranda Mills. “With our fleet of three satellites under construction by Boeing (Booth 7010), and the first scheduled launch this year, avionics repre-sent the final segment that turns Global Xpress from a concept into a reality.”

The high-speed global broad-band service, delivered via Ka-band, will be supported by a new suite of avionics designed

and manufactured by Honeywell (Booth 487). The agreement with Inmarsat, signed in 2012, allows Boeing and Honeywell to jointly research, test and develop the hardware, software and potential services necessary to begin activ-ities to support GX Ka-band air-borne trials through 2014 and entry into service in March 2015.

According to Inmarsat, GX Aviation will provide passengers access to the level of broadband speeds, data rates and band-width they are accustomed to on the ground, allowing them to stream live Internet content and take part in video calls anywhere around the globe.

Service providers AirSatOne, Satcom Direct and Satcom 1 have said they will provide Global Xpress for their satellite commu-nications customers. –K.J.H.

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Europe still important market for Embraerby Chad Trautvetter

Europe will remain the sec-ond-largest market for new busi-ness jets over the next decade,

accounting for approximately 29 percent of delivery vol-ume and 34 percent of billings,

according to the latest 10-year forecast from Embraer. Since it will continue to be the larg-est market for business jets–pre-dicted to take delivery of nearly half of the aircraft during the forecast period–the U.S. will dictate the speed of the recov-ery, noted Embraer Executive Jets president Ernest Edwards.

The Brazil-based aircraft manufacturer anticipates that 7,870 to 9,300 business jets–val-ued at $205 billion to $246 bil-lion–will be shipped worldwide from now until the end of 2022, with Europe expected to absorb 2,180 to 2,700 aircraft worth between $75 billion and $82 bil-lion in that period. (Embraer’s lower estimates assume “contin-ued crisis,” while the higher fig-ures suppose “slow growth.”)

Leading the predicted business jet expansion in Europe will be the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy–countries in this region that are expected to have the highest rates of real GDP growth from now until 2020. In Eastern Europe, Turkey and Poland–each forecast to have 4-percent annual GDP increases until 2020–will play assisting roles, accord-ing to Embraer. Meanwhile, the population of high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) in Europe rose 1.1 percent from 2010 to 2011, and the region currently has the third-largest HNWI pop-ulation in the world.

By aircraft category, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will be most hungry for large-cabin jets, which are expected to comprise 22 percent of deliveries here, Embraer said. This would be followed by ultra-long-range and light jets (each tied at 16 percent), super-mid-size jets (14 percent) and entry-level jets (10 percent). By value, ultra-long-range jets will domi-nate at 33 percent, followed by large-cabin jets (29 percent), super-midsize jets (11 percent) and bizliners (10 percent). o


Long-range bizjets such as Embraer’s Lineage 1000 are finding a ready market in Europe, the Mideast and Africa.

Lyon Bron is emerging bizav hubby Thierry Dubois

Lyon Bron Airport in south-east France (Booth 664), some 70 miles southwest of Geneva, enjoyed 7.5-percent growth in business aviation traffic during the first three months of this year. This came on the heels of 7.5-percent growth for the whole of last year–to 6,359 aircraft movements–ranking Lyon Bron the third busiest French airport for business aviation. The grow-ing roster of new operators at

the field and planned construc-tion are giving the local officials cause for continued optimism.

“We are aiming for 8,200 air-craft movements in 2016,” said Didier Pianelli, Lyon Bron’s newly appointed (March 18) general manager. Last year, Bron was one of few European airports experiencing growth. Airport executives attribute it to the Lyon region’s dynamic econ-omy and the steady activity of

Bron-based operators. Business aviation accounts for some 150 jobs at the airport.

The airport launched a delib-erate initiative to stimulate busi-ness aviation traffic, and it appears to be paying off. In Octo-ber, for example, former manager Eric Dumas organized an event where he and his team invited potential business aviation users–local entrepreneurs and company executives–to see the airport.

It is also undergoing expan-sion. Two new 43,000-sq-ft han-gars are slated to be built at Bron over the next couple of years. One will have capacity for two Boeing BBJ3s, Pianelli explained, while the second han-gar will be occupied by BCA, a maintenance firm (in the Jet Ser-vices group) that specializes in Beechcraft and Cessna aircraft.

New TaxiwayIn addition, one new park-

ing stand large enough for a BBJ3 and a new taxiway are planned. “Geneva has little parking space, and we are the alternative with 17 outdoor parking slots for transient traf-fic,” Pianelli said.

Hangar doors are currently a thorn in Pianelli’s side. At pres-ent only one of five doors for hangar H8, completed in 2010, is working. The other four are immobilized in the closed posi-tion “for safety reasons,” thus complicating operations for the business aircraft parked inside. AIN understands that the air-port’s liability for this inconve-nience is still being researched.

Lyon Bron has three new oper-ators. If Paris Le Bourget-based

Cessna Citation Mustang oper-ator Wijet chooses Bron as its third base, its Lyon custom-ers would no longer have to pay positioning fees. Launched in 2009, Wijet opened its second base at Bordeaux Mérignac Air-port in March. It operates four Mustangs, two of which are fully owned, and plans to add two more by year-end. Wijet charges customers a flat hourly rate of €2,200 ($2,900).

Formed in Lyon, JetCorp earned its air operator certifi-cate (AOC) in July. It operates two Beech King Air C90s, and its founders hope to add a Cita-tion Mustang to the fleet.

Bankrupt THS has been resur-rected under the Aerojet Corpo-rate brand, with four Falcon 50s and 100s. In March, however, one of the Falcon 50s was grounded in the Dominican Republic for its alleged part in a major drug bust. THS did not respond to AIN’s attempts (by phone and e-mail) to find out more information about the incident. o


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BlueEye clears the CAMO data logjamby Charles Alcock

Luxembourg’s MRX Sys-tems is offering business aircraft operators its tablet-based Blue-Eye application for managing data associated with continu-ing airworthiness responsibili-ties. Its launch customer in the market is Dutch maintenance provider Jet Support, which is exhibiting here at EBACE with its FBO partner KLM Jet Cen-tre (Booth 1937).

Jet Support is a continu-ing airworthiness manage-ment organization (CAMO) and it has started to use Blue-Eye to reduce paperwork and improve efficiency in the sup-port it provides to the Dutch coast guard fleet. Pilots can use iPads to record flight

and aircraft data, which can be relayed quickly to mainte-nance teams via a secure real-time datalink.

According to Jet Support maintenance director Andres Kjerulf, technicians can save a lot of time not having to chase pilots for data after every flight. He said the system could help maintenance providers speed up flight turnaround times because they can be aware of aircraft support needs before the flight has landed.

Jet Support is including the use of the BlueEye in the coast guard’s standard contract because it has found it does the support work more efficiently and also improves its own profit margin. The standard monthly subscription charge from MRX Systems is €49 per aircraft (plus some charges for recording initial aircraft

information in the database). There is no minimum subscrip-tion period, so operators can easily amend their contracts to add or remove aircraft.

BlueEye can also run on lap-top and desktop computers. Data, including technical logs, is hosted securely in Microsoft’s Azure Cloud.

MRX Systems also is devel-oping more advanced software called BlueMRO to provide more detailed management of data associated with mainte-nance tasks. It should be avail-able before the end of the year and will handle tasks such as stock purchasing, job and time cards, and work quotations. There will be a €10,000 start-up fee plus an as-yet-unspec-ified annual subscription rate that will cover product updates, technical support, data host-ing, daily data backups and geo-replication.

Jet Support is based at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport where it has almost 50,000 sq ft of hangar space. The company is an EASA-certified mainte-nance provider for a variety of business aviation and special missions operators. o


The BlueEye tablet-based application is intended to make it easier for flight crew to relay aircraft data to their continuing airworthiness provider.

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NetJets mega-order spurred Challenger 350by Gregory Polek

With the official acknowl-edgement by NetJets that it will buy up to 275 Challenger 350s (75 firm, 125 options), the Columbus, Ohio-based frac-tional share company becomes the worldwide launch part-ner for the new super-midsize jet, a distinction NetJets chair-man and CEO Jordan Hansell all too happily embraced here in Geneva. Previously, although the order had been announced in June 2012, it was billed as being only for “Challenger 300-series jets.”

Speaking with AIN on Mon-day inside one the compa-ny’s Bombardier Global 6000s on the EBACE static display, Hansell explained that NetJets played a significant role in the new airplane’s design. Some of the new features, he said, will become universal and oth-ers specific to the NetJets Chal-lenger 350s.

NetJets decided on the 350 following discussions with sev-eral customers who ranked the

Challenger 300 as the best in its class, explained Hansell. “It has the best range, a wider cabin and creature comforts that they thought exceeded what was oth-erwise available,” he said. “So when Bombardier said we’re going to take that plane and improve upon it, that was very interesting to us. Furthermore, Bombardier has demonstrated that they’re good to work with for somebody like us, with our size and the fleet that we oper-ate. They were willing to be flex-ible in terms of the design and they were flexible from a main-tenance perspective.”

Hansell also noted Bom-bardier’s appreciation of Net-Jets’s fleet concept, particularly as it relates to parts availability and replacement. In most cases, he explained, an operator can’t simply replace a damaged table, for example, but must remove the part and repair or refinish it, a process that takes a lot of time. Bombardier carries an inventory of such parts, allowing NetJets

to replace them in a faster, more efficient manner. “It’s the same high quality, and same fit and finish, but it allows us to operate [the airplanes] as a fleet,” said Hansell.

NetJets has also has a firm order for 50 Embraer Phenom 300s, most of which appear headed to the U.S., although some are likely going to Europe. Having taken delivery of the first airplane on May 1 in Mel-bourne, Florida, NetJets expects delivery of some two airplanes per month.

On the other end of the size spectrum, NetJets’s flag-ship Bombardier Global 6000s occupy territory in both Europe and the U.S., but in a somewhat higher concentration across the Pond, where the economic recovery–and the business jet market historically–has proved more robust. It harbors no plans to place the Global 5000 into the European fleet, however.

In emerging markets –most notably in China–NetJets con-tinues to work with authori-ties to help open what many believe will become a giant mar-ket for business jets. One of the top hurdles, however, remains a lack of infrastructure in the People’s Republic of China. Hansell reported that NetJets

plans to open a new division in China under which own-ers will contract with the com-pany to manage their airplanes. In the meantime it has applied for an air operator’s certificate

in China to operate intra-coun-try and thereby comply with cabotage rules. “We think we’re on target [to gain approval] at the beginning of next year,” said Hansell. o


With last year’s order for up to 275 “300-Series” airplanes, NetJets chairman and CEO Jordan Hansell helped Bombardier launch the new Challenger 350.

GE Passport turbofan preps for first test runsby David Donald

General Electric is preparing its new Passport engine for a first test run next month. Intended to power the Bombardier Global 7000 and 8000 jets, the Pass-port 20 is scheduled for certifi-cation in 2015. Assembly of the first engine began in March, and the low-pressure turbine was installed last week. The 52-inch

fan section, one of five blisk (sin-gle-piece bladed disk) stages, is fitted next, followed by the com-posite fan case. The engine forms an integrated propulsion system with a slimline nacelle designed in partnership with Nexcelle, itself a joint venture between GE and French engine manufac-turer Snecma. The lightweight,

low-drag nacelle has an outward-opening cowl for easy access.

Passport has been developed from General Electric’s eCore technology, which is also used in the CFM Leap engine for nar-rowbody airliners. Two eCore units have been running for more than 250 hours to assist with Passport certification, and a total of eight complete engines will be used in the test and val-idation process. After assembly is completed, the first test engine will be installed next month in the outdoor rig on Site 3B at GE’s Peebles, Ohio facility. Next year a Passport engine will begin flight-testing using the compa-ny’s Boeing 747 testbed.

Developed for GE Aviation’s Business and General Aviation division, the Passport is a 16,500-pound thrust engine offering an 8-percent reduction in specific fuel consumption (sfc) and a margin over CAEP/6 emission and Stage 4 noise regulations. To achieve these figures it employs numerous advanced technol-ogy features, two of which were revealed at EBACE:

First was that GE has developed a durable engi-neered super-finish applied to the compressor blades and blisks resulting in a mirror-like surface that is four times

as light-reflective as standard blades, leading to a smoother airflow and consequently greater engine efficiency.

The second new technology is the use of conformal, rail-mounted surface coolers that line the engine’s aft fan case. GE has developed a unique fin technology that can be formed

into heat-exchanger shapes that can be molded to fit com-plex three-dimensional shapes. Such surface coolers were first applied to the Boeing 787’s GEnx-1B engine. At pres-ent this technology supports air-to-liquid applications, but liquid-to-liquid capability is being studied. o

New Dubai Airshow site on pace for this fall’s event

Dubai Airshow organizing firm F&E Aerospace (Booth 827) says that the show’s new venue is on schedule for completion, with just 90 days until Dubai Avia-tion Engineering Projects offi-cially hands over the keys for the show site. The biennial event will take place November 17 to 21 at Dubai World Central (DWC) in Jebel Ali. This year, more than 60,000 attendees and 1,000 exhib-itors are expected.

The new show site offers 645,000 sq m (159 acres) of floor space–more than double the size of the old site at the Airport Expo. The new venue also features a larger static park. The flying dis-play will have fewer flying restric-tions as the new airport is, for the

time being at least, much less busy. Media and catering facilities will be improved, while three times more parking spaces will be avail-able, according to F&E.

The permanent structures formerly located at Airport Expo were deconstructed, moved and reconstructed at DWC, part of a green initiative. The new airshow site is part of a Dhs 120 billion ($32 billion) investment in the DWC “aerotropolis” (a concept that places the airport at the cen-ter of a city).

Migration started with cargo operations in June 2010, with business aviation operations fol-lowing in early 2013. The next step will be commercial aviation, in October. –T.D.

The first Passport 20 test engine is nearing completion. Here a GE technician assembles the high-pressure compressor at the GE plant in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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VistaJet’s rapid growth confounds the skepticsby Charles Alcock

VistaJet’s bullish expan-sion plans have long turned the heads of more conventional charter sector rivals suspicious of how well-founded its busi-ness plan would prove to be in a sector that has struggled to regain profitability since the rav-ages of the financial crisis. But the high-octane announcement

in November that VistaJet will buy up to 142 new Bombar-dier jets (56 firm orders and 86 options) really got the sector’s attention and left some ponder-ing whether the company might be over-reaching at a time when demand still seems patchy and the entry barriers to new mar-kets like China are quite severe.

VistaJet says it is simply exe-cuting a carefully considered

expansion plan bolstered by growth in revenue flight hours of 20 to 25 percent. “The busi-ness model always has been based on having new aircraft, so many of the new ones will be used for replenishing the fleet,” explained Ian Moore. “We’re looking at taking around one [jet] per month from next year. We’re the only

company that has consistently replaced aircraft as planned.”

Another factor driving the fleet expansion is the need to honor the aircraft availability guarantees it gives customers in about three quarters of the world. Plus, some regions in which Vista-Jet is introducing service, notably Africa, have not previously had access to new business aircraft, and the company is determined to

offer clients there the most mod-ern equipment available.

VistaJet’s service area now spans Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and the CIS, West Africa and the U.S. east coast (with domestic U.S. flights avail-able through its alliance with Bombardier’s fractional owner-ship provider Flexjet). “No one else has done this and it is very unique, especially in the fron-tier locations [like Africa],” said Moore, explaining that by main-taining full ownership of its air-craft VistaJet is able to switch them between its various air operator certificates according to where they are needed.

VistaJet is now finalizing its new AOC in Nigeria. At the same time, it is hoping to estab-lish its AOC in China within the next 12 months with an as-yet-undisclosed local part-ner. In March 2012, the com-pany signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing Air-lines, but the Chinese carrier has now decided that its Deer Jet subsidiary will set up a frac-tional ownership program–a business model that Moore said holds no attraction for VistaJet.

Today VistaJet’s all-Bombar-dier fleet consists of 32 aircraft and this will have risen to 35 by year-end. The fleet mix today is eight Global Expresses, six Learjet 60s, 12 Challenger 605s and six Challenger 850s.

Customer CommitmentAccording to Moore, VistaJet

(Booth 2225) is looking to build a manageable customer base

consisting of clients committing to 100 or more flight hours, rather than having to accommodate large numbers of people who have bought blocks of 25 hours. “We want them to feel that they are like a part-owner of the aircraft and we work hard to pre-qualify clients [in terms of understanding their travel needs],” he told AIN.

With an initial commitment of 100 hours, customers can then increase their time flexibly rather than having to do this in batches of 50 hours. VistaJet rewards higher-usage clients with added-value perks. For instance, at 200 hours they might get their own dedicated flight attendant and at 300 hours they would be assured of having access to two different aircraft on one day.

VistaJet’s basic aircraft avail-ability guarantee starts at 24 hours’ notice. Of course, this is dependent on the necessary flight and landing permits being attainable, and with long-range aircraft this may not be achiev-able. In practice, Moore said that most customers give more notice.

Customers committing to a

package of hours make quar-terly payments in advance for the hourly flight costs and capi-tal fees, which Moore explained cover the capital costs that Vista-Jet incurs for providing the aircraft and are somewhat com-parable to lease payments. Cli-ents can carry forward up to 20 percent of any unused hours into the next year, or can add hours as needed. The company also offers on-demand charter.

With the anticipated influx of new aircraft, VistaJet also is boosting its human resources. It will soon employ around 150 to 160 pilots and 60 to 70 cabin crew. “We’re looking for people who are very entrepreneurial and customer-focused,” said Moore.

The company recently opened a new operations office in Malta and will be rolling out a new IT system in the next few weeks. “We’ve continued to grow at between 20 and 25 per-cent and have done this by mak-ing bold decisions,” concluded Moore. “It’s been a lot of hard work with plenty of challenges along the way.” o


Flying Colours embarks on 3-step expansion planby Amy Laboda

Flying Colours is to begin the first phase of a three-phase infrastructure expansion project in June, the company announced here at EBACE this week. The initial phase of construction is the addition of 20,000 sq ft to the third hangar at its facility in Peterborough, Ontario (Can-ada). Further development will continue over the next two years to expand the overall facility.

In March, the company, which specializes in completions, refur-bishment and maintenance, was awarded AS9100 certification. Fly-ing Colours (Booth 1855) also has incorporated “lean” technology production and manufacturing systems at its facilities in Peterbor-ough and at its JetCorp Technical Services subsidiary in St. Louis,

Missouri. Both companies are exhibiting at EBACE for the fifth time. Strengthening relationships with existing partners is primary on their agendas for the show.

Flying Colours has already delivered two projects to German operator Fairjets in the past six months, according to vice pres-ident Sean Gillespie. “With our Bombardier [authorized service center] status and growing interest in our services by European oper-ators and owners, EBACE 2013 is more important than ever and we are looking forward to this year’s show,” he said. “With our growing relationships with European oper-ators, such as FairJets, we value the potential in the region.”

The company has also expanded its CRJ conversion

program beyond executive air-craft. It is now a third of the way through converting eight CRJ 200 regional airliners into 16-seat executive shuttles for an undis-closed client. Each aircraft is fit-ted with new business jet seats, a new executive shell kit, upgraded galley, refurbished lavatory and Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satcom installation.

With so much new work, Fly-ing Colours is hiring additional personnel: Gabor Hasko has been appointed as director of program management within the comple-tions division, and he is focus-ing on the interior modification of seven CRJ700 NextGen jets for an undisclosed Chinese cus-tomer, while Rene Lalumiere has been appointed director of avi-onics. In addition, 40 new staff have been hired in the expanded maintenance, interior installation, cabinetry, upholstery, program management and paint divisions, all supporting the increase in work at the Canada facility. o

birds at rest

Airplanes prefer to be flying, not sitting on the ground. The sky is their home. But here at EBACE, the brightest birds in the busi-ness aviation flock wait patiently - and show off their plumage.�

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VistaJet is committed to supplying high-use clients with the best aircraft for the mission, from the all-Bombardier fleet.

The appearance and cabin outfitting of VistaJet’s fleet are purposely uniform in order to provide a consistent service standard and flexibility in deploying aircraft.

MedAire’s HealthMap assesses travelers’ risksby Amy Laboda

MedAire (Booth 739), an International SOS company, announced the launch of Health-Map 2013 during EBACE here this week. HealthMap, a four-year-old project, is a tool that can help companies with traveling employees understand the med-ical risks in the markets where they operate. Understanding risk is key to managing health threats to employees, passengers and crew, according to MedAire.

“The higher the country’s medical risk, the more prepara-tion is required,” said Dr. Paulo Alves, vice president of aviation and maritime health at MedAire. “Evaluation of that risk includes understanding the quality of local medical services, disease risks, vaccination requirements, food and water precautions and how to best manage your chronic conditions.” Medical risk rat-ings provide an overview of the

threats of infectious disease, hygiene and sanitation, accidents and the availability and quality of the local health infrastructure.

HealthMap indicates risk by low, medium, medium-to-high, high and extreme catego-ries. International SOS analyzed the comings and goings of more than 4.6 million travelers to 223 countries with its TravelTracker platform and discovered that in 2012, 23 percent of busi-ness travelers went to countries with medium-to-high, high and extreme health-related risks.

Data from 2012 shows that Brazil, Russia, India and China travel falls into the medium- to high-risk category because there is a disparity in the medical risks

and health care available between major cities and rural areas.

A recent study in the Jour-nal of Occupational and Envi-ronmental Medicine indicated that expatriates living and work-ing in a high medical risk coun-try are six times more likely to be hospitalized and 23 times more likely to be medically evac-uated than those in a low medi-cal risk country. The study also reveals that in high medical risk countries, nearly half of people

hospitalized for any reason will require medical evacuation. In extreme risk countries, this risk increases to 79 percent.

Country medical risk ratings systems such as HealthMap can help companies implement risk-mitigation programs that might include pre-travel screening that can identify and treat conditions such as cardiac or gastro-intes-tinal illnesses, focused health training and the provision of on-site medical services. o

API’s Falcon 50 winglets await EASA nodAviation Partners, Inc. (API,

Booth 283) is anticipating EASA certification of its winglets for retrofit to Dassault Falcon 50 jets in the coming weeks. The expected approval will be the European counterpart of the FAA supplemental type certifi-cate received in September 2012. The aerodynamic devices are the same “high-Mach blended winglets” currently available on the Falcon 2000 and 900 series

(all three Falcon series share the same wing) and are promised to provide drag reduction and cor-responding range increase of “5 to 7 percent at typical intermedi-ate to long range cruise speeds.”

On the Falcon 900, API recently received FAA and EASA approval for steep approach oper-ations on the aircraft equipped with blended winglets–an ear-lier restriction was removed after flight tests last year.

API’s winglets are now flying on more than 230 Falcon 2000, 900 and 50 series aircraft, and these were installed either as ret-rofits or factory new. In Europe, retrofits can be accomplished at Dassault Falcon Service’s mainte-nance facility at Paris Le Bourget or TAG Aviation in Geneva. –T.D.


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European FBOs shine in AIN international surveyby Charles Alcock

European FBOs dominated the rankings in the 2013 international FBO survey published by AIN, sister publication to EBACE Convention News. The following eight FBOs in the top category, scoring 8.0 or above, were from Europe–apparently reflecting the tough competitive environment throughout the continent.

Europe’s struggling economies generally made for lean times in terms of traffic volumes in 2012. But, to some degree buoyed by traffic coming from more robust economies in other continents, the strong Euro-pean FBOs were able to hold their heads above water.

TAG Aviation, Farnborough, UK

This year marks the 10th anniversary of TAG Avi-ation taking over the running of Farnborough Airport from the UK Ministry of Defence in 2003. Very simply, a decade of dedicated effort and around a $160 million investment have paid off.

Farnborough is one of Europe’s few dedicated busi-ness aviation airports and, unlike France’s Paris Le Bourget Airport, TAG benefits from having the place all to itself. That said, TAG Farnborough Airport does face stiff competition from at least half a dozen other London-area airports and a strong array of rival FBOs.

It would be easy to assume that TAG Farnbor-ough’s continuing popularity is driven largely by the

iconic terminal building the Swiss-based group opened in 2006. This remains impressive, but TAG has contin-ued to invest in the site and now offers a pair of three-bay hangars providing 240,000 sq ft of space for aircraft storage, maintenance and offices.

Permitted annual movements at Farnborough are cleared to grow from the 2012 limit of 37,000 to 50,000 in 2019. TAG (Booth 344) has reported a trend toward a larger average size of the aircraft using the airport and at last count had more than 60 aircraft based at the air-port. In 2012, aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 50 metric tons (for example, the Boeing Business Jet) increased in number by 44 percent over 2011.

According to TAG Farnborough Airport chief exec-utive Brandon O’Reilly, each of the last six months of 2012 saw traffic increases above those recorded in the same period of 2011. Importantly, growth continued

even after the one-off boost provided by the Olym-pic Games hosted by London last summer. Movement growth has continued in the early months of 2013.

The main focus at TAG Farnborough in 2013 is to advance its ambitions to be more environmentally friendly. From January 1 it imposed its own ban on aircraft that don’t meet Stage 4 noise limits. Its wider goal is to be car-bon neutral by 2019. The airport is reducing carbon emis-sions by cutting energy use for needs such as heating and by providing fixed electric ground power points to avoid the need for visiting aircraft to run their APUs.

TAG Aviation, Geneva, Switzerland

Improvements to its Geneva facilities in recent years may well be what has prompted local rivals to embark on their own wave of investment at the Swiss airport, but for now TAG Aviation’s FBO has stayed ahead of the pack in AIN’s annual survey. Three year ago, TAG built a new 43,000-sq-ft hangar adjacent to its premises in Geneva and around the same time expanded its crew lounge as part of a 2,150-sq-ft rest area on the first floor, adjacent to two conference rooms. The reception area has also been remodeled to establish a clearer separation between passenger and crew facilities.

Like other Geneva FBOs, TAG (Booth 344) con-tinues to have to juggle customer expectations against a backdrop of constrained capacity at the single run-way airport. The shortage of aircraft parking space there also continues to pose challenges, requiring quick thinking on the part of FBO staff.

KLM Jet Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The KLM Jet Center at Amsterdam Schiphol Air-port has clearly benefited from being relocated to this major international gateway’s new general aviation ter-minal, which opened in 2011. This offers extremely con-venient airside-to-groundside access, and a covered canopy allowing passengers and crew to board and dis-embark comfortably in all weather.

The facility is part of the KLM Air France airline and also has an FBO at Rotterdam Airport, about 30 miles to the southwest. Rotterdam is the only Dutch airport open around the clock, providing valuable flexibility.

However, facilities apart, FBO director Edwin Niemöller firmly believes that nothing short of consis-tently attentive and professional levels of customer ser-vice will suffice in these highly competitive times in the ground-handling market. “The important things are get-ting the basic services right and having a strong focus on the [handling] team,” he told AIN. Team selection can make a big difference, with the manager needing to con-sider which employees tend to work best together.

In having to respond to the inevitable traffic peaks and troughs Niemöller said he is fortunate in having


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Pilot Amenities Facilities

Overall Average

TAG Farnborough Farnborough EGLF 8.6 9.0 8.9 9.2 8.9

TAG Aviation Geneva International LSGG 8.3 8.7 8.3 8.2 8.4

KLM Jet Center Amsterdam Schipol EHAM 8.4 8.3 8.2 8.4 8.3

Signature Flight Support Paris Le Bourget LFPB 8.3 8.5 8.0 8.3 8.3

Dassault Falcon Service Paris Le Bourget LFPB 8.2 8.4 8.0 8.2 8.2

Harrods Aviation London Luton EGGW 8.1 8.7 7.8 8.3 8.2

Signature/AviaPartner Nice Cote d'Azur International LFMN 8.0 8.1 7.7 8.1 8.0

Swissport Executive Nice Cote d'Azur International LFMN 8.4 8.1 7.5 8.0 8.0

FBOs with the same overall average are listed alphabetically.FBO information provided by Ac-U-Kwik

TAG Farnborough, UK

TAG Geneva, Switzerland

KLM Jet Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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colleagues with a flexible attitude to working hours (something that can’t always be taken for granted in Europe). In his view, KLM Jet Center (Booth 1937) has benefited from a working environment in which the com-pany and staff exercise a balanced give-and-take attitude in responding to changing needs.

“If [the staff] will do it for each other [helping out during busy times], then you know they will do the same for the customers,” Niemöller explained. “About 70 per-cent of our staff has been here for 15 years or more. It’s their business and they know the pilots best. We get a good rating because people know that we have really good ground crew.”

Small gestures can go a long way, such as spotting that a pilot has had a hard day and offering him a cou-ple of complimentary beers to enjoy in his hotel room. That takes the sort of human intuition and instinct that doesn’t come readily from formal training.

According to Niemöller, the KLM Jet Center has also benefited from having a good working relationship with the airport management at Schiphol. He has regular meetings with staff from the center to discuss how gen-eral aviation can happily co-exist with the airline traffic at this crowded hub. This has resulted in a more tailored slot application process for bizav operators.

Much of the focus for the FBO this year will be the introduction of new quality and safety management sys-tems. The QMS will be heavily influenced by customer comments about what aspects of service matter most to them. Overall, the company hopes to achieve an even more consistent level of service, based in part on the sort of procedural consistency found at a well-run airline.

Signature Flight Support, Paris Le Bourget, France

At an airport that has seen lots of comings and goings in a crowded FBO market, Signature Flight Sup-port always has been in it for the long-haul at Paris Le Bourget. Its FBO there has once again scored well in AIN’s survey.

Despite tough economic conditions, the U.S.-based Signature group (Booth 364) has continued to expand its horizons in Europe. Last year, it opened new bases at Berlin Schoenefeld Airport (soon to be renamed Berlin Brandenburg International Airport) and also at Frank-furt International Airport, adding to its existing Ger-man presence at Munich International Airport.

The company now is set to start construction of its new terminal and hangar complex at London Luton Airport. The $31 million development will represent a significant upgrade to its established FBO at the 24-hour UK gateway.

In Asia, Signature’s existing platform for exploiting the great potential for bizav growth in that region is its Hong Kong Business Aviation Center joint venture. The BBA Aviation group company has established a man-agement team for Asia tasked with tapping expansion opportunities there.

According to Signature president and COO Maria Sastre, the FBO chain has outperformed generally below

par market conditions that have seen only marginal increases in traffic worldwide of around 2 to 3 percent. “The European region has seen a disproportionate drop in business compared to North America,” she told AIN. “Asia and Latin America are seeing stronger growth, but from a far lower base.”

Meanwhile, in the south of France, another well-regarded FBO is Signature’s facility at Nice-Cote d’Azur Airport (8.0), which is run through a joint ven-ture with AviaPartner.

Harrods Aviation, London Luton, UK

After more than two years under the new owner-ship of the Qatar Holding group, the focus for Harrods Aviation continues to be squarely on its two-pronged presence in the key London market with FBOs at both Luton and Stansted airports. According to sales and marketing director Will Holroyd, 2013 has started pos-itively with above-forecast traffic volumes. “Last year was a year of ups and downs,” he told AIN. “We had a very strong spring and early summer, partly due to the Olympic Games, which, in particular, brought an increase in head-of-state and large VIP traffic. But then the autumn into winter period saw slight dips at both Luton and Stansted.”

Last year, Harrods (Booth 671) made investments to stay on top of new European security requirements, as well as in new equipment for its bases. “One big change was our investment in new fueling trucks and we now have multiple trucks at each of our locations,” Holroyd explained. “This means we can refuel any type of air-

craft ourselves, saving time for our customers.”At the same time, the company has increased staffing

levels in the quality and standards department, as well as some other behind-the-scenes functions. “The Har-rods brand [Qatar Holding also bought the famous Lon-don department store] helps a lot in being able to recruit the best staff and a lot of the people who are applying for jobs with us have been personally referred by peo-ple already working here,” said Holroyd. Harrods has its own in-house customer-service training program, which was devised jointly with the high-end store.

Also keeping Harrods on its toes is the intensely competitive environment between London-area FBOs. At Luton, the company has direct competition from two other FBOs (one of which is now making a sig-nificant investment–see Signature above). At Stansted, there are now five FBOs vying for relatively stagnant levels of traffic. “There is too much competition [at some airports] and it can be difficult to remain profit-able,” Holroyd commented. “We’re seeing people enter-ing the market for what I expect to be short periods of time, but I see no end to this while the airport owners are content to accept ridiculous rents.”

“The market is definitely more sensitive to price now, but the notion of low-cost at FBOs can be decep-tive [for customers]. If the lead passenger is happy to sit in a car for two hours after flying eight hours, then they probably can find a cheaper FBO. Low cost comes at a cost and it can be high. Anyone can say they do a great job, but we’ve had 15 years proving it.”

Dassault Falcon Service, Paris Le Bourget, France

Built around one of the French aircraft manufactur-er’s key product-support facilities, Dassault Falcon Ser-vice (Booth 7090) has amassed a loyal following in its many years at Le Bourget Airport, where it now faces competition from no fewer than seven other FBOs. The past couple of years have seen expansion of both hangar and ramp parking space, as well as investment in more ground equipment. There also have been improvements to crew areas of its private terminal.

One driver for these developments has been an increase in the average size of the aircraft using Le Bourget. This has meant creating larger parking bays in the hangar and on the apron, as well as bigger tow trac-tors to cope with the inevitable need to move jets around

Swissport Executive Aviation, Nice Côte d’Azur, France

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport on France’s popular Med-iterranean coast is one of two branded FBOs operated by the airline-handling group Swissport. The other is at Geneva International Airport in Switzerland.

As a prime example of the sort of fluctuating factors that can impact any given FBO’s business plan, the Nice location had a quieter than normal peak summer season in 2012 because the Ramadan religious holidays fell early during July and August, reducing the amount of visiting

traffic from the Middle East. By contrast, explained Swis-sport Executive Aviation global sales director Rebecca Durrer-Bolle, the Geneva FBO “had its best year ever.”

Swissport (Booth 459) is unusual among airline handling groups in consciously seeking opportunities to expand into the more specialist executive aviation market. Durrer-Bolle told AIN that whenever the group wins a license to serve the air transport sector in any given country, it always seeks to offer some sort of business aviation service at locations where this makes sense. For example, the past year has seen it expand this part of its service footprint to five locations in Morocco (with another two about to be added).

The Swissport group is present at no fewer than 192 airports in 38 countries around the world. One clear advantage of being part of such an extensive handling group is that Swissport Executive can tap into its econ-omies of scale–a factor that is more significant in these times of rising operating costs and squeezed profit mar-gins. It can also offer operators discounted handling contracts for using its locations around the world. o

European FBOs

Harrods Aviation, London Luton, UK

Signature Flight Support, Paris Le Bourget, France

Dassault Falcon Service, Paris Le Bourget, France

Swissport Executive Aviation, Nice Côte d’Azur, France

uContinued from page 42

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Luma LEDs are popular in King Airs

Since Luma Technologies received approval for its Lumatech LED caution/warning panels for Beechcraft King Air 200, 300, 350 and 1900D models, the company has been receiving significant interest in the product. The panels hold supplemental type certificate/parts

manufacturer approval certification. Many King Air operators are opting for

the Garmin G1000 avionics upgrade, and that company has fitted Lumatech panels in its own King Air 350 demonstrator. “[That] hasn’t hurt us a bit,” said Luma president Bruce Maxwell. “We’re very proud of their confidence in us.” Lumatech panels can also be used with other avionics types or as standalone installations.

Compared with traditional “presstolamp” incandescent warning panels, the Lumatech LED displays offer greatly increased operational life and much improved lighting. They also generate very little heat. The Lumatech family comprises six sizes of panels that can be dropped into the dashboard in place of traditional units. Installation takes around three hours and requires no flighttesting.

Lumatech panels have recently been

certified on the Beechcraft Hawker 400XPR upgrade to the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 flight deck. Hawker upgrade competitor Nextant has chosen a Lumatech 15station panel for its new 400XTi, in addition to a Lumatech 60station panel.

In the immediate future, Luma Technologies (Booth 1949) is working on extending the Lumatech panels to the King Air C90 and then to the Cessna Caravan and Bell 206 JetRanger. Next year the company aims to launch panels for the Cessna Citation series, older Dassault Falcons, more helicopters and two regional transport types. –D.D.

Ruag delivers its first completion by David Donald

Ruag Aviation has delivered its first cabin completion project, a Bombardier CRJ200 airliner that was transformed into a 10seat VIP configuration. The entire cabin, including electrics, was reworked with a luxury interior that included wireless cabin entertainment, private area, club seating and dining areas. The company’s cabin interior program offers a onestopshop that covers design consultancy, cabin design, furniture construction, cabin integration and certification. It also offers exterior painting and design services. Ruag’s new “designyourown aircraft” tool on its website allows viewers to design a custom color scheme on one of six aircraft types.

Another recent achievement was the completion of Ruag’s first D check. Conducted at the company’s LuganoAgno plant in Italy, a Piaggio P.180 Avanti was completely inspected and overhauled, including the removal and overhaul of the Pratt & Whitney Canada

PT6A engines and repairs to various elements of the turboprop’s primary and secondary structures. The aircraft also underwent a minor cabin refurbishment. Ruag is authorized to upgrade the Avanti’s Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 avionics, although that process was not performed on this aircraft.

Meanwhile, Ruag’s Munich facility has been appointed as an authorized interior warranty repair facility and service center for the Embraer Lineage 1000 and expects to add the Legacy 450/500 soon. The company is scheduled to perform its first C check on an Embraer 170 airliner this summer.

With headquarters in Berne, Ruag Aviation (Booth 1071) offers a wide range of services to business aviation and is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its partnership with Dassault Aviation. It is an authorized service center for virtually all types of Falcon aircraft. o

Jet-Care’s iECHO program has recorded 50,000 data setsby James Wynbrandt

Engine monitoring services company JetCare (Booth 539) announced at EBACE it has received in excess of 50,000 engine trend data sets via its iECHO GPA iPad app since introducing it at the 2011 NBAA convention. The app is a logical extension of pilots’ increasing use of iPads as electronic flight bags.

iECHO enables pilots to gather data during steady state cruise and, once a connection is made, send the data directly to JetCare for processing and evaluation. Receiving the data on a flightbyflight basis enables JetCare to notify the operator of any trend changes in a more timely manner than is possible when the data is received by periodic submission.

JetCare’s engine condition trend monitoring service by gaspath analysis (GPA) targets the detection of engine core deterioration and associated faults

by continuously monitoring and trending the engine data. Significant changes to the trends are identified and a prompt alert sent to the operator. The results enable operators to identify problems before they become apparent and in turn save money through avoiding major overhauls and unplanned maintenance.

“With the launch of iECHO GPA we have been able to provide a much simpler and more effective way for our customers to submit data quickly and easily, without using paper trend sheets,” said Alan Baker, the Odiham, UKbased company’s sales and marketing manager. “The success of the app is evident, with more than 50,000 sets of data submitted and a continued increase in the number of operators moving from paper trend sheets to sending data by iECHO GPA.” o


Lumatech LED King Air caution/warning panels.

Ruag recently converted this Bombardier CRJ200 to executive configuration, a first for the company.

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Greenpoint booth’s scale model highlights 747-8 VVIP interior

Aircraft completion company Greenpoint Technologies (Booth 1027) has unveiled at EBACE a one-twentieth-scale version of a 747-8 featuring a VVIP interior displaying the company’s signature design capabilities. The scale model’s inte-rior appointments include Greenpoint’s Aeroloft, which provides additional pas-senger rest space above the main cabin, and the Aerolift, an elevator that allows secure access into the aircraft from the ground.

“The interior repre-sents the dynamics of flight with the artistry of timeless design,” said Annika Wicklund, Green-point’s design manager. “Artful and functional, it showcases the 21st cen-tury balanced with the legacy of travel. The exte-rior livery design symbol-izes patterns inspired by the wings of a Gyrfalcon, the largest of the falcon species and known for its long-distance range.”

An authorized Boeing

Business Jets completion center, Kirk-land, Washington-based Greenpoint per-forms turnkey completions exclusively on Boeing aircraft, using in-house design, engineering, manufacturing, installation, cabinetry and custom-machined parts capabilities. During its 25 years of private ownership, Greenpoint has had a 99-per-cent on-time delivery rate, according to the company. –J.W.


No, it’s not the world’s most exotic sunroof. Greenpoint Technologies unveiled a one-20th-scale version of a 747-8 featuring a VVIP interior.

Dassault selects Rockwell for Falcon 2000EX cabin systemsby Matt Thurber

Dassault Falcon Services has selected the Rockwell Collins Skybox and Venue products for retrofit on a Falcon 2000EX.

Skybox is an audio/video on-demand device that allows passengers to bring their own content on their Apple devices and share it with other passen-gers. According to Rockwell Collins, “With one terabyte of onboard stor-age capacity, Skybox is the first air-worthy solution to securely stream digital rights management Hollywood-protected content both to cabin dis-plays and to Apple devices brought on board.” Skybox can also be used to mir-ror a presentation, photos, documents and other compatible files from an iPad to cabin monitors.

The 2000EX retrofit will be the first aftermarket integration of the Venue cabin management system with Skybox, and it should be completed this summer.

Skybox has been retrofitted to a Gulfstream G550 by West Star Aviation and is being fitted to a Boeing BBJ.

At EBACE, Rockwell Collins (Booth 423) is also highlighting its Pro

Line Fusion flight deck, which now also comes in a touchscreen version. The Rockwell Collins Head-up Guid-ance System head-up display (HUD) installed in Bombardier’s Global 5000s and 6000s features a unique synthetic-vision display on the HUD. The Global 5000 and 6000 and Gulfstream’s G280 are the first jets to be certified with Pro Line Fusion flight decks, although the G280’s avionics suite is branded as Gulfstream PlaneView. Pro Line Fusion is also featured in upcoming new air-craft such as the Embraer Legacy 450 and 500 (the 500 is here at EBACE at the static park), Learjet 85, AW609 tiltrotor, Bombardier CSeries and Mitsubishi Regional Jet.

Rockwell Collins is also highlighting its Ascend flight information solutions division at its EBACE exhibit, includ-ing new features for its Flight Operations System (FOS) scheduling and dispatch-ing solution. These include “a highly inte-grated flight tracking tool, an enhanced trip request module and a filtering option for airport databases.” o

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AgustaWestland goes to Russia with loveby Thierry Dubois

AgustaWestland (Booth 7070) has received orders from Russia and the British Isles for a mixture of several VIP-config-ured helicopters.

Exclases Russia inked a con-tract for five AW139 medium twins–in a mix of VIP and util-ity layouts. HeliVert, a Russian Helicopters and AgustaWestland joint venture located in Tomilino near Moscow, will produce the AW139s. The deal is a follow-on

to a previous agreement, which calls for one AW139 to be deliv-ered in June. Exclases also has ordered a GrandNew light twin in VIP transport configuration.

In Europe, AgustaWestland has sold its fourth AW139 for corporate transport in the UK and Ireland. The helicopter is to be delivered in 2014 to an undis-closed customer. The manufac-turer claims to have sold nearly 40 AW139s across Europe for

VIP, corporate and government transport roles.

AgustaWestland is exhibit-ing a GrandNew in a special James Bond 007-style livery at EBACE. Also on display is a full-scale mockup of the ded-icated VIP interior developed by MAG for the in-flight-test AW169 light-intermediate twin and a scale model of an exclu-sive four-seat, VIP AW139 inte-rior by Karl Lagerfeld.

In other news, China-based AW139 operator Sky Shuttle Heli-copters announced that captain Meg Lam and first officer Kirsty Holtkamp became the compa-ny’s first-ever all-female helicop-ter crew to operate flights between Hong Kong and Macau. o

Dvorak combines interests as new CFO of ABS Jets

If you see Michal Dvorak here at EBACE wearing a big smile, congratulate him on his new appointment. He was just named chief financial officer of ABS Jets (Booth 2052), with operational bases in Prague and Bratislava. Dvorak has always had a keen interest in both avia-tion and finance, and his new job will enable him to leverage his expertise in both areas.

He comes to ABS from KMPG Czech Republic, where he served as the super-visor of its commercial audit division. In that role, Dvorak

conducted audits on many avi-ation companies, giving him deep insight into “what makes a successful aircraft operator,”

according to ABS Jets. Dvorak received a master’s degree in business administra-tion from the Uni-versity of Economics in Prague. He later worked in debt collec-tion for GE Financial Services.

ABS Jets currently has a fleet of eight air-craft–six Embraer Leg-acy 600s, an Embraer

Phenom 300 and a Bombardier Learjet 60XR. –M.P.

Michal Dvorak will combine his love of finance and aircraft in his new position as CFO of ABS Jets

Cessna has an antidote for corrosive de-icersby James Wynbrandt

Cessna Aircraft (Booth 7091) has introduced a treatment to pro-tect Citation jets based in Europe from the corrosive effects of potas-sium formate (CHKO2), the environmentally friendly but alu-minum-hostile runway de-icer increasingly used across the region.

“The potassium formate de-icing situation affects all alumi-num aircraft,” Joe Hepburn, the Wichita airframer’s senior v-p for customer service, told AIN. “Our customers have been very uncertain how that will affect them. As an OEM, we want to leave them with certainty about the future.”

The treatment is available un-der an enhancement to Cessna’s ProTech factory maintenance program, called ProTech+. The anti-corrosion procedure entails a thorough airframe inspection and application of Corban 23, a

super-penetrating fluid that cre-ates a protective barrier on the airframe. ProTech+ is available at Cessna’s factory-owned ser-vice centers in Doncaster (UK), Dusseldorf (Germany), Paris (France), Prague (Czech Repub-lic) and Valencia (Spain).

“We are currently signing peo-ple up and providing incentives at our booth,” said Hepburn. “We are interested in providing this protection to customers and want to make it very attractive.”

The price of ProTech+ cov-erage is based on the Citation model, number of hours flown annually and hours since the aircraft’s last major inspection; Hepburn declined to provide dollar figures. For airplanes cov-ered by the ProTech+ program, Cessna will cover the costs of parts that need replacement due to de-icing damage. o

OHS inks a pair of partnership dealsGerman business jet modern-

ization and refurbishment spe-cialist OHS Aviation Services (Booth 2043) has announced two deals in which it will partner

with other companies to work on refurbishment programs. In the first deal, OHS has agreed to join with DC Aviation to open a cabin interior shop at DC’s

Stuttgart base. The com-pany, which was formed in 2007 from Daimler- Chrysler Aviation, pro-vides a wide spectrum of services, including aircraft charter and management as well as repair and maintenance.

Having OHS experts on-site allows cabin refurbishments and repairs to be undertaken at the same time as aircraft are at DC Aviation for maintenance.

In the second agreement, Ber-lin-based OHS is to work with FAI Technik on a full refurbish-ment program for a Bombardier Global Express. While the air-craft undergoes line and base maintenance and an 8C check at FAI’s Nuremburg facility, OHS will undertake a full refur-bishment of the interior, includ-ing replacement of all veneer, plating, carpet and fabric sur-faces. Some of this work will be undertaken at OHS’s subsidiary in Erfurt. – D.D.

Ornulf Hilarius, CEO of OHS Aviation Services (left), and Michael Kuhn, CEO of DC Aviation, cement a new strategic agreement.

Russia’s Exclases has ordered five AW139 medium-twin helicopters and a single AgustaWestland GrandNew in VIP transport configuration. This GrandNew on display at AgustaWestland’s EBACE booth is sporting a special James Bond 007 livery.

MEBAA choosEs EMirAtEs-cAE trAining sErvicE Solid recurrent training is at the core of any safety management system

and the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA, Booth 827) and its members know this. The organization has chosen EBACE 2013 as the venue to announce a new member benefit: MEBAA Total Training Service, a package designed specifically for MEBAA by Emirates-CAE (Booth 372).

Upon signing up for the three-year service all MEBAA members and their pilots are eligible to participate in the program’s 21 e-learning courses, updates on training manuals, safety and emergency procedures training, pilot remedial training sessions (as many as two per year) and eight hours of CAE flight simulator sessions with a CAE instructor.

“We are pleased to offer this quality training program to our members,” said Ali Ahmed Al Naqbi, founding chairman of MEBAA. “It will certainly enhance the safety and efficiency of business aviation in the region.” � n

U.S. to house AW169 assembly lineby Mark Huber

AgustaWestland (Booth 7070) announced plans last month to open a second final assembly line for its new AW169 medium twin at its U.S. plant in Philadelphia to complement the main line for the helicopter in Vergiate, Italy.

Major components for the AW169 will continue to be made at AW’s plant at Yeovil in the UK and this site will con-tinue to provide engineering support, said company spokes-man Geoff Russell.

The British government pro-vided the Anglo-Italian manu-facturer with just over $33 million in loans to support the AW169 program in 2011. Along with its UK suppliers, AgustaWest-land’s UK operation is playing a major role in the design, de-velopment and manufacture of the rotor blades and intermedi-ate and tail gearboxes and tail ro-tor hub for the AW169. Yeovil al-so is flight testing one of the four AW169 prototypes and leading the training development for the aircraft, including the develop-ment of courseware for aircrew and ground crew training.

Four prototypes of the 10-seat, 10,000-pound helicopter are currently in flight test in Ita-ly and the U.S. and certification is expected in 2014. The company has received more than 80 orders from 38 customers in 16 countries for the $10- to $12 million Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210A-powered AW169. AW Philadel-phia CEO Bill Hunt told AIN that the plant anticipates deliver-ing its first completed AW169 in 2015 and would eventually ramp up production of the model to 20 per year by 2017.

AW Philadelphia currently manufactures the AW119Kx sin-gle and the AW139 medium twin.Last year the company built 12 and 36, respectively, at its plant there. Over the last five years, AW has built 150 AW139s in Philadel-phia, and 45 percent of all heli-copters built there are exported. The company also builds the AW139 at its Vergiate plant and in other locations around the world. Globally, more than 550 AW139s have been delivered and almost 200 more are on order. Hunt said that AW is making new options available for the AW139, including a limited ice protec-tion system, Phase 7 Honeywell Primus Epic avionics, new pas-senger seats, weather satellite receiver, hoist enhancements and the Trakka search light, recently

installed for AW139s for the Maryland State Police.

Derived from the AW119 Koala, AW Philadelphia devel-oped the new AW119Kx fea-turing the Garmin G1000H

glass-panel avionics system in less than a year. Hunt said AW was “weeks away” from receiv-ing FAA certification approval for the helicopter, with EASA approval to follow shortly. o

www.ainonline.com • May 23, 2013 • EBACE Convention News 00www.ainonline.com • May 22, 2013 • EBACE Convention News 49

Four prototypes of the AgustaWestland AW169 are currently in flight test.

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Aerion bides its time, keeps SSBJ on trackby Nigel Moll

Aerion, which has been defin-ing and refining its design for a supersonic business jet (SSBJ) for the past 11 years, is here at EBACE (Booth 7030) still qui-etly confident that it will some-day be able to add the word “producer” to its résumé. To that end, a NASA F-15 has been flying this spring from Dryden Flight Research Center in Cali-fornia with an 80- by 40-inch sec-tion of Aerion airfoil attached to its belly. This second phase of flight-testing is intended to validate Aerion’s most crucial theory and measure “the real-world robustness of supersonic natural laminar flow.”

Aerion CEO Doug Nichols told AIN late last month that he expects the test article will fly about a dozen times. Failure of the after-burner on the F-15’s right engine (while climbing out on a mid-April test flight) had put a kink in the test card by limit-ing testing to high sub-sonic speeds, he said, but with the engine and after-burner replaced he was confident the testing to Mach 2 would continue. The profile for the week before the end of April was to climb to 50,000 feet and then make a constant-Mach descent down to 40,000 with a few sideslips, using infra-red thermography to assess the transition on the test article.

The new test article was engi-neered to accommodate aerody-namic non-uniformities under the F-15B, while also being suf-ficiently representative of the Aerion wing to evaluate the effect of surface imperfections on the stability of supersonic boundary layers. Information gleaned from these tests will

help define manufacturing stan-dards for surface quality and assembly tolerances, both cru-cial to future production of the SBJ, according to Aerion.

The test article is machined from aluminum, with thin lay-ers of epoxy used for insula-tion and surface painting. Four resistive temperature devices located along the lower and trailing edges of the device pro-vide highly accurate temperature readings from which to calibrate the infrared video, the primary instrumentation for the flight-tests. In addition, “the test arti-cle’s strong-back carries an array of five-hole probes that measure flow angularity near the leading edge,” the company said.

The previous round of tests during the summer

of 2010 also reached Mach 2.0 and used an instrumented flat plate mounted to the same strong-back to map and enable

computer modeling of the high-speed flow

field under the F-15B. After analyzing the resulting data, aerody-

namic design work for the new test article began in late 2010, followed by mechanical design in mid-2011 and fabrication in the first half of last year.

“The Aerion SBJ design uses patented applications of natu-ral laminar flow for efficiency and speed, so understanding the parameters under which such an aircraft will be built and operated is fundamental to proving its viability,” said Dr. Richard Tracy, Aerion’s chief technology officer. “Our con-tinued mutually beneficial rela-tionship with NASA Dryden, plus a separate agreement with NASA Glenn Research Center

on supersonic inlet software maturation announced last year, advances the theory and appli-cation of aerodynamics with the ultimate goal of safe flight at higher speeds compared to today’s subsonic civil aircraft.”

Business ExpansionAerion recently acquired

Palo Alto-based Desktop Aeronautics and brought its four employees onto its pay-roll. These four people are “the senior PhD aerodynamicists at the heart of designing the digi-tal tools Aerion has been using for the last decade,” accord-ing to Nichols. “Principally, we acquired the portfolio of intellectual property because it is fundamen-tal to our design capa-bility and is now the exclusive province of Aerion. Desktop also has a master dis-tribution license for NASA’s Cart3D design optimization tool, which provides some independent revenue capability. The strategic wisdom of this acquisition has to do with the design tools, their pro-prietary nature and how closely coupled they are with Aerion’s own design aspirations for a supersonic business jet,” he said.

These advanced computa-tional and optimization tools

allow Aerion to design for min-imum drag or maximum lami-nar flow, “which are really two different things,” said Nichols. “We tend to optimize for min-imum drag. These tools allow us to optimize the integra-tion of our straight thin wing with the fuselage and our pro-pulsion system. It’s the know-how and cumulative experience of our designers coupled with our portfolio of proprietary wing designs that harness nat-ural laminar flow and the suite of our optimization tools that allow us to move from concep-tual to advanced design of the SSBJ itself, and also to help

OEMs apply our knowledge to their high-subsonic/

transonic aircraft. Our technology is emi-nently scalable.”

The numbers for the proposed Aerion SSBJ remain essen-

tially unchanged: max cruise Mach 1.6, max long-range cruise speed Mach 1.4 to 1.5, max subsonic long-

range cruise Mach 0.95 to 0.96 and 100,000 lb or less mtow. “It’s basically the same perfor-mance envelope but we are con-stantly reviewing and refining with a view to improving the design of the aircraft for the advent of Stage 5 noise require-ments, for example, and longer range,” said Nichols. “It’s a con-stantly evolving project, but still fairly tightly contained around the performance parameters we’ve identified.”

“We continue to keep the OEMs apprised of our prog-ress,” Aerion vice chairman Brian Barents told AIN, “and I think it’s fair to say there’s still a good level of interest world-wide among the handful of companies we consider to be viable candidates for partner-ship. Most of them have their hands full right now with their

own internal projects and in some cases are dealing with a market that is dubious in its robustness. So they’re keeping their powder dry, and hopefully when all the stars are aligned we’ll be able to move forward.”

Asked whether Aerion has approached any Chinese enter-prises, or vice versa, Barents said, “While we believe it’s a distinct possibility that there’s a Chi-nese entity [interested], we also believe that at this stage this proj-ect needs to be led by an existing bona fide aircraft manufacturer.”

Aerion’s payroll is currently approaching 20 people, plus another 20 or so with contrac-tor status.

“The continued demand for big expensive airplanes during these lean years reinforces the market research we have pre-viously done,” noted Barents. “Obviously, the success that Gulfstream is having with the G650, which sells for between $60 and $70 million, reinforces the fact that there remains a market for that size of airplane, as far as price goes. But it’s clear that speed is the next frontier, and we’re the only one offer-ing an alternative there. So we believe that the market research we did about five years ago is still sound, and we’re bullish on the financial underpinnings of this project.” The proposed price of the Aerion SSBJ remains $80 million in 2007 dollars.

One of Aerion’s corporate catchphrases cleverly captures not only the program’s enduring “poised to happen” status but also the airplane’s purpose: “It’s a matter of time.” o�


This spring Aerion has been testing an 80- by 40-inch airfoil section mounted to the belly of a NASA F-15B. The flights are intended to investigate the real-world robustness and stability of supersonic boundary layers in the presence of surface imperfections introduced by manufacturing tolerances or other contamination.

Aerion’s corporate catchphrase, “It’s a matter of time,” tidily captures its status as a company in waiting with a supersonic business jet up its sleeve.

Aerion CEO Doug Nichols

Aerion vice chairman Brian Barents

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Rockwell HUD SVS wins gold safety awardby Matt Thurber

Rockwell Collins received the top honor–a gold award in the safety category–from the Edison Awards in recognition of the company’s development of synthetic vision on a head-up display (HUD). The awards program is conducted by Edison Universe, which fosters future innovators. The awards were named after prolific inventor

Thomas Edison.The synthetic-vision imagery

on the Rockwell Collins head-up guidance system HUD was cer-tified last year and entered into service on the Pro Line Fusion flight deck in Bombardier’s Global 6000. Synthetic vision is monochrome on the HUD, using essentially the same imagery dis-played on the full-color Fusion

primary flight displays. The dif-ference is that when looking through the HUD, the pilot can “see” the real world, including clouds, while also viewing syn-thetic-vision images and flight information in the HUD. So on a cloudy day, for example, the pilot can virtually see through the clouds to perceive features on the ground such as buildings, lakes, runways and so forth.

“Our judges recognized Rockwell Collins’ synthetic vision on a head-up display as a true innovator out of the many products in its category,” said Frank Bonafilia, executive direc-tor of the Edison Awards. o


Synthetic vision on this Rockwell Collins head-up display, shown here on the Global Vision flight deck in a Global 6000 operated by Vienna-based charter provider Amira, allows pilots to “see” through clouds while looking through the HUD.

Alison Price On Air adds a brasserie in the skyby Kirby J. Harrison

Daniel Hulme is vice chair-man of the European Corporate Flight Attendant’s Committee (ECFAC) and moderated the Cabin Crew Symposium here at EBACE (see box), but he is also here this year as managing direc-tor of London-based caterer

Alison Price On Air where some big changes are being made.

Alison Price has long taken pride in providing a varied menu to appeal to a wide vari-ety of ethnic preferences, includ-ing Arabic, Chinese, Indian and Japanese. In a recent move

to continue this approach, the company is now in talks with top Russian restaurants in Lon-don to offer branded Russian fare. This follows similar joint ventures with Michelin-starred Indian restaurant Tamarind, Arabic ethnic cuisine specialist Arabica and leading sushi pro-vider Sumosan. Alison Price is also speaking with a num-ber of Nigerian restaurants in response to a growing charter business to that part of the Afri-can continent.

In addition, the caterer recently created “a completely fresh and new brasserie-style menu to accompany the existing á là carte offerings.”

According to Hulme, the brasserie menu was designed in response to flight attendant feed-back that emphasized simplicity when serving quality meals on executive flights with a mani-fest of up to 50 passengers. “The new selections are designed to be simple and convenient to pack and easy to serve, while retaining Alison Price On Air’s high levels of produce and service,” he said.

Among items featured on the brasserie menu are Italian osso buco, scallop-and-crab maca-roni, beef blade Rendang and Alison Price’s own classic three-chocolate mille-feuille pastry.

The brasserie menu allows later ordering times the day before a flight, up to 9 p.m. The decision moves the company closer to an overall 24/7 service.

Such specialty meals are not prepared in Alison Price kitchens, but the menu items are adapted at each restaurant, under the direction of Alison Price chefs, to meet the spe-cial demands of business avi-ation catering for packaging, safety and quality assurance. “We’re already catering to spe-cific tastes with great success through these partnerships,” said Hulme. o

Cabin-Crew Symposium Creates Common Standards

The European Corporate Flight Attendant’s Committee chair Paul Milver-ton of Gama Aviation, Stafford, Connecticut, and vice chair David Hulme managed and moderated this year’s NBAA Cabin-Crew Symposium held here in Geneva on Monday. The symposium, sponsored by the NBAA Flight Atten-dants Committee, the International Subcommittee and EBAA staff, featured a program on issues relevant to business aviation cabin-crew operations and addressed topics ranging from safety and security to service and training.

Among featured speakers were: Monique Lepore of ML Flight Services–professional development; Paula Kraft of Tastefully Yours catering, Atlanta, Georgia–food safety and catering; and Catherine Gasenband, FBO AviaCare in Breda, the Netherlands–making the FBO part of your air crew team. –K.J.H.

Service aboard the aircraft is a specialty of Alison Price On Air.

Jetex at Oxford creates a flight-planning loungeby David Donald

Dubai-based service pro-vider Jetex Flight Support is expanding its reach in Europe and looking for new opportu-nities. Among its most recent developments is the opening in January of a new flight-plan-ning lounge at London Oxford Airport, in so doing becoming the airport’s first external part-ner. The lounge is in the Oxford-jet FBO and comprises a newly furnished planning room with aeronautical charts and three computers for visiting aircrew. The PCs are linked to Jetex’s own flight-planning system, and also host generic flight-planning software to enable crews to perform stand-alone assessments of route options.

Jetex Flight Support employs more than 300 personnel world-wide, with many in the cen-tral Dubai operations center that provides a 24/7/365 ser-vice for flight planning, oper-ations, tracking, logistics and dispatch. The company also pro-vides supervision in cases where it deems that the local FBO may not be trusted to meet Jetex’s exacting standards.

In Europe the company

operates a major FBO at Paris-Le Bourget, including the NetJets account, and another was opened (in partnership with Westair) at Shannon, Ire-land, in late 2011. Shannon is an important staging post for westbound transatlantic traffic, as the U.S. Customs and Bor-der Patrol operates a remote immigration/customs facility there, allowing crews and pas-sengers to fly directly to their U.S. destinations.

Jetex also operates FBOs at Kiev-Zhulyany, from where its “Orange Team” is particu-larly useful in ensuring smooth operations throughout the CIS countries, and a newly opened center in Beijing in partnership with Deerjet.

Beginning last July, Jetex (through subsidiary Jetex Fuel-ing Services) secured a VAT exemption for fuel in some Euro-pean countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ger-many, Ireland, Poland and Swit-zerland) and is hoping to extend this to further EU countries. Cli-ents can use a simple web-based form to see if they qualify for VAT exemption. o

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Gulfstream ratchets up effort with more European support by David Donald

With more than 180 Gulfstream operators, Europe is a major region for Gulfstream Aerospace, and the company has recently expanded its support infra-structure in the continent. At Luton Air-port, the company’s support center has added more employees, while the mobile repair team unit, part of the field and airborne support team (Fast) network has also grown in size. Fast engineers are based in Athens, Paris and Switzer-land, and one more is to begin opera-tions from Kiev.

Gulfstream has also increased its Europe-based spares holdings to $125 million, of which the majority is held at Corjet Maintenance’s warehouse at Madrid-Barajas. Luton holds spares in a 10,000-sq-ft warehouse, while Jet Avia-tion Basel also maintains a spares depot. Gulfstream operates a 24-hour call-in

number and can ship parts anywhere in Europe and the Middle East within 24 hours. Jet Aviation provides three autho-rized service centers at Basel, Geneva and Moscow, while Corjet is one of three authorized warranty facilities, the others being Altenrhein Aviation’s facilities in Switzerland and in Kiev.

In September 2011, Gulfstream Luton moved into a new 75,000-sq-ft hangar, where it conducts Part 145-approved repair and Part 21-approved design activ-ities on up to 12 aircraft at a time. As well as work at the Luton base, the facility ser-vices more than 100 aircraft per month at other sites. AOG activities have seen Luton technicians respond to require-ments as far away as India and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Gulfstream has been approved by the FAA to add the G650 to its Forms (flight operations risk

management service) program. Forms collects data during all phases of flight and identifies when certain criteria have been exceeded, as well as condi-tions prevailing at the time. This is pre-sented in the form of event reports and also as a quarterly report. Data from all Forms-enrolled operators is col-lated for wider dissemination, provid-ing a useful tool for identifying areas

where training and procedures may need modification.

For the G650, Forms data can be transmitted via the PlaneConnect health and trend monitoring service. This sys-tem provides near real-time aircraft con-dition monitoring by recording up to 10,000 parameters to generate high-prior-ity crew advisory events as well as records of engine health data. o

Gulfstream’s support center at Luton Airport provides a range of support capabilities, including a CAMO (continued airworthiness management organization) that currently manages 15 aircraft.

AfBAA proposing bizav expo in Marrakech for next Aprilby James Wynbrandt

Marking a year of rapid growth since its launch at EBACE 2012, the African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA; Booth 2135) announced here at EBACE 2013 that it would stage a business avi-ation expo of its own next April in con-junction with the Marrakech Air Show. The expo and air show will be held on April 23 to 26 at Marrakech’s FRA Air-port. AfBAA’s expo will cover 50,000 sq m (540,000 sq ft), providing room for booths, static displays and chalets.

“The association’s commitment to launch a dedicated show demonstrates

AfBAA’s pledge to bring together African aviation companies from a wide variety of sectors,” said Tarek Ragheb, AfBAA’s founding chairman. “Things have evolved [for AfBAA] very, very fast.”

Ragheb also announced that the Afri-can Union has granted AfBAA offi-cial observer status, making it the first association to be given such a seat. “For the first time, the association will have the tools at its fingertips to be able to influence the regulatory environ-ment in 56 states,” he said. “We’ll have the opportunity to be in a forum where

[governmental] decisions are made.”Introducing the association’s new

magazine, African Sky, Ragheb said the publication is “dedicated primarily to business aviation, but much broader.” He explained that it will have editorial con-tent reflecting the diversity of the Afri-can continent. The first issue is planned for publication in July.

Additionally, Ragheb named the last of the association’s 20 founding mem-bers, JetNet (Booth 930), the aviation data and analysis company, and he noted that the company will help with AfBAA’s current research project, aimed at iden-tifying the key areas of African business aviation that require improvement.

AfBAA represents Africa’s business aircraft owners, operators and suppliers, and promotes the understanding of the benefits that business aviation provides to the continent. o

Nigerian operator to represent Gulfstream by Amy Laboda

Evergreen Apple Nigeria (EAN, Booth 2135) announced here at EBACE that it has signed a representation agree-ment with Gulfstream Aerospace. This

announcement comes just a week and a half after the closing of a successful Nigerian business aviation conference, the country’s first, hosted by EAN. The

company is the first fully integrated FBO, mainte-nance and hangar facility for business jets to open at Murtala Mohammed

Airport in Lagos.“The signing of this agreement dem-

onstrates Gulfstream Aerospace’s com-mitment to expansion in Africa. We are pleased to work with the company in Nigeria and look forward to develop-ing the brand in the region,” said Segun Demuren, CEO of EAN. “Large-cabin, long-range jets are popular with Nige-rian owners so I anticipate that we will be busy,” he said.

Currently, 64 Gulfstreams are based in Africa, with 13 regularly operating in Nigeria, according to Gulfstream Aero-space’s Trevor Esling, regional senior v-p, international sales, Europe, Middle East and Africa. o

Trevor Esling (right), regional senior v-p, international sales, Europe, Middle East and Africa for Gulfstream Aerospace, with Segun Demuren, CEO of Evergreen Apple Nigeria after signing an agreement to allow EAN to market Gulfstream aircraft in Nigeria.

Signature will open new base in Singapore

Signature Flight Support will open a new facility at Changi International Air-port in Singapore this summer, the BBA Aviation subsidiary announced yester-day at EBACE. It will provide “supervi-sory services” for ground handling and fuel coordination. The Changi location will be Signature’s second facility in Asia and join its investment in the Hong Kong Business Aviation Center at Chek Lap Kok/Hong Kong International Airport.

“Singapore is an important and grow-ing business and general aviation market for Signature, and this location solidifies our Asian foothold,” said BBA Aviation Asia president David Best. “With our global sales, marketing and operations capabilities, customers will experience a consistent, world-class service experience in two of the most important Asian mar-ketplaces: Singapore and Hong Kong.”

Signature’s offices will be located at the JetQuay CIP Terminal, which has lounge facilities and also serves Changi’s “com-mercially important passengers” transit-ing through the airline terminal. JetQuay offers “premium, personalized services” to commercial passengers, such as check-in, immigration and baggage clearances, as well as private rest areas with shower facilities. –C.T.

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