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A PUBLICATION OF

Dubai DECEMBER 8, 2010 Vol. 42 No. 30

• Hawker Beechcraft boosts global supportRising exports of its business aircraft family have prompted Hawker Beechcraft to expand significantly the extent and capacity of its customer support facilities, especially here in the Middle East. 2

• Lufthansa Technik is complete supporterGerman aircraft engineering group LHT can provide the finest finishing touches for VIP aircraft, as well as put things right when maintenance is needed. Page 14

• G650 is a long-legged speed machineGulfstream is throwing down the gauntlet to competitors in the large-cabin business jet sector with its new G650. Page 23

• Al Bateen is a bizav oasis for the GulfThe downtown location and airline-free environment at Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Executive Airport stakes its claim to be the Le Bourget of the desert. Page 28

• Dassault takes cockpit technology to new levelThe Falcon jet family is continuing to benefit from avionics advances through programs such as the enhanced flight vision system and EASy2. Page 29

Embraer’s jet influx prompts deal on local support network by David Donald

Embraer announced yesterday at MEBA the appointment of the ExecuJet Aviation Group as an authorized service center for the Legacy 600 and 650 air-craft. Scheduled and unscheduled main-tenance will be undertaken at ExecuJet’s Dubai base, which has also recently joined

a new global service network for Hawker Beechcraft (see page 12). The facility is already a long-established service center for Bombardier.

ExecuJet and Embraer are now in dis-cussion concerning the extension of sim-ilar services to other members of the

Brazilian airframer’s executive aircraft family. Embraer also has another autho-rized service center in the region, in the shape of Falcon Aviation Services in Abu Dhabi, and a locally based parts distribu-tion center, CEVA Logistics.

Further recent Embraer activity in the Middle East has seen the first 70-seat E170 Shuttle (part of the “E-Jets” fam-ily that includes the Lineage 1000) deliv-ered to Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s leading corporate flight departments. The first aircraft was delivered last month and is already operational. An unspecified

ExecuJet Aviation’s Dubai facility is a new service center for Embraer’s Legacy aircraft. The manufacturer is set to expand its support network as jet deliveries gather pace in the region.

Al Maktoum gets bizav action at lastby James Wynbrandt

The delayed arrival of business aviation at Dubai’s new Al Maktoum International Airport got a kick-start here on the opening day of the MEBA show yes-terday. Airport developer Dubai World Center (DWC) and the Al Futtaim Services Company (AFSC) signed an agreement to establish general aviation services at the ambitious new hub.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, pres-ident of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chair-man of Dubai Aviation City Corporation, and Omar Abdulla Al Futtaim, vice chairman, Al Futtaim HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (right) and Omar Abdulla Al Futtaim shake on an

agreement bringing the first business aviation services provider to Dubai’s new Al Maktoum International Airport, possibly clearing the way for other companies to follow.

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The brand-new Snecma Silvercrest engine offers far more than meets the eye. It’s the only business jet engine that monitors in real time its own performance in flight, sending diagnostic and prognostic data to our support teams on the ground, worldwide. Within minutes, our engineers can

tell you exactly where and when servicing operations will be needed. So you fly on schedule, while saving time and money because we anticipate and plan maintenance. Silvercrest delivers 15 percent lower fuel burn than current bizjet engines, while reducing emissions and noise. Snecma Silvercrest. Worth keeping your eye on. Visit www.silvercrestaero.com

While you’re looking at this Silvercrest engine, Snecma customer support engineers

are doing exactly the same thing.

AIN_engines_352x550.indd 1 06/10/2010 17:43

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number of further deliveries to Aramco are to be made before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, at the MEBA show yester-day Falcon Aviation Services took deliv-ery of the first of two Lineage 1000s it had ordered at the Dubai Air Show in 2007 as part of a larger package of Embraer jets. Embraer has now delivered seven of the ultra-large executive jets, plus two of the similar E190 head-of-state aircraft for governmental use. Five Lineage 1000s are now flying in the Middle East.

The popularity of the Lineage 1000 in the region is in line with the company’s analysis of the global business, which suggests that Middle East customers pre-fer a larger cabin. The company, there-fore, has high hopes for its forthcoming Legacy 450 and 500, which are the only aircraft in their class to offer a flat floor and standing room. The new models also feature fly-by-wire controls, currently available only in the Falcon 7X, ACJ, G650 and Lineage 1000, which are all much larger and more expensive aircraft. The Legacy 450 and 500 have passed crit-ical design review and are now in the detailed design and certification phase. Metal began to be cut for the Legacy 500 in April, and first flight is scheduled for the second half of next year.

By the end of 2011 Embraer’s new plant (and associated customer design center) in Melbourne, Florida, should be ready to start the production of eight Phenom 100 light jets per month. The Phenom family has helped make Embraer the fastest growing busi-ness jet OEM, with 17.2 percent of the

world market for the first three quar-ters of 2010. Up to September this year it delivered 67 aircraft, more than any other manufacturer.

While the company’s analysis suggests that Latin American and U.S. markets could lead recovery in the executive jet arena, hitting the numbers experienced in the 2008 peak by around 2017, the Mid-dle East remains a vitally important mar-ket, with projected sales of at least 300 aircraft of all types worth $11 billion over the next few years.

Embraer predicts that around 60 per-cent of those aircraft will be in the large/ultra-long-range/ultra-large categories, two of which are catered to by the Leg-acy 650 and Lineage 1000. The company remains coy about any developments in the ultra-long-range category, which

is the only one that will not be covered by Embraer’s line-up once the Legacy 450/500 is available, but states that capa-bility is being studied.

Deliveries of the Legacy 650, the company’s latest jet, got under way on November 22 when Lord Alan Sugar received his aircraft for operation by Titan Airways at Oxford, UK. However, London Executive Aviation was the first to begin commercial charter operations with the type in early December. In fact, this aircraft (G-RBNS) is on display and for sale by Business Air International here in the static, having flown to Dubai from St. Petersburg, Russia, on a char-ter. Last week the first Legacy 650 was delivered into the Middle East with the handover of an aircraft to Arab Wings in Jordan. o

Embraer boosts supportuContinued from page 1

SHEIKH AHMED CUTS RIBBON AS INDUSTRY CUTS DEALS

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Dubai Aviation City Authority, cuts the ribbon to open the fourth Middle East Business Aviation show yesterday. The exhibiton’s strong start seemed to confirm local convictions about a business aviation recovery in the Gulf region, with booth occupancy up more than 40 percent from 2008.� n

In a symbolic handoff, l to r, Sergio Frias, v-p of contracts for Embraer Executive Jets, presents a key to the first of two Lineage 1000s to Saif M A Al Mugheiry, COO of Falcon Aviation Services, as part of a larger order of Embraer jets. Looking on are Capt. Jeff Roland, Falcon Aviation; Capt. Craig Kennedy, v-p of operations for Falcon; and Colin Steven of Embraer. Five Lineage 1000s are now flying in the Middle East.

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In support of his selfless performance, Bombardier* proudly contributes to the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

* Registered trademark(s) or trademark(s) of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. © 2010 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

BOM_10102_AIN_P1.indd 1 10-11-19 17:22

Emivest Aerospace on the brink of bankruptcyby Charles Alcock

Emivest Aerospace, manu-facturer of the SJ30 light jet, is less than two months away from

liquidation under the terms of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy pro-tection that it filed for in a U.S.

court on October 20. The com-pany has until January 14 to find a buyer to avoid winding up under Chapter 7 rules. Any pro-spective buyer would have until February 4 to complete the deal.

The former Sino-Swearingen company has a strong Dubai connection, with an 80-percent stake in it having been acquired by Emirates Investment &

Development in June 2008. The Dubai group renamed the San Antonio, Texas-based firm and pledged to provide at least $150 million in fresh investment (and potentially up to $1 billion).

Chapter 11 court documents indicate that Emivest has iden-tified several prospective buy-ers for its assets. Management applied for $4 million in debtor-in-possession funds to keep the business operating during the proceedings. The remaining 20 percent in Emivest’s stock is controlled by investors from Taiwan, company founder Ed Swearingen and another of the original investors, Doug Jaffe.

Production StruggleAfter 16 years of develop-

ment and estimated expendi-tures of $700 million, the SJ30 was certified in 2005. At the time the company said it had more than 200 orders for the aircraft.

Since achieving certification, Emivest has struggled to reach a commercially viable produc-tion rate for the $7.2 million air-craft. The last delivery went to actor Morgan Freeman and was made here in Dubai in Decem-ber 2009. Only one other air-craft was delivered in 2009. None have been delivered since and three aircraft are currently stranded on the production line.

Court documents revealed that Emivest actually infused $38.4 million into the company from a revolving credit line. More than $60 million of Emi-vest’s debt was accumulated over the last two years. Even if the company finds a buyer and restarts operations, it is unlikely to be able to deliver more than the three aircraft currently under construction over the next 24 months, according to docu-ments in the bankruptcy filing.

Emivest is not listed as an exhibitor here at the MEBA show, nor is SJ30 distributor Action Aviation. o


After 16 years of development costing some $700 million, the SJ30 light jet appears headed for extinction.

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Be Global – to learn more about the Lang Lang International Music Foundation and to make a donation, visit www.IAmGlobal.Bombardier.com

* Registered trademark(s) or trademark(s) of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. © 2010 Bombardier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Bombardier* Global* aircraft family delivers best-in-class performance, with every seat, the best in the house. O� ering

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Local Legacys find help at ABS Jets’ doorby Charles Alcock

ABS Jets is ready to start supporting Embraer Legacy operators in the Middle East

now that it has secured CAR 145 maintenance approval from the United Arab Emirates

to provide base and line sup-port for these aircraft. The Czech-based company, which operates six Legacys, will now be seeking the same approval from other Arabic states.

In addition to the Legacy, the ABS Jets EASA 145-approved facility in Prague is also an Embraer authorized service center for the Phenom 100 very

light jet. It can also support the Citation Bravo. The engineer-ing team can handle scheduled maintenance (up to C-checks), as well as tasks such as avion-ics upgrades, APU replacement and cabin modification.

New Hangar in PragueMeanwhile, ABS Jets (Stand

E256) has begun construc-tion of a 65,000-sq-ft hangar at Prague’s Ruzyne Airport that will triple the size of the compa-ny’s premises. In the neighboring Slovak Republic, ABS is seeking approval to build another new hangar for its base at Bratislava Airport in the next two years.

According to ABS commer-cial director Radomír Šanák, the company has already sold about half the space in the new hangar in Prague. Currently, the company operates 11 air-craft and it expects the fleet to grow over the next few years. Of those 11, seven are available for charter: five Embraer Leg-acy 600s, a Bombardier Learjet 60XR and a Cessna Citation Bravo. For private owners, the company manages three Gulfstreams, a Legacy and a Boeing Business Jet.

“In the next two or three years, after the hangar is built, we want to enlarge our fleet faster and continue mov-ing along the same trajec-tory over the next 10 years so we can obtain optimal syner-gies between operations and services,” said ABS Jets CEO Vladimír Peták. “A fleet of 30 is the optimal number to obtain business synergies.”

ABS, which was formed in 2004, is owned by European finance groups J&T and PPF and employs 200 people. Peták joined the board in mid-2007 and was chief financial officer before being appointed CEO. He is a former commercial pilot license holder and still flies privately. o


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Smart Aviation ‘rescues’ Russians attacked by sharks by James Wynbrandt

When the Russian tourists who were attacked by sharks in Egypt last week needed emergency medical aid, Cairo-based charter operator Smart Aviation came to the rescue with air ambulance-configured Citation Sovereigns.

“We took the people from Sharm el-Sheikh to Cairo, and we’re going to be taking them back to Moscow,” said Tarek Fouad, Smart’s manager, commercial and sales, at the company’s stand here at MEBA (Stand C100).

Since its founding in 2007 as what Fouad termed “the first private jet com-pany in Egypt,” Smart has grown from two Cessna Citation Model 680 Sover-eigns to a fleet of five Sovereigns and a recently delivered King Air 350i. The company is hoping to build on that growth at MEBA.

“We are here seeking cooperation with other private jet companies, because some-times I don’t have [charter aircraft] avail-ability,” Fouad said. “So they can take our aircraft [when they need additional lift to meet demand] and we can take theirs.”

Smart is also looking for medical transportation companies seeking an air ambulance partner in Egypt. Two of the Smart Aviation’s Sovereigns are config-ured for medical flights.

“They have all the high-tech medi-cal equipment, and a doctor and nurse onboard,” said Fouad. “They can fly up to seven hours, so we are covering all of Europe, all of the Middle East and most of Africa.”

Most of its air ambulance flights are for tourists who become sick or are injured during their vacations, with insur-ance companies picking up the tab for the flights, according to the company. How-ever, most of the charter work is for pri-vate travelers, and since its founding the fleet has flown 4,500 hours, Fouad said.

Though operated as a private company,

Smart Aviation is owned by the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority (60 percent), flag carrier EgyptAir (20 percent) and the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation (20 percent) with a capitalization of $100 million. But Smart chairman and CEO Wael El-Maadawy said the government’s involvement does not preclude other private charter com-panies from entering the Egyptian air charter market.

“There is no restriction,” El-Maadawy said. “The way Egyptian aviation laws are established now allows any company

to be established in Cairo. If you’d like to have a business in Cairo, it’s a com-petitive environment.”

Smart Aviation has further expan-sion in its plans. In May the company will debut a new service, cleaning Egypt’s high-tension transmission lines with helicopter-borne linesmen, a job which is expected to increase the efficiency of the country’s electrical transmission grid by about 15 percent, according to Smart. That same month the company will take delivery of two Bombardier Q400 turboprops with a capacity of more than 60 passengers.

“We’re not sure where they will be based,” said Fouad. “It’s a completely dif-ferent service.” o

Officials of Cairo-based charter operator Smart Aviation include (l to r) Fouad Shafik Ahmed, Dr. Mostafa Bahgat, Wael El-Maadawy and Tarek Fouad. They are seeking charter companies to partner with.

a very tall order

Guess the number of balls inside the tall cylinder at the Ruag display (Stand E132) and win a free aircraft cleaning at any of the company’s four European facilities. The balls represent the number of maintenance events Ruag has completed so far this year. The free cleaning is for the interior and exterior of aircraft up to the size of a Bom-bardier Global Express.

First-time MEBA exhibitor Ruag Busi-ness Aviation has locations in Munich, Geneva, Lugano and Berne. The com-pany provides maintenance, paint, interior refurbishment, avionics upgrades, retro-fits and engine services for Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer, Piaggio and Pilatus aircraft.

The tombola drawing will be held Thurs-day afternoon here at the MEBA show.� n

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©2010 Aircell Business Aviation Services LLC. All Rights reserved. Aircell, In Touch, In Flight is the registered trademark of Aircell Business Aviation Services LLC or its affi liates.

ARC10021-MEBAad10.82x13.88.indd 1 11/19/10 1:45 PM

HBC pumps up global product support efforts by Matt Thurber

Soaring sales of its business aircraft family have prompted Hawker Beechcraft to enlist ExecuJet Aviation to boost its product support network here in the Middle East, as well as in Africa and Australasia. In a recently agreed partnership, ExecuJet has been appointed to run service centers for the U.S. manufacturer here in Dubai, as well as in Lagos, Nigeria; Cape Town and Lanseria in South Africa; and Melbourne and Sydney in Australia.

In the Middle East during the last three years, Hawker Beechcraft delivered 34 per-cent of all new jets and 88 per-cent of turboprops, said Sean McGeough, Hawker Beechcraft president Europe, Middle East and Africa. It also delivered 44 percent of jets and 90 percent of turboprops in North Africa. “No other manufacturer even comes close,” he claimed.

Hawker Beechcraft has also invested $10 million in spares for new distribution centers in Lon-don, Dubai and Singapore and established a financing arm with local regional support, he added, “to facilitate loans with the right banks to serve customers.”

During the past year, Hawker Beechcraft delivered 15 jets and turboprops in the Mid-dle East/North Africa region, 12 of which were special-mis-sion aircraft. On the static dis-play at this year’s MEBA show, the company is showing four airplanes: the super-midsize Hawker 4000, Hawker 900XP midsize jet, Beechcraft Premier IA light jet and King Air 350i twin turboprop.

During the next 10 years, according to Hawker Beechcraft, 60 percent of business aircraft sales will take place outside the U.S. The company’s shift to focus on key growth areas includes moving McGeough to the new role as president for this region from his previous job as v-p international sales.

To help Hawker Beechcraft leadership make sound busi-ness decisions, said Shawn Vick, executive vice president, the company launched a compre-hensive survey of more than 3,000 customers and established a customer advisory board with 50 members from 33 coun-tries. One result of those inter-actions was the launch of the

new King Air 250 at the NBAA convention in October. “This is the tenth major King Air prod-uct announcement since 2003,” Vick said.

All-new King AirDeliveries of the King Air 250

are to begin in the second quar-ter of 2011. The model features new Hartzell composite propel-lers, composite BLR winglets and Raisbeck ram-air recovery systems for the engine nacelles. These upgrades enable the air-craft to operate safely from 1,500 more airports worldwide at max-imum takeoff weight, he said, “without making any tradeoffs.”

Improved performance for the King Air 250 includes a maximum-weight takeoff dis-tance of 2,111 feet at sea level on a standard day and 3,094 feet at 5,000 feet elevation on a stan-dard day (both over a 50-foot obstacle). These numbers are

450 and 700 feet shorter, respec-tively, than those for the King Air 200GT. Price of the King Air 250 is $5.79 million.

The planned engine and per-formance upgrades to the Pre-mier IA light jet that were to morph it into the Premier II will now be embodied in the Hawker 200 light jet. Customer feedback indicated that the upgraded Pre-mier ought to be part of the Hawker family. “We agreed,” said Vick. “It deserved nothing less than to be called a Hawker.”

Priced at $7.55 million, the Hawker 200 will enter service in 2012. Key features include new Williams International 3,000-pound thrust FJ44-3AP engines (up from 2,300 on the Premier IA), winglets, a higher

maximum takeoff weight and higher maximum altitude, 400-hour inspection inter-vals and a 10-year warranty on the airframe. Like the Pre-mier IA, the Hawker 200 has a composite fuselage, metal wings and empennage made of a metal frame skinned with composites. The interior fea-tures new stretched club seat-ing with more legroom and side-facing seats.

Hawker 200 avionics are the same Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 system as the Premier IA. With a maximum takeoff weight of 13,800 pounds (up

from 12,500 on the Premier IA), the Hawker 200 will be able to fly 1,546 nm with four passen-gers, 371 nm farther than the IA. Maximum cruise speed climbs to 473 knots for the Hawker 200, up from the IA’s 454 knots. And the Hawker 200’s maximum operating altitude climbs 4,000 feet, to 45,000 feet. The flight- test Hawker 200 has already flown 90 times and logged 110 hours since first flight in March.

Hawker Beechcraft has begun design engineering on the 400 XPR upgrade for the Hawker 400XP/Beechjet 400A series, after having acquired the first test aircraft for the program. The 400XPR offers significant per-formance improvements, with replacement of the original Pratt

& Whitney Canada JT15D-5 engines with Williams Inter-national FJ44-4A-32 Fadec-controlled engines, composite winglets and optional Rockwell Collins Proline 21 avionics. Certification of the $2.24 million 400XPR upgrade is expected in 2012.

In other MEBA news, Hawker Beechcraft announced that the Chester, UK service center is now offering the Thrane & Thrane Aviator 200 Inmarsat satcom with WiFi capability for the King

Air 200 and 300 series. The com-pany expects to receive a sup-plemental type certificate from EASA by the end of this year, and plans are under way to obtain an STC for the King 90 as well. Avi-ator 200 works on Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband service.

The Chester facility also received King Air 200 and 300 repair station ratings from EASA and the FAA, allowing the facil-ity to perform inspections, main-tenance, alterations and upgrades on those airplanes. o


Jetalliance kicks off Russia, CIS charter ops

Jetalliance East has launched charter operations in Russia and the CIS. The com-pany (exhibiting here at the static display) is a joint ven-ture between Aeroflot Russian Airlines and Jetalliance Hold-ing of Austria. The two com-panies formed the joint venture in July and applied for a Russian air operator’s certificate (AOC) under which they will fly two new Cessna Citations–a CJ3 and a Sovereign–on Russia and CIS charter flights. Jetalliance is also the authorized sales representa-tive for Citations in Russia.

The Russian authorities were very accommodating in helping Jetalliance East obtain its AOC, according to Michael Holy, direc-tor of marketing for Jetalliance Group. “Everything was very pro-fessional and without any sur-prises,” he told AIN. The two jets are registered in Austria, thanks to a bilateral agreement between the two countries, but fly under Russian regulations. Flight crews are Russian, he added, by regula-tory requirement, and are fluent in English.

The Citations are based at Sheremetyevo Airport, although trips can be booked from any airport in the Mos-cow area, according to Holy.

Aeroflot business aviation sub-sidiary Aeroflot Plus is based at Sheremetyevo. Aeroflot brought Aeroflot Plus to the new organi-zation and Jetalliance contrib-uted the Citations.

Business prospects for Rus-sia and the CIS look promis-ing, according to Holy. Foreign charter operators can’t pick up and fly passengers within Rus-sia because of cabotage regula-tions, and obtaining permission to fly to Russia and CIS desti-nations remains challenging. “The need to apply for permis-sions hinders foreign charter operators from spontaneously taking off to domestic desti-nations,” he said. And most of the 200 business aircraft reg-istered in Russia are home-grown aircraft like the Yak-42 and Tu-134. Russia has many opportunities for business avia-tion. Looking at the fleet based and registered in Russia, there is demand for new aircraft.”

Jetalliance East is planning to add services, such as Citation sales, financing, aircraft manage-ment and maintenance, for Rus-sia and CIS customers. “Our vision,” said Jetalliance Holding CEO Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, “is to provide complete turnkey ser-vices for jet owners.” o

From left: Sean McGeough, HBC president for EMEA; Shawn Vick, executive v-p; and Clive Prentice, v-p for EMEA operations, meet the press at MEBA.

This Hawker 900XP midsize jet is one of four aircraft that Hawker Beechcraft has on static display here.

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Harrods takes edge off London’s big freeze

Here in the Dubai sunshine it is easy to forget the extent to which snow and ice can disrupt aircraft operations. Business aircraft are rarely the top pri-ority at snow-bound airfields. With another bleak winter fore-cast for Europe, UK-based Harrods Aviation (Stand C250) has taken steps to minimize the effects of winter weather on its customers’ operations from its London Luton base by provid-ing aircraft de-icing and ramp snow removal.

Harrods has selected special-ist Glistening Jets to provide and operate a de-icing rig at its Luton facility. The £250,000 ($394,000) rig can handle all sizes of aircraft that use the Harrods Aviation FBO facility, and will be avail-able 24 hours a day. Addition-ally, Glistening Jets will provide a snow-clearing service to keep the Harrods apron and taxiways clear. The new services combine to free Harrods customers from reliance on outside service provid-ers that routinely prioritize com-mercial airline movements ahead of VIP/business operations.

As well as its ground-han-dling, hangar and operations-support services at Luton and

London Stansted, Harrods Aviation also has a wide range of maintenance and engineer-ing capability at both loca-tions, plus an engine shop at Farnborough. The Stansted facility additionally provides for rotary-wing support.

Here at MEBA the company announced a two-year deal with Sikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS), the aftermarket division of the U.S. helicopter manu-facturer. Under the agreement, Harrods will undertake custom modifications of the S-76 heli-copters operating throughout Europe. Harrods is already a Sikorsky customer support cen-ter for the type, and will pur-chase modification kits directly from the company.

“Sikorsky continues to increase its global presence, and we welcome opportunities to expand our regional aftermarket support with a quality aviation specialist like Harrods Aviation,” said David Adler, president of SAS. “With a high concentration of Sikorsky operators through-out the European Union, our ability to provide modifications regionally is pivotal for servicing this territory.” –D.D.


T-Tail in The sunseT

Although it was near the end of a long day, our photographer couldn’t pass up this closing shot. With one day under its belt, this year’s Middle East Business Aviation gathering appears to be pointing toward a business avi-ation recovery in the Arabian Gulf region. Exhibitor numbers are up more than 40 percent from 2008.

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Lufthansa Technik touts MRO and completionsby James Wynbrandt

Lufthansa Technik, best known for its VIP completions of executive-configured Air-bus and Boeing airliners, is also showcasing the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) side of its “VIP and executive jet solutions” at the MEBA show (Stand C305).

“Lufthansa [the German airline], our parent company, is operating a lot of our cus-tomers’ airplanes,” said Walter Heerdt, senior vice president for marketing and sales. “We know the aircraft, and we know the maintenance, and if they need an engine or component or service, we will get it there very speedily. And this puts Lufthansa Technik in a posi-tion to offer a service nobody else can.”

As part of its emphasis on offering MRO to VIP custom-ers in the Middle East, last year the company signed a cooper-ation agreement with Riyadh-based National Air Services (NAS) to develop MRO ser-vices that include work on VIP-configured aircraft.

“This is for us a very impor-tant milestone,” Heerdt said of

the NAS agreement, “and we are going to develop this at a pace which is set by both com-panies jointly.”

But Lufthansa Technik is not neglecting its own VIP comple-tions, and the Middle East has long been its most important market, representing about 70 percent of the company’s com-pletions over the last 25 years, according to Heerdt.

“We are seeing that other markets are emerging: China, India, Russia,” Heerdt said. “But traditionally the Middle East is still the strongest market for VIP aircraft.”

Heerdt also noted that the global economic downturn has had little impact on the com-pany’s business. Its completion centers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Hamburg are currently at capacity, with more work com-ing. “We have signed [contracts] this year for two BBJs [Boeing Business Jets], and we expect to sign another one this month,” Heerdt said.

Going forward, the com-pany has expanded its comple-tion capacity to handle three widebody aircraft simultaneously

at its Hamburg facility.“As it looks right now, in

2013 we will have three 747-8s in our hangar,” while still having capacity for narrowbody com-pletions, Heerdt said, “and we are building up our capability in Tulsa to accommodate up to three A380s.”

At MEBA, Lufthansa Technik has a full schedule of meet-ings with customers. The com-pany currently maintains a sales office in Dubai aimed at com-mercial aircraft customers, “but we are reinforcing our team here in Dubai for the VIP market,” Heerdt said.

In addition to VIP comple-tions for all Airbus and Boeing airliners, the company also offers refurbishment for large-cabin business jets, including Bombar-dier and Gulfstream aircraft.

Heerdt noted that Lufthansa Technik, which has been dis-playing its capabilities in Dubai since the Emirate’s first airshow in 1989, is a founding member of the Middle East Business Avia-tion Association.

“We are thankful that some-thing like MEBA has been cre-ated,” Heerdt said. “The Dubai Air Show is military, commer-cial and VIP [aircraft], and for this traditionally strong busi-ness jet market, I think it’s good now to have an exhibition and show here in the Middle East just for VIP and business jet aircraft.” o

Nexus Flight partners on security solutions

Nexus Flight Operations Ser-vices has entered into a strate-gic partnership agreement with U.S.-based FAM International to provide its customers with tai-lored aviation security solutions. With its new operations cen-ters in Saudi Arabia and Bah-rain, Nexus provides a range of flight support capabilities, such as flight dispatch, planning and scheduling for aircraft and crew, trip planning and a global con-cierge service.

Through the new agreement, Nexus can now offer security services as an option. “Secu-rity solutions are always criti-cal to choose because you must place your trust in someone else,” said Abdullah Al-Sayed, president and CEO of Nexus,

which has offices throughout the Middle East and Asia. “Our partnership with FAM Interna-tional will reassure our custom-ers that we have chosen the best and most comprehensive solu-tion for them.”

FAM International, which is headquartered in Fort Lauder-dale, Florida, has a long expe-rience in security operations. Among the services it provides are aircraft security, assess-ment of hotels and other venues, ground transportation security and protection of executives. Through its global organization it provides regional knowledge and insight, and highly trained personnel who are well versed in low-profile security operations.

“FAM is uniquely positioned worldwide with regional and in-country managers to monitor each client’s security,” explained Brian Leek, the company’s CEO. “FAM is able to identify associ-ated risks geared to Nexus clients’ needs and then make recommen-dations to safeguard their assets.”

Nexus is a subsidiary of the MAZ Aviation group (Static Display OD3). –D.D.

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Wyvern and AQS join forces

Safety audit specialist Wyvern has joined forces with Aviation Quality Services (AQS) to intro-duce a common safety standard to the European business avia-tion market.

Wyvern is a wholly owned sub-sidiary of Gothenburg, Sweden-based Avinode (Stand C755), the leading online charter flight mar-ketplace. It conducts safety audits and consults on a range of safe-ty issues, and has become a leader in the field of providing safety in-formation to corporate flight and travel departments, charter bro-kers and fractional ownership op-erators. In the U.S., in particular, the Wyvern Standard has become a well-established indicator of safety and quality, and is a prereq-uisite for many corporations when it comes to chartering aircraft.

Entering into a partnership with AQS allows Wyvern to devel-op in the European market, where corporate safety re quirements are becoming ever more stringent.

AQS is part of the Lufthansa Group, and was the first IATA- accredited audit organization. Its primary focus has been on air-lines, and it has audited more than 200 carriers to date. This work is conducted from pri mary locations at Frankfurt, Dubai, Jo-hannesburg and, shortly, Hong Kong. With its audit experience and expertise, AQS was a natu-ral partner to bring the Wyvern Standard to Europe.

Wyvern’s audit involves a four man-day on-site inspection and evaluation of charter operators’ operations and maintenance pro-cedures. For the customer the Wyvern Standard offers a means of dif ferentiating it from nonap-proved competitors, including those on Avinode’s widely used charter database. A Wyvern ac-creditation also allows European operators access to additional au-diting, training and consultation services provided by AQS. o


Business as usualAlthough MEBA is the third larg-est business aviation show in the world, its 53 static display aircraft have little or no impact on normal airline operations at Dubai Inter-national Airport.

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OnAir links airborne phones to ground netby Bernard Fitzsimons

Demand for in-flight connec-tivity is snowballing, according to Stephan Egli, chief com-mercial officer with on-board communications provider and first-time MEBA exhibitor OnAir (Stand E105).

The Geneva-based company, a joint venture of aeronautical IT/ communications specialist SITA and Airbus, has contracts with 30-plus airlines, more than 10 of them here in the Middle East. Its service enables passengers to use their own cellphones to

connect with the terrestrial tele-communications network via a satellite link. And demand is just as high among private air-craft operators.

Originally, OnAir restricted its offering to airlines, but it has responded to demand by expanding availability of the service to include government, VIP and corporate operators. In 2008 Jet Aviation agreed to install the equipment on a range of business and VIP jets, and a similar agreement followed with

Aviation Center Cologne (now ACC Columbia). The company is also talking to additional potential installers.

“From a technology point of view it’s essentially the same equipment on a private or commercial jet,” said Egli. “It wasn’t very difficult to adapt.” The four items of on-board equipment for the GSM/GPRS service that is most pop-ular with private operators are the picocell that acts as the cellphone base station; an onboard channel selector that is required to ensure compli-ance with all the regulations; a small server that establishes the call between the ground network; and the onboard net-work, and a modem that con-nects with the satellite.

“We also have a WiFi service,” said Egli, “but we see the demand much more on the GSM/GPRS side. Passengers on a private jet are typically not people who travel with laptops and want to mess around with WiFi con-nections. They just want to turn on their phones and use them.” Even without WiFi on board, smartphone users can access the Internet in the same way that they would on the ground.

Installation costs can range from $200,000 to nearly $1 mil-lion depending on the size of the aircraft and its existing equip-ment. “Normally we try to install all these things during C checks,” Egli explained.

OnAir is also an Inmarsat reseller, Egli said. “We are an Inmarsat SwiftBroadband distri-bution partner, so if an operator simply wants a satellite connec-tion using SBB we can provide it. That is something that can be done within a day or two, as long as an SBB-capable satcom is installed in the aircraft.”

Although the satellite cover-age is global, the need for regu-latory approval from individual countries before aircraft can use the service in their airspace means there are still some gaps in OnAir’s provision.

The other big exception is

U.S. airspace, where the Fed-eral Communications Commis-sion bans the use of cellphones on board aircraft. “The rest of the world has embraced it, so we hope that will change fairly soon, Egli said. “In Europe we have essentially 100 percent coverage; Asia is improving, so it won’t be long before you can use the ser-vice pretty much anywhere.” o

TrueNorth’s Express globalizes WiFi phones

TrueNorth Avionics of Ottawa, Ontario is giving away one of its new Express system modules here at MEBA (Stand E412). Announced in September, the Express system allows users of WiFi-equipped smartphones to send and receive e-mail from anywhere in the world. The Express module works with the aircraft’s existing Aircell 3100 air-borne telephone system, which connects via the Iridium satcom network, allowing “light” e-mail-ing (generally without attach-ments) at a 2.4 kbps rate.

The first TrueNorth Express system installation was done earlier this month in a Dassault Falcon 900. TrueNorth Express works with Apple iPhones, RIM BlackBerrys and Droid mobile phones. TrueNorth Express costs $10,995, plus installation. “We see TrueNorth

Express as a way for custom-ers to walk on the airplane, immediately connect with their Express broadband system and begin sending messages right away,” said company president Mark van Berkel.

TrueNorth has also released a compact broadband satcom, the Simphoné Global Broadband 200 system designed for airborne communications via laptop

computers and smartphones/mobile devices using the Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satel-lite network. Global Broadband 200 provides up to 200 kbps throughput and comes in a small unit containing the satellite data unit and amplifier connected to a small-footprint fuselage-mounted blade antenna ideal for turboprops and light jets. Global Broadband 200 weighs about 12 pounds and costs $48,000, plus installation. For faster through-put, TrueNorth also offers the Global Broadband 300 and 400, which deliver 300 and 432 kbps service, respectively.

To meet the demand for the Express system and other prod-ucts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, TrueNorth has added new dealers to its ros-ter. These include Swiss-based AMAC Aerospace, Comlux Completion USA, the UK’s Lees Avionics and Ruag Avi-ation in Germany. TrueNorth vice president Dan Martella has been assigned a sales leadership position for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. o

OnAir enables passengers on airlines and private aircraft operators to use their own cellphones to connect with the ground telecommunications network via a satellite link.

The first TrueNorth Express system was installed on a Dassault Falcon 900. It works with Apple iPhones, RIM Blackberrys and Droid mobile phones.The cost is $10,995, plus installation.

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OnAir Gets Bizjets Connected

OnAir equipment is available as a catalog option on Airbus Corporate Jets and can also be installed on larger classic business jets as well as airliner-based private aircraft, including the:

• Bombardier Challenger and Global Express • Boeing Business Jet • Gulfstream GIV, GIV-SP, GV and G550 • Embraer Lineage 1000 and Embraer aircraft in VIP configuration • Boeing aircraft in VIP configuration • Cessna Citation 10 and Excel Weight is a barrier to installation on smaller aircraft, acknowledged

OnAir’s Stephan Egli. “It’s also a question of range. If you are in a very small aircraft and you hop from one place to the next and you’re airborne for an hour there’s much less need to be connected than if you’re flying six or seven hours.” So far, only BBJs, ACJs and larger VIP aircraft have been equipped, he said, but deals for installations on smaller jets are under negotiation. –B.J.F.


UVAir clients check fuel with mobile apps

Universal Weather and Avi-ation (Stand C325) has intro-duced the second release of its Universal Mobile application. This allows UVAir cardholders to access their online fuel man-agement accounts through any Web-enabled mobile device, including iPhone, iPad, Black-Berry, or Android.

Via Universal Mobile, UVair customers can look at what their total fuel charges will be for a planned trip. They can also request fuel releases, as well as view savings and volume reports to help them in plan-ning and budgeting.

The application was launched in October and can be accessed by any Universal client who cre-ates a registered user account at www.universalweather.com. Universal Mobile automati-cally detects the type of mobile

device a user is operating and optimizes the format to best fit that device.

The first release of Univer-sal Mobile provided users the ability to view and manage the details of their trips through Universal Trip Support Services on any mobile device via Uni-versal’s Web-based UVtriplink Trip Status application. Future releases will come in early 2011 and will include: UVflightplan-ner.com, UVdatalink, QICP weather, UVTripPlanner, and online invoices. –C.A.

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Turkey’s Gözen shines in European FBO survey

In February this year the operations of Gözen Air Ser-vices (Stand E240) at Istan-bul’s Atatürk airport ranked number one in a reader sur-vey of European FBOs con-ducted by European Business Air News. At face value, it was a surprise choice given that the Turkish operation was com-peting against much higher-profile FBOs in Europe. But the achievement highlights the company’s success in providing high-value services to business aviation as part of the wider Gözen group’s activities that also include a charter airline

(Freebird Airlines), luxury yacht charters, aviation secu-rity services and training.

Gözen Air Services was formed in 1979 and evolved in-to a provider of airline support and ground-handling servic-es. The company’s activities nat-urally flowed into the business aviation sector, and it now sup-ports virtually all of the business movements in and out of Turkey. It has operations at nine Turk-ish airports: Istanbul-Atatürk, Istanbul-Sabiha Gokcen, Anka-ra-Esenboga, Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Izmir, Adana-Sakirpa-sa and Adana-Incirlik. The last

primarily supports foreign air-lines operating military charters.

At these locations Gözen provides ground handling and fuel. It supports flight plan-ning and operations, including slot arrangement and over-flight clearance, while offering a range of concierge services. Turkish security requirements prevent the company from hav-ing dedicated VIP terminals, but the company has its own luxurious lounges and services within the airport terminals for VIP passengers.

Gözen provides aircraft man-agement and support for numer-ous private operators within Turkey, accounting for some 70 to 80 aircraft. For example, it manages the fleet of TAV, the construction and airport oper-ation company that built the

roofs of the seven Emirates A380 hangars here in Dubai.

Increasing business between the Middle East and Turkey, in both corporate and leisure fields, is one of the main drivers of Gözen’s growth. Turkey has become an increasingly popu-lar leisure destination for Mid-dle East travelers in recent times, spurred in part by a film indus-try that is popular in the region. The company has numerous partners in the Middle East, including the principal business aviation operators.

Responding to a rise in demand for corporate char-ters, Gözen is looking at acquir-ing its own large VIP aircraft to operate under the airline’s air operator’s certificate. The car-rier operates Airbus A320/321s at present and previously flew

MD-83s, so either type could be accommodated easily, although the Boeing BBJ is also an option. Similarly, a rise in demand may result in the pur-chase of VIP helicopters. This has become an increasingly important part of the compa-ny’s work, exemplified by the provision and support of heli-copter travel to and from the Turkish F1 Grand Prix.

Gözen is also looking at expanding its aviation fuel business. It is currently the only licensed fuel provider in Turkey outside of the multi-national companies, but has no storage facilities of its own. If implemented, fuel storage would allow the com-pany to further support its customers by offering fuel at lower prices. –D.D.


Seca enticing ME bizav to get engines overhauled in France by Thierry Dubois

Paris-based engine maintenance spe-cialist EADS Seca is making its first appearance at MEBA (Stand C232), pro-moting its relative proximity to the Mid-dle East. According to sales and marketing vice president Jean-Jacques Reboul, a busi-ness aircraft operator based in the region may find it convenient to have its engines overhauled in France since there are few options in this part of the world.

“We already have a handful of custom-ers in the Middle East,” Reboul told AIN. He claimed that Paris’s Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) is an effective logistic hub that allows the company to ensure short turnaround times. “It is easier for a Mid-dle Eastern company to have engines over-hauled with Seca than at a U.S. location,” he said, pointing to the smaller difference in time zones as one factor.

The company reported that 10 percent of its business currently comes from the Middle East and Africa combined, but that figure is growing, Reboul said. Also grow-ing is its 10-percent share of Asia Pacific. Meanwhile, he said, the Americas account for approximately 15 percent of Seca’s rev-enues and Europe 65 percent. In terms of type of customers, charter operators and corporate/private operators each account for 40 percent, with government operators representing the remaining 20 percent.

Seca offers major overhauls, hot-sec-tion inspections, access to an engine rent-al pool, engineering support, accessories maintenance, spare parts trading, train-ing, 24-hour hotline, AOG desk and on-site support. It also provides service pack-ages that include fleet management, engine monitoring and customer training. “We help operators cut their maintenance costs and their CO2 emissions,” Reboul said.

In the business aviation sector, Seca supports Honeywell’s TFE731 series and

Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW300 series, as well as General Electric CF700s and Pratt & Whitney JT15Ds and PT6 turbo-fans and PW100 turboprops.

In 2009, Seca’s revenues were close to €100 million ($140 million). The EADS subsidiary overhauled about 350 engines at its Gonesse facility, near CDG. This year, however, it is feeling the impact of the downturn in business aviation flying activ-ity, which is expected to translate into a 15-percent decrease in business. o

EADS Seca is at MEBA for the first time, suggesting it is easier for a Middle Eastern company to have its engines overhauled with Seca in Paris than at a U.S. company. According to Seca, there are few other options in this part of the world.

vistaJet opening new vistas

This Bombardier Challenger 605 is part of a 28-aircraft fleet operated by charter group VistaJet. It is increasingly stationing its identically-liveried jets, which also include Global Express XRSs, in the Middle East to meet rising demand in the region. The operator is due to take delivery of two more 605s and six XRSs during 2011 and 2012. VistaJet also operates throughout Europe and Asia.�

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Ibex ready to offer one-way charters by James Wynbrandt

Beirut-based Ibex Air Char-ter is making its public debut at MEBA with a plan to introduce a new fare model to the Middle East charter market.

“I want to start charging on a one-way system, which makes [charter] very feasible and eco-nomical,” said Munzer Awaida, Ibex Air Charter’s consultant for business development. “So now is the opportunity for me to put something in front of the aviation market.”

Awaida, with long avia-tion experience in the region, was brought to Ibex by owner Ahmed El-Hage, who also oper-ates his family-owned Trans Air Congo Airlines, based in Braz-zaville, Republic of Congo. Ibex currently operates a Hawker 850XP, and plans to add a Chal-lenger 604 and a Hawker 800A to its fleet soon. The 800A will be based in Brazzaville, where El-Hage operates a hospital for trauma victims, and will also be used for air ambulance service.

Air charter flights have tradi-tionally been sold at round-trip rates to cover the cost of return-ing the aircraft to its home base, even if the charter customers

travel only one way. But over the past year one-way pricing has seen significant growth in the North American market, and Awaida believes Ibex can suc-cessfully replicate this model

in this region. Potential char-ter customers have already que-ried the company about buying block charter time, and Awaida thinks that activity will lead to the availability of “empty-leg”

return flights that can seed the one-way fare market.

“We’ll charge 50 percent [of the full fare, one-way rate] on empty legs,” Awaida said. As for the full fare, one-way prices, “We are not expensive, [but] we are not cheap,” he added.

With its public debut, Awaida is eager to meet corporate business aviation users looking for access to

this region, “especially in the U.S.,” he said. “When they want to come to the Middle East, this is where I can really give them service.”

The company’s plans will be fine-tuned over the next six months, Awaida said, but its intention is to open offices and also base aircraft in Dubai and Riyadh, adding to Ibex’s flexibil-ity in offering one-way pricing. o

www.ainonline.com • December 8, 2010 • MEBA Convention Newsaa21

Spot Air sees growth in Europe

Air charter group Spot Air is expanding its services into addi-tional European countries after experiencing significant growth during the past two years. Head-quartered in Cairo, the Spot Group (Stand C720) includes Spot Air Egypt, Spot Reisen in Germany, Spot Air UK, EU Air and partner company Astra Associated Services in Italy.

During the coming year, Spot Air expects to fly to Germa-ny, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hun gary and Serbia. Recent new business includes trips from CIS countries and Europe to Dubai and Dar Aslam. The company launched the EU Air subsidiary in Egypt to meet needs of char-ter customers and will begin op-erating aircraft next year.

Next up for Spot Air’s growth plans is a new service for groups of VIP passengers. Aircraft will be adapted for passenger loads of 30 to 60 people, and con-cierge services will assist on trav-elers’ needs. o

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static display draws in the new jet set

As the first day of this year’s Middle East Business Aviation show opened, there were plenty of attendees wait-ing at the gates to eyeball the newest wares from the business aviation industry. And there was a lot to see, with no fewer than 53 aircraft lined up for inspection on the static display stage.

z Shell Aviation Expands Indian PresencePilots across India will soon see the Shell Aviation sign going

up for the first time at a number of airports as the international fuel supplier expands its presence from two airports to 12 in the country. Locations soon to welcome Shell Aviation service include Mumbai, Goa, Chennai, Calicut, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore and Mangalore. Shell currently operates at Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The new Indian service, under the Shell MRPL Aviation Fuels and Services Private Ltd. banner, is a joint venture between Shell and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochecmicals Ltd. (MRPL). Shell Aviation has also recently expanded its presence at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, at London City Airport and at Roskilde Airport in Denmark.

Shell (Static Display OD5) claims it is the only multinational oil company with a government license to market aviation fuel in India. The company plans to enhance operational and safety standards in India’s aviation services industry by introducing international best practices, operational efficiencies and pricing transparency.

z Comlux Inks Three More To Management PactsThree more, undisclosed, aircraft owners have signed up to have

their jets managed by Comlux The Aviation Group, with deliveries due to take place over the next 12 months. In the first quarter of next year, a new Bombardier Global 5000 will join the Switzerland-based company’s fleet, followed by a Dassault Falcon 900LX in the second quarter and an Airbus ACJ in the fourth quarter.

The arrival of the new Global 5000 will take Comlux’s fleet of this type to eight of the long-range aircraft. It already operates five ACJs and is due to receive a VIP A320 early next year. The aircraft are operated by its Fly Comlux division.

z Taking a Slice of the Middle East MarketCake was on the menu at Ocean Sky here at the MEBA show

yesterday when the UK-based business aviation services group celebrated the opening of its new office in Dubai. Ocean Sky (Stand E312) is offering aircraft charter and management services in the Middle East market, but, following up on its business model in Europe, intends to expand into areas such as FBOs and jet acquisition in this region. The new Dubai office is led by Neil Backhouse (right), pictured here with Ocean Sky CEO Steve Grimes.

z Executive Sky Sees Phenomenal GrowthExecutive Sky managing director Khaled Akkawi

said yesterday that growth at his two-year-old Beirut, Lebanon-based charter company has been nothing short of phenomenal, with “2010 revenues up 500 percent over 2009.” Executive Sky (Stand E113) currently operates a two-aircraft fleet, a Learjet 60 and a Hawker 700.

Marketing coordinator Christine Mdawar said the company hopes to have its first large-cabin business jet, a Falcon 900, operational for charter next spring. Executive Sky might base the 900 in Saudi Arabia to reduce ferry time to that region’s client base.

As the exclusive broker/operator for these aircraft, Executive Sky sets an ambitious business goal of 100 charter hours per month for each aircraft. Mdawar said the company reached that goal a few times in the past year, especially during the high season. She said the company’s most popular destinations this year, all from Beirut, have been Dubai; Nice, France; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and London airports Farnborough and Luton. Customers’ aircraft of choice for the short trips is the Hawker 700, while the Learjet 60 can make it to the UK nonstop under most conditions.

Mdawar added that Executive Sky hopes the Falcon 900 will encourage clients to make regular trips to the U.S.

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Fokker Aircraft joins MEBAAA new member of the Middle

East Business Aviation Associ-ation (MEBAA) is Fokker Air-craft Services (FAS), the Dutch maintenance and conversion company (Stand E345). The move has been made in response to considerable expansion in the company’s Middle East and North African customer base.

“With our rich heritage and expertise in outfitting VIP cabin interiors for Airbus ACJ, Boeing BBJ, Bombardier and Gulfstream aircraft, in addition to the attrac-tiveness of our new Total Care Programme, we have captured the attention of a growing customer

base, particularly in the Middle East,” said Eric Cuppen, Fok-ker’s director of aircraft comple-tions and conversions.

“Fokker Aircraft Services is proud to be a member of MEBAA,” continued Cuppen. “It is a strong organization for all who take part in the business aircraft industry and in such an important region. We are pleased to already count some important companies in this part of the world as customers.”

This year FAS delivered a VIP-configured Airbus A318 to a customer in the region, and is currently nearing completion

of a VIP A320 for an African customer.

With a 16,000-square-meter facility at Woensdrecht in the Netherlands, FAS has over 400 staff to serve Airbus, Boeing and Fokker operators. The com-pany undertakes a wide range of MRO, modification and con-version activities in commercial, government and military sectors. It has the ability to provide cus-tom-designed solutions and to perform both internal and exter-nal modifications. Among its ser-vices are testing and certification to meet GCAA, EASA, FAA and local requirements. –D.D.

Beirut OperatOr signs fOr

cae training

Executive Aircraft Services (EAS) yesterday signed a con-tract to have its Bombardier Global Express pilots trained at the Emirates-CAE Flight Training (ECFT) facility here in Dubai. Crews with the Bei-rut-based operator already receive flight training there for the Challenger 300 and Hawker HS125 aircraft. The Global Express training will be conducted on a new CAE 7000 Series that was installed at ECFT in April. EAS is an aircraft charter and manage-ment operator. n

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Thrane & Thrane shows wireless handset here

Satcom specialist Thrane & Thrane (Stand C428) is present-ing its Aviator wireless hand-set for the first time at MEBA. The stylish handset works in conjunction with the company’s Aviator SwiftBroad- band sys tem, allowing anyone onboard to make and receive in-flight calls, whether they are the pi-lots contacting ground control or passengers making personal and business calls.

Noise and echo cancellation is incorporated to opt imize au-dio quality, and the handset features a 3.5-mm jackpoint to

connect to a headset. Other features of the Avia-

tor handset are a 2.2-inch TFT color screen, automatic

power-up and power-down, lithium-ion bat-

tery and charging cradle, adjustable keypad back-

light and the ability to display alarms of the Swift-Broadband unit. The device complies with the wireless lo-

cal area networking (WLAN) 802.11b/g standard. o

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Gulfstream 650 topples speed and range recordsby Chad Trautvetter

The Gulfstream G650 will be the world’s fastest and longest-range business jet when deliveries of completed customer aircraft enter service in 2012 (unfinished “green” deliveries will actually begin later next year). Its wide cabin will also boast the latest in comfort and convenience.

The $64.5 million twinjet, which first flew last year, is both a significant departure and a natural progression from the manufacturer’s previous and current line of large jets–airplanes whose lineage and fuselage diameter can be traced back to the Gulfstream II of the 1960s. Power on the G650 comes from two 16,100-pound-thrust Rolls-Royce BR725 engines, which are more effi-cient than their BR710 pre-decessor. The new engines produce almost 5 percent more takeoff thrust while reduc-ing nitrogen oxide emissions by 5 percent and smoke by 10 percent. They are also 33 per-cent quieter than the BR710s, reducing noise levels to 17 deci-bels below Stage 4 standards.

The new engines, increased use of metal bonding and com-posite materials, combined with more efficient wing design, translate into better aerodynam-ics, weight savings and greater efficiencies in manufacture and operation. For example, the

G650’s huge 28- by 20.5-inch windows are 16 percent bigger than the G550’s but use 78 per-cent fewer parts, thereby cutting assembly time in half. The oval windows are also spaced farther apart than the G550’s and are slightly higher on the fuselage to improve viewing angle.

According to Gulfstream, the G650 can fly the 6,370 nm from Dubai to Chicago some 90 minutes faster than any other civilian jet. The aircraft can also land in adverse weather thanks to integrated head-up and synthetic-vision systems that include the Gulfstream enhanced-vision system (EVS), synthetic-vision primary flight display system and head-up dis-play. The EVS uses a forward-looking infrared camera that captures actual ground images and projects them on the pilot’s head-up display, while the syn-thetic-vision system employs 3-D color terrain images from an onboard database.

Gulfstream didn’t want to make the jet so large that it couldn’t land in places that ban aircraft weighing more than 100,000 pounds, such as Aspen, Colorado; Sun Valley, Idaho; and the New York City-area Teterboro Airport. Nor did it want to have to rely on ground-based systems such as power carts.

The quieter engines not only enable the G650 to conform to all existing and anticipated air-port noise restrictions, they also make for a quieter cabin. The fuselage’s oval shape is more aerodynamically efficient than the G550’s round-tube design and offers more cabin space. The unfinished cabin mea-sures 102 inches wide and 77 inches high (75 inches finished). The G650’s floor is 80 inches wide (15 inches wider than the G550’s) and the interior side-wall-to-sidewall width (at shoul-ders, seated) is 98 inches. This means more seat recline, leg-room and stateroom options as well as larger galleys, lavatories, baggage and crew-rest areas. The wider floor allows for larger seats, wider aisles and the abil-ity to seat three across in confer-ence and dining groupings.

Its main entry door is mas-sive–almost 75 inches tall, versus 59.25 inches on the G550. The baggage area provides 195 cu ft of space and is accessible at all altitudes through the aft lavatory.

The G650 has a 100-percent fresh-air system and provides a lower cabin altitude than other large business jets–4,850 feet when flying at 51,000 feet and 2,800 feet when flying at 41,000 feet. The environmental-con-trol system features quieter air distribution than the G550 and independently vented lavatories.

The G650’s cabin can be con-figured for 11 to 18 passenger seats in one of 12 floor plans, including six with forward galleys and six with aft gal-leys, with or without crew-rest areas. The mid-cabin credenza

opposite the conference area can be replaced with two sin-gle seats and a sidewall table. This effectively creates a six-seat conference/dining area. The optional aft stateroom area, for-ward of the aft lavatory, is avail-able with forward galley plans. It features a single seat, table, storage, a 27-inch LED monitor and a berthing divan. The wide floor means that when the divan is deployed there is still ample aisle clearance to allow access to the aft lavatory and the bag-gage compartment.

Gulfstream showed a finished Gulfstream G650 cabin for the first time at the NBAA Conven-tion in October in Atlanta. The full interior is in G650 flight-test aircraft S/N 6004, which, besides being used for certi-fication trials, will be used to shake out the cabin itself. Stan-dard cabin equipment includes two electrically articulated seats with heated back and base cush-ion. A divan in S/N 6004 is more couch-like and has one-touch, electrically actuated berthing.

Also new in the G650 is the company’s own Gulfstream Cabin Management System, which provides digital con-trol of cabin systems through touch-screens, capacitive touch switches and passenger con-trol units. Using an iPod Touch synched to a particular aircraft seat, passengers will be able to control the lighting, tempera-ture, speakers, monitors, enter-tainment equipment, window shades, CabinView system and flight attendant call.

The company plans to deliver

up to 12 “green” Gulfstream G650s in the second half of next year, following U.S. certi-fication in midyear. To date, the twinjet has accumulated nearly 900 flight-test hours–about half of what Gulfstream expects to log for the entire certification program–and a fifth aircraft is scheduled to join the program later this month. The aggressive flight-test program precluded Gulfstream from showing a G650 here at MEBA.

Jay Johnson, chairman and CEO of Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics,

hinted last week that at least one of the aircraft might have achieved supersonic flight dur-ing testing.

Gulfstream will build the G650 at a new 308,000-sq-ft production plant in Savannah, Georgia, using ultra-lean man-ufacturing techniques. The com-pany has about 200 orders for the airplane. o


G650 Specifications and Performance

(selected items)

Price: $64.5 million

Passengers: 8 to 18

Crew: 2

Range (@ Mach 0.85): 7,000 nm

Maximum cruise speed: Mach 0.925

Cabin Width: 8 ft 6 in

Cabin Height: 6 ft 5 in

Cabin Length: 53 ft 7 in

Cabin Volume: 2,138 cu ft

Gulfstream Brings Trio to Dubai

Gulfstream is showcasing three of its most popular models here at MEBA 2010: the mid-range G200, the long-range G450 and the ultra-long range G550. These airplanes stand in the static area right in front of Gulfstream’s chalet (A9).

Larry Flynn, Gulfstream’s senior vice president, marketing and sales, confirmed that “Gulfstream has more than 100 airplanes in the Middle East, a number that has more than doubled in the last decade. MEBA repre-sents an ideal opportunity for us to communicate our aircraft’s tremendous capabilities.”

The company is hosting a regional operator’s forum today to provide tech-nical presentations and updates on maintenance and operational subjects rel-evant to Gulfstream operators in the region. –R.M.

An aggressive flight-test schedule prompted Gulfstream to keep its new G650 at home in Savannah, Georgia, in lieu of flying here to MEBA. The twinjet has racked up 900 flight-test hours.

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Canada’s Flying Colours seeks help on CRJ conversion workby Ian Goold

Canada’s Flying Colours is talking to potential partners outside North America to support operators for which it has completed Bombardier Challengers. About 90 percent of its clients to date have been on other con-tinents and it has already had prelimi-nary discussions with prospective joint venture partners.

The completions and maintenance company is now engaged in its ninth corporate conversion of a Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) Series 200. It sees large potential for similar modi-fication of larger CRJ variants, and has been approached about similar work on other regional jet designs. Flying Colours also is expecting to be appointed

the preferred installer on Bombardier Global-series aircraft of granite-skinned floor panels produced by Germany’s List Components & Furniture.

“We have seen a very active growth in our green Bombardier Challenger completion program, which has led to numerous other maintenance and refur-bishment opportunities from [overseas] clients,” said president and chief execu-tive John Gillespie.

Flying Colours (Stand C309) said it is “leaning toward” a partnership with a company that has an established cli-ent base and is “educated about the spe-cific geographic culture, infrastructure and workforce.” The prospective partner will also have to be ready to put up some

fresh investment for the new venture.The Canadian company had

expanded with the 2009 acquisition of Missouri-based JetCorp Technical Services, which provided additional maintenance and completion capacity and, more important, a much-sought U.S. presence.

Six of its seven corporate CRJ com-pletions delivered over the past four years have comprised its in-house “CRJ ExecLiner” design, the sev-enth (S/N 7211) being the single Proj-ect Phoenix third-party conversion for a Middle East broker for sale to an Asian customer.

Flying Colours is currently work-ing on two more ExecLiners sched-uled for delivery in February and May 2011. Gillespie confirmed that possi-ble conversion of two other airframes for clients, one previously earmarked for potential completion as a second for Project Phoenix has not proceeded.

Given the proven requirement for such conversions, it is ironic that the

Bombardier CRJ is itself developed from the Canadair CL-600 Challenger corporate jet. The CRJ conversion mar-ket has been driven by steady demand since the Flying Colours project was launched more than five years ago. Indeed, Gillespie reports that inter-est has been up significantly in the past couple of months. “We see a strong demand for the CRJ ExecLiner conver-sion going forward,” he said.

So, is there also potential or demand for similar corporate conversions of the larger Bombardier CRJ700 or CRJ900 variants? “We are in discussion with several potential customers. We have done extensive research on these air-frames and feel there is tremendous potential for converting the CRJ700 and CRJ900. This would also include the installation of additional fuel to boost the standard range, similar to [that] in the CRJ200 conversion.”

In addition, Flying Colours has been approached by several poten-tial customers over the past few years about converting the Embraer regional airliners into business jets, but it has not proceeded beyond initial discus-sions. The company also is talking with clients and Bombardier about expanding its relationships for aircraft completions beyond the Challenger 850 series. Accordingly, it is planning to expand the Flying Colours head office and sees a possible larger range of products as supporting the require-ment for international partners.

Finally, having completed work ear-lier this year on installation of a List Components & Furniture “stone floor” in a Bombardier Global 5000, Flying Colours said last month it expected to be appointed preferred installer of such furnishing, which is offered for the CRJ ExecLiner and Challenger 601 and 850. Typically, the floor panels can be fitted in entry/galley and forward and aft lavatory areas. Granite slices about 0.1 inch (2.5 millimeters) thick are attached to lightweight backplates, which provide “high elasticity with-out losing the necessary floor-load-ing requirements,” according to Flying Colours. The floor is engineered to fit specific locations and is sealed to pre-vent liquid penetration. o


Flying Colours has delivered seven corporate conversions of the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet Series 200, which it markets as the CRJ ExecLiner. The Canadian company is looking for offshore partners.

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Visit us at booth C310

Dubai lines up aerospace and cabin showsThe wider world aerospace industry

will be here at the Dubai Airport Expo site for the 12th edition of the biennial

Dubai Air Show next December 13 to 17. Companies wanting to exhibit at the 2011 show can lock into frozen 2009 prices if

they make a booking before the end of this month.

The 2009 Dubai Air Show achieved growth of around 18 percent, with increased exhibitor numbers from companies based in the Middle East and North Africa reflecting increased aerospace activity in this region. The event attracted 890 exhibitors from 47 dif-ferent countries and almost 53,000 trade visitors from 138 countries.

Show organizer F&E Aerospace (Stand E313), which also runs the MEBA show, is anticipating that the 2011 show will draw as many as 950 exhibi-tors. Despite the unsettled world econ-omy, the Middle East is seeing increased spending in the air transport and defense sectors. More than $14 billion worth of deals were announced at the 2009 Dubai Air Show (www.dubaiairshow.aero).

Meanwhile, the Aircraft Interiors

Middle East (AIME) show is set to return to Dubai for the third time, after success-ful events in 2008 and 2010. The next show, also organized by F&E Aerospace (www.aime.aero), runs Feb.1-2, 2012.

The main focus of AIME has been airliner interiors and cabin technology. However, exhibitors at the second show held in February 2010 reflected grow-ing interest in high-value business air-craft interiors. o

Fujairah airport beckons bizavFujairah International Airport, here at

the MEBA show for the first time (Stand C740), is touting the benefits business air-craft operators can find at a site that is far less crowded than Dubai International Airport. Fujairah has a new FBO and, from 2011, a new highway in and out of the emirate will shorten the 48-mile drive to the center of Dubai to about an hour.

“We want to highlight business avi-ation opportunities on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates,” Charles

Hajdu, strategy and business develop-ment manager, told AIN. He maintained that Fujairah’s airport is close enough to the centers of business and population in the northern emirates. The airport management team is keen on integrat-ing its development plans with those of the Fujairah government. “If a company has an interest in establishing its business in Fujairah, we offer assistance in spon-sorship and obtaining a trade license,” Hajdu said.

At the airport, business jet operators will find low charges for landing, parking and handling. In addition to the new ded-icated business aviation terminal, hangars and maintenance workshops are available.

“We are about to expand the apron to create dedicated business aircraft parking, next to the business aviation terminal,” Hajdu said. Additional infra-structure, such as catering and hotels, is a few minutes’ drive from the airport.

Hajdu and his colleagues are just begin-ning to market Fujairah as a business avi-ation airport. “Last year, we saw about 500 business aircraft movements and our target for the future is modest–10 percent of the total business aviation market of the UAE,” he said. The aforementioned movements accounted for 1.7 percent of total traffic at Fujairah airport.

“Nevertheless, it is important for our development as it encourages other business activities in a symbiotic rela-tionship; in the same way that aircraft maintenance has helped promote our cargo business, we expect business avia-tion to promote related services,” Hajdu asserted. These services can be, for exam-ple, chauffeur- driven limousines, busi-ness hotel venues and executive services as well as aircraft sales, marketing and aircraft maintenance facilities. –T.D.


Organizers of the 2011 Dubai Air Show expect it will draw 950 exhibitors, up from the 890 representing 47 different countries that were on hand for the 11th biennial event last year.

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Abu Dhabi gives bizav a downtown gatewayby Charles Alcock

Abu Dhabi’s plan to invest in developing the former Al Bateen military airbase into a center-city, dedicated hub for business aviation appears to be paying off. Traffic figures for the last quarter of 2010 are on track to show growth of between 25 to 30 percent over the same period last year.

“We’re getting calls from all over the world from peo-ple wanting to fly here or even set up businesses here,” said Mohammed Al Bulooki, vice president of the new Al Bateen Executive Airport. “The profile of the airport, and the amount of business we are attracting is increasing faster than we had expected, but I suppose it is because we have something that nobody else has [in the Middle East], a dedicated private jet air-port.” It expected to conclude a number of deals for new tenants and based operators here at the MEBA show this week.

Al Bateen (Stand C600) is owned by Abu Dhabi Airports Co. (ADAC), which also oper-ates the emirate’s main Abu Dhabi International Airport. This is also being redeveloped and still accommodates a lot of business aviation traffic.

During the start-up phase, handling at Al Bateen has been provided by ADAC but the air-port is now putting together its own FBO team. Al Bulooki did not rule out the possibility that in the longer term it might opt to go into partnership for han-dling services with an experi-enced group.

Also in the works are plans to establish a dedicated cater-ing facility at Al Bateen, and a hotel. The terminal is also to feature a variety of retail out-lets, ranging from core ser-vices, such as a pharmacy, to

high-end luxury goods.In mid-November, Al Bateen

provided free landing and park-ing for aircraft arriving for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix car race–the highlight of the 2010 Formula 1 season. The ramp was busy with almost 80 air-craft, but there was still space for more traffic.

Al Bulooki told AIN that the airport had wanted to demon-strate its desire to embrace busi-ness aviation, which is why it opted to provide free access rather than pursue the standard peak-demand approach of increas-ing charges. “It gave us a chance to show that there are no delays from [air traffic control] holding, or delays on the taxiways here even during busy times,” he said.

Also new at Al Bateen is newly appointed general man-ager Steve Jones. He has spent the past decade as managing director of the UK’s Oxford Air-port, where he presided over a commercial plan in which the facility reinvented itself from being largely dependent on fly-ing school activity to being a spe-cialist business aviation airport.

ILS and Precision ApproachesIn September, Al Bateen

commissioned its new instru-ment landing system and GNSS/VOR/DME-based pre-cision approach, ending its VFR-only limitation. The air-port plans to double its annual movements to more than 12,000 by 2014. The installation of pre-cision landing aids will clear the way for far more operators to use the airport, especially those covered by insurance policies that prohibit VFR operations.

Foremost among Al Bateen’s advantages is the fact that it is open around the clock and is barely a 10-minute drive from

the city center. With taxiing time from landing to the apron being less than two minutes, passengers can be assured of an extremely swift ground trans-fer, with cars allowed to collect from the ramp area. The air-port is even closer to locations such as the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and the Al Bateen Wharf Redevelopment (a residential, hotel and leisure complex, including a yachting marina). These are just two of a dozen or more new develop-ments being pursued under Abu Dhabi’s ambitious 2030 master-plan (see box).

Already open at Al Bateen is a new executive terminal that features two sizable lounges (one with space for 50 or more passengers and the other around 20), plus a meeting room, and space for catering and for wait-ing drivers. Customs and immi-gration clearance is currently handled in the new executive terminal but the government-owned Al Bateen’s owner, the government-backed ADAC, is making arrangements for these formalities to be completed at the aircraft to allow for even faster processing.

Facilities for pilots, includ-ing a flight-planning space, are currently provided in the adja-cent old terminal building, but work has already begun to pro-vide a purpose-built facility for flight crew. “We want to be sure that we can provide the crew with their own full concierge services, and we will be ready to do this by the end of the year,” said Al Bulooki.

There currently are three air-port-owned hangars at Al Bateen with space available to accom-modate visiting aircraft. The airport management is in discus-sion with existing and prospec-tive tenants that could see them adding further hangar capac-ity. For instance, executive char-ter and aircraft management company Falcon Aviation Ser-vices has already built its own hangar. Other based operators at Al Bateen include Abu Dhabi

Aviation, Al Jaber Aviation, Empire Aviation, Luxury Air Jet, Prestige Jet, Royal Helite Heli-copters and XOJet.

Al Jaber Aviation is set to be Al Bateen’s largest based operator since it is in the process of receiv-ing 21 new business aircraft that it ordered in a $1.2 billion invest-ment announced in November 2008 at the last MEBA show. The new fleet will include an Embraer Legacy 600, plus five Lineage 1000s, eight Legacy 450/500s and up to half a dozen Airbus A318 Elites and ACJs.

Business Aviation ParkAs part of a plan to estab-

lish a business aviation park at Al Bateen, ADAC wants to see technical representatives or ser-vice centers for every major manufacturer located there. Fal-con Aviation Services already has an engineering operation, specializing in the Eurocopter and AgustaWestland helicopters that it operates in its own fleet. ADAC also is keen to attract other aviation businesses, such as training, to the airport, which is already home to the Gulf Centre for Aviation Studies.

Landing fees at Al Bateen range from AED 185 ($52.86) for an aircraft weighing up to 5,000 kg (11,022 pounds) to AED 920 ($262.86) for those above 50,000 kg (110,229 pounds). Hourly parking charges also vary accord-ing to aircraft size, ranging from approximately $5.71 to $24.29 for the apron to between $10.57 and $78.57 for hangar space. The full price list for various handling

options and services has not yet been published.

All fuel is provided by ADNOC (Abu Dhabi’s main oil company), which provides a fast refueling service with its own trucks at Al Bateen. The airport is also trying to attract operators wanting to make technical or rest stops during longer, intercon-tinental flights and Al Bulooki believes the airport’s conve-nience and fast-turnaround pos-sibilities will be very attractive in this respect.

Al Bateen was built in the 1960s as Abu Dhabi’s first air-port. The new Abu Dhabi Inter-national Airport, 20 miles outside the city center, was opened in 1982. Al Bateen continued to be used as a military base until 2008. It was granted a new civil airport license in June 2009 and has been under redevelopment since then. The airport’s 10,505-foot runway can take aircraft up to the size of a Boeing Business Jet.

During the first quarter of 2010, Al Bateen Executive Air-port experienced a 30-percent increase in movements. Accord-ing to the Gulf Center for Avi-ation Studies, there were about 530 private- and corporate-owned jets operating in the Mid-dle East in 2009 and it expects this figure to rise to almost 1,200 aircraft by 2018. The organiza-tion also has reported that the United Arab Emirates has now passed Saudi Arabia as hav-ing the highest concentration of business jets in the Middle East, with almost 38 percent of the region’s fleet. o


Al Bateen Executive Airport’s expansive 153,300-sq-m ramp was able to accommodate nearly 80 aircraft during the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Bizav Ranks High in Abu Dhabi’s Vision for 2030

The Abu Dhabi government’s decision to redevelop Al Bateen as a gate-way for private and executive flights is an important feature of its ambitious 2030 masterplan to diversify the economy of the emirate. No less than $500 billion is being invested over a 20-year period to establish Abu Dhabi as a global business and cultural hub in the United Arab Emirates.

Aviation, aerospace and defense activities is one of 12 economic sectors the government is focusing on. The masterplan envisions the emirate’s population tripling to three million and the number of visitors each year increasing fourfold to eight million. The authorities are keen not to lose sight of the particular needs of business and VIP travelers in this whirlwind growth, which is why Al Bateen is being developed as an oasis for this class of traffic. –C.A.

The new executive terminal at Al Bateen features two lounges–one accommodating 50 passengers and the other 20, plus a meeting room and catering area.

Dassault awaits EFVS approval for Falcon 7Xby David Donald

In the next few days Dassault expects to receive final opera-tional U.S. FAA certification for its enhanced flight vision sys-tem (EFVS) on the Falcon 7X large-cabin business jet. EASA certification for the system was completed in July and the first aircraft has been delivered, while the FAA airworthiness certification has already been received. The system significantly enhances situational awareness in bad weather and at night.

Dassault already has an EFVS on its Falcon 900 and 2000 aircraft, based on a CMC Elec-tronics sensor and a Rockwell Collins head-up guidance sys-tem (HGS). While that system is a significant aid to flight, it does not allow for reduction of approach minima. However, the

system developed for the Fal-con 7X employs a new head-up display (HUD) and sensors and gives imagery good enough to allow approaches to extend beyond Category I approach minimums in certain conditions.

The EFVS for the 7X employs a CMC Electronics SureSight

I-series infrared sensor and the latest Rockwell Collins Model 5860 HGS, the 7X being the first business jet to be certified with this high-resolution LCD dis-play. EFVS certification allows the pilot to continue some Cate-gory I and certain nonprecision approaches from the standard published minimums (typically 200 feet) to a 100-foot decision height, equivalent to Category II minimums. The proviso is that the pilot must see something in the HGS at the published mini-mums, even if the full ground pic-ture is not yet discernible. EASA certification allows an approach to be initiated with a one-third reduction in runway visual range.

In the Falcon 7X the EFVS sensor is mounted forward of the windscreen, and can dis-play imagery on both the HGS and head-down screens. At very short ranges there is some notice-able parallax discrepancy between HGS image and the real world, but it is designed for zero parallax at 200 feet and at longer ranges discrepancies are not an issue.

New features on the EFVS include two predetermined set-tings controlled by a single switch, although the pilots retain full control over the system’s set-tings so that they can adapt it to conditions if they wish. The nor-mal preset provides general sit-uational awareness at night by maximizing sensitivity to give the best possible view of terrain. The approach setting processes the infrared imagery to eliminate the blooming effect of lights at night, and to focus on detecting lights in bad weather, as these are the primary indicators for go/no-go

decisions. The system also has separate enunciators and audio warnings for EFVS minimums in the primary flight display, in addition to those for published IFR minimums. EFVS imag-ery in the HGS can be switched on and off, or faded, via a sim-ple switch on the Falcon 7X’s sidestick controller.

Training on the new system for pilots using the EFVS with operational benefits consists of a one-day course that comprises four hours of ground instruc-tion and two hours in the sim-ulator, during which at least six approaches are undertaken in various conditions.

Testing the EFVSCertifying the EFVS required

a flight-test campaign of about 200 hours, during which 168 approaches were performed. Initially the test team tuned the EFVS to give the optimal align-ment with the real world. This work was largely undertaken in

good weather at night. With the EFVS aligned, the campaign proceeded to tests in a vari-ety of conditions, and 80 of the approaches were conducted in operational credit conditions.

Unlike CAT III tests, in which aircraft can be flown in good conditions but with the out-side view blacked out, the EFVS tests required the Dassault team search for bad weather. The sys-tem was tested in dry and wet fog, in snow and rain and at different times of the day to allow for differing heat signa-tures of ground features. Tests were accomplished at 25 differ-ent locations in seven countries, including Canada, where fog is frequently encountered in the summer months.

For certification purposes most of these flights were flown with a Dassault pilot and a test pilot from the joint FAA/EASA certification team, with test engi-neers from both organizations on board. Detailed analysis of

data and imagery was under-taken post-flight, looking in particular at the imagery in its various incarnations, including first-generation sensor imagery, video feed to the HGS and the imagery displayed on the head-down screen.

For the future, Dassault expects better capability and fur-ther reduced minimums as sen-sors and displays improve in performance and resolution. A key avenue of development is the use of blended imagery, drawing on video, millimeter-wave radar and the synthetic-vision imagery generated by the onboard data-base using digital terrain eleva-tion data (DTED). As always, the problem is the correlation of syn-thetically generated imagery with the real world. At present, how-ever, even the proposed EASy 2 cockpit system for the Falcon 7X will use DTED level 2, which is insufficient to provide the kind of data necessary for low-visibility landing systems. o


mapping out the floorwalking

With so much to see and so little time, it’s usually a good idea to map out a strategy for walking the floor. This year there are 338 exhibitors from 33 countries, up from 250 in 2008. Maybe a GPS would help.

An image from the Falcon 7X’s HUD shows standard data, plus minima points, overlaid on an image from the EFVS.

EASy 2 Certification Expected 2Q 2011

Dassault’s EASy 2 cockpit is moving toward its cer-tification, which is expected for the Falcon 900 in the second quarter of next year. The cockpit system is to be ready on the Falcon 7X and 2000 by late 2012, around the same time as additional communications functions are expected to be certified.

EASy 2 builds on the much-lauded EASy cockpit that is standard in the Falcon range. It is based on Honeywell’s Primus Epic integrated avionics system but has a Dassault-designed interface that draws heavily on the company’s fighter work with the Rafale. EASy 2 introduces many new features, the most immediately obvious being the provision of a 3-D horizon integrated primary flight display in place of the EASy’s separate ADI and HSI.

The new system incorporates a synthetic-vision system

using digital terrain elevation data (DTED) level 2 and fea-tures XM satellite weather updates in near-real time. Previ-ous XM updates did not refresh fast enough to be certified for use as a navaid, but the new system can be employed to guide aircraft around bad weather cells rather than just ad-vise the crew.

EASy 2 also permits LPV (localizer performance with vertical guidance) approaches using GPS/Waas, now in use across the U.S. and due to be debuted in Europe next year, and GPS-based RNP (required navigation performance) ap-proaches that allow curved approaches through difficult ter-rain to airports such as Innsbruck.

EASy 2 also has an automatic descent function that set-tles the aircraft at 15,000 feet and 250 knots in the event of emergency depressurization or pilot incapacitation.� –D.D.

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Al Bateen Airport cuts landing & parking feesby James Wynbrandt

Abu Dhabi Airports Com-pany (ADAC) is slashing prices for landing and parking fees at Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Execu-tive Airport, effective immedi-ately. Al Bateen is the region’s only airport dedicated to busi-ness aviation and it is close to the city center of Abu Dhabi.

“These are very significant price reductions,” said Stephen Jones, the airport’s general man-ager. “The reason for this is that Al Bateen wants to be a serious player in the global business avi-ation market.”

The reductions in landing fees average 36 percent, but are skewed toward lower weight air-craft, which represent the major-ity of the airport’s traffic. For aircraft up to 5,000 kg, landing fees have been lowered to AED 26 ($7) from AED 185 ($50), an 86-percent reduction. Land-ing charges for aircraft weighing between 5,000 and 15,000 kg have been reduced 77 percent, to AED 62 ($17) from AED 275 ($75). At the heavy end, for aircraft in excess of 50,000 kg, the reduction is a modest 4 percent, from AED 920 ($251) to AED 879 ($240).

Parking fee reductions average

17 percent, but the price cuts are skewed toward heavier aircraft, which previously paid propor-tionately higher fees. Hourly parking fees remain unchanged for all aircraft below 25,000 kg, while those over 50,000 kilo-grams have had hourly fees more than halved, from AED 85 ($23)

to AED 40 ($11). Additionally, all aircraft have four hours of free parking.

“These pricings were put in place to make Abu Dhabi a worthwhile place to position your aircraft,” Jones said. “We want to go into the market and win new business, and to do that we’re going to have to provide long term advantages.”

Besides attracting new busi-ness, the reductions are aimed at bringing benefits in the form of increased traffic to airport ser-vice providers currently based at the airport, even as the airport seeks additional tenants.

“We need a mix of opera-tors,” Jones said. “Not just char-ter, we’re interested in MROs [maintenance, repair and over-haul facilities]. We want the best operators, and I think there’s room for more.” o


Bahrain’s ‘open skies’ smooths path for TAG

TAG Aviation is in the final stages of receiving an air oper-ator’s certificate from the King-dom of Bahrain and expects it to be issued by the end of this month. The Switzerland-based business aviation services group began the process of seeking the certificate six months ago and will base a Challenger 605 in Bahrain once it is granted.

“We are extremely pleased to take this important next step in TAG Aviation’s future growth,” said TAG CEO Rob-ert Wells. “The Kingdom of Bahrain’s historic dedication to civil aviation and its gate-way position to the Gulf region makes it an ideal venue for this new AOC. Bahrain’s “open skies” civil air transportation approach helped encourage TAG to launch the AOC effort, according to Wells.

“We at CAA are very pleased to that TAG Aviation has cho-sen the Kingdom of Bahrain as the hub for its business in

the Middle East,” said Cap-tain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, undersecretary for Bahrain civil aviation affairs. CAA welcomes TAG Aviation as its new partner and is fully committed to pro-vide all assistance to make its operations successful.”

Separately, TAG (Stand C215) has entered a new agree-ment with SR Technics to cooperate in the maintenance, completion and refurbishment of Boeing and Airbus business jets. The work will be carried out at SR Technics’s main engineer-ing base in Zurich, Switzerland.

TAG Aviation also has just opened its new hangar and office complex at Geneva Airport in Switzerland. The construction project has doubled the size of its facility.

Here at the MEBA show today, TAG is expected to make a major announcement about further expansion plans in another key emerging market for business aviation. –M.T.

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Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud (left), undersecretary for Bahrain civil aviation affairs, and Graham Williamson, president, TAG Aviation Europe, aircraft management and charter, discuss TAG’s soon-to-be-approved air operators certificate at MEBA.

Al Maktoum gets bizav servicesuContinued from page 1

Group, represented their orga-nizations at the ceremony. “It is a pleasure to announce that Al Futtaim Services Company will be the first general aviation ser-vices provider to establish oper-ations at the only aerotropolis in the Middle East and North Africa region,” said Sheikh Ahmed. “This new partnership represents another milestone in Dubai’s ongoing development as a global aviation hub.”

AFSC is planning a joint ven-ture with DC Aviation, a Euro-pean business jet operator, to provide a wide range of services including business jet charter, management and maintenance. Operations are expected to com-mence in the third quarter of 2011 with aircraft including Air-bus A319 Corporate Jets and Bombardier Global Expresses.

Other business aviation ser-vices groups have long planned to set up shop out at Al Maktoum, which is being built near the Jebel Ali port and free zone. But their plans have been held up by delays in the development of the airport and the various business parks that are supposed to surround it.

“The entry of the Al Futtaim Services Company into the gen-eral aviation segment is a key component of our long-term growth and expansion strategy,” said Al Futtaim. “We have care-fully chosen a strong partner on our side. The long-term business relationship with DC Aviation assures us of a great prospect for this exciting project.”

DWC aerotropolis comprises the international airport and adjacent free zones focused on aviation industries. If it is com-pleted as originally planned, Al Maktoum International Air-port will be the world’s largest in both volume and size. o

Al AIN AerobAtIc Show AttrActS top StuNt pIlotS

Some of the world’s top pilots are going to battle it out at next year’s Al Ain Aerobatic Show (Feb. 2 to 5, 2011). The Desert Challenge, officially sanctioned by the Federation Aeronautique International (FAI), will be the centerpiece for a show that is expected to attract 130,000 people.

Six top-ranked FAI fliers will compete in a series of classic and freestyle aerobatic duels. They will per-form in aircraft including the CAP232, the Sukhoi 26 and the Xtreme.

“With the addition of the Desert Challenge to a greatly enhanced display line-up and on-ground fes-tivities, we have gone a step further in generating truly global interest for this event and our heritage heartland of Al Ain,” said Faisal Al Sheikh, events

manager with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, which organizes the Al Ain showpiece in conjunction with the UAE Armed Forces.

“The Al Ain Aerobatic Show has firmly estab-lished itself as a top-five aerobatic event globally, and we are fully committed to making sure this show continues to soar to new heights. For 2011, we will stage our largest entertainment offering and are extremely confident that it will be sky-high fam-ily fun for all.”

The show, which is to be held for the ninth suc-cessive year, will also include aerobatic displays by jets such as the L-39C Albatross and the vintage Brit-ish Hawker Hunter. More information can be found at www.alainaerobaticshow.com.� –C.A.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (third from left) examines a model of Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, which is challenging Dubai as a bizav hub.

Al Bateen Executive Airport general manager Stephen Jones and deputy general manager Yousif Hassan Al Hammadi have cut fees to attract more traffic.

Shanghai, China

February 28, 29 & March 1, 2012

Asia Is Open for Business AviationShanghai Hawker Pacifi c Business Aviation Center on

Hongqiao Airport Shanghai, China

Exhibits, Static Display of Aircraft and Education Sessions – All in One Location

Co-hosted by the National Business Aviation Association and the Asian Business Aviation Association

WWW.ABACE.AERO

900LX_275X352_DUBAI_UK_1110_VEC.indd 1 22/11/10 17:08

meba convention news 12_08_10

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