Buisness aviation news
Despite growing economic headwinds, which may be affecting aircraft transactions, bizjet flight activity bounced up this week, with May YOY activity keeping pace with the strong Q1 pace for aircraft utilisation, leading operators continuing to fly at record levels.
Archer announced it has begun the next phase of Midnight’s flight test program showcasing piloted flight. This phase builds on years of safe, autonomous flight testing across its various aircraft platforms, which validated its proprietary 12 tilt-6 VTOL configuration. Midnight cruised at speeds up to 125 mph and reached a maximum altitude of over 1,500 feet above ground level during the flight.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) announced the additions of Robinson Helicopter Company and DeltaHawk Engines as Members and Whisper Aero as an Associate Member EPIC.
Textron Aviation Inc. announced the first delivery of its flagship Cessna Citation Longitude super-midsize business jet into Central America. The long-time Citation customer is based in Costa Rica and plans to use the aircraft for business and personal use.
Comlux Completion, the completion and maintenance center of the Comlux Group, takes delivery of the fifth Airbus ACJ TwoTwenty aircraft that is set to undergo cabin outfitting immediately.
As private aviation adapts to the rise of intercontinental lifestyles, increased mobility among ultra-high-net-worth individuals and a growing demand for next-generation aircraft, ExecuJet Middle East is expanding its managed fleet with a strategic, future-focused approach. This development underscores a broader industry shift toward sustainability, advanced technology and ownership models that offer greater flexibility and personalisation for a globally connected clientele.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) published the First Quarter 2025 General Aviation Aircraft Shipment and Billing Report. The results for the first three months of 2025 when compared to the same period in 2024 show increased shipments across all sectors and an increase in the overall value of aircraft shipments.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced the 50th customer delivery of the Gulfstream G700. The aircraft was outfitted at Gulfstream’s Savannah completions center. Since entering service in April 2024, the G700 operates globally, and the fleet has accumulated more than 11,700 flight hours.
Bombardier announced that the first production Global 8000 aircraft has successfully completed its inaugural flight. The milestone was completed on May 16 from Bombardier’s state-of-the-art Aircraft Assembly Centre in Mississauga, Ont., and the aircraft executed a series of tests, part of the production flight test procedures during the flight. The exquisite jet landed under the expert command of pilot Sandro Novelli, assisted by co-pilot Charlie Honey and flight engineer Bhargav Bhavsar. All flight controls were exercised on the aircraft, and the systems and aircraft performed as expected.
Textron Aviation announced a major program milestone for the Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen3 flight test program with the successful first flight of a second test article — P1. Testing on the P1 aircraft will focus on avionics, human factors and interiors. The Citation CJ4 Gen3 business jet is designed to keep pilots a step ahead in the cockpit by offering the next-generation Garmin G3000 PRIME avionics along with the most standard features in its class.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced the official unveiling of its reimagined London Sales and Design Center. Originally opened in 2013, the nearly 5,500-square-foot/511-square-meter space located in Mayfair gives customers based in or traveling through the city exclusive access to Gulfstream’s London-based sales executives and interior design team.
Flight activity in May clearly shows that the Trump bump back in November has dissipated, although there are no signs in the US market of a major relapse in demand which would reflect the deteriorating economic outlook since Trump’s tariffs. The one country where there is a clear indication of tariff impact is Germany, where demand is flagging significantly the last few weeks.
VistaJet brings the popular Cessna Citation XLS aircraft in VistaJet silver and red livery to the UK market, operated by new partner Saxon Air, a leading provider of non-scheduled aviation services in the UK.
There were 4,131 civil turbine helicopters operating in the Asia-Pacific region at the end of 2024, which was an increase of 64 over the previous year. While this 1.6% year-on-year fleet growth in the region seemed modest and was similar to the annual percentage growth during the period 2019 – 2022, the Asia-Pacific based fleet has in fact grown by 850 units during the past 10 years, with a year-on-year compound growth of 2.3% since 2014.
Business jet demand has tapered a little in the last couple of weeks but is still trending above 2024, with activity in Texas and Florida hubs exceeding 5%, and fractional operations continuing to grow close to 10% this year. Europe had a strong week, but April trends indicate a flat market.
StandardAero recently completed the 1,500th Honeywell HTF7000 series engine received for major maintenance at its Augusta, GA engine service center. StandardAero is the industry’s exclusive independent, OEM-authorized heavy maintenance provider for the HTF7000 turbofan engine model, and with this milestone, has performed more major HTF7000 workscope events than any other company in the industry.