Buisness aviation news

To help our members predict the trends that will shape the year to come, we’re keen to learn from the past. Our network of nearly 2000 operators and brokers globally is maybe the most extensive source of behavioral data available in air charter. Harry Clarke continues the tradition of summing up the yearly trends we see in our extensive Avinode data.

Archer Aviation, a leader in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced today that the company’s Midnight aircraft has hit another key milestone with completion of Phase 1 of its flight test program. Utilizing learnings from the previous four years of flight testing, Archer’s Midnight aircraft finished the flight test phase in approximately three months, which is significantly faster than Archer’s full-scale prototype aircraft - Maker.

Honda Aircraft Company today announced delivery of the 250th HondaJet since it began customer deliveries in late 2015. The milestone underscores the aircraft's prominence in the business aviation market. The 250th HondaJet recently rolled off the production line and completed the Standard Certificate of Airworthiness (SCoA), and Honda Aircraft Company associates celebrated the milestone with a special event at the company's global headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.

EOLA, already present in helicopter services in Monaco and France through its subsidiaries Monacair and Héli Sécurité, acquires a minority stake in Luxaviation Group’s helicopter company Starspeed, a British company specializing in helicopter management for owners. EOLA provides helicopter passenger transport, helicopter management and maintenance services for owners. Starspeed, a subsidiary of the Luxaviation Group, is a leader in the management of helicopters in the United Kingdom. The company also offers passenger transport services through its Penzance service, serving the Isles of Scilly, and provides training for qualified helicopter pilots.

Embraer delivered 75 aircraft in 4Q23, with 49 executive jets (30 light and 19 medium), 25 commercial jets and 1 military C-390 jet. In 2023, Embraer supplied 181 aircraft, an increase of 13% compared to 2022 when the company delivered 160. The company continues to face supply chain delays which have affected 2023 deliveries.

Mark Burns, president of Gulfstream Aerospace, received the Lifetime Aviation Industry Leader Award during the 21st Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards ceremony held om 19 January in Beverly Hills, California.

AJW Group, a world-leading independent aircraft component parts, repair, and supply chain solutions provider, and Lilium N.V developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, have signed an agreement to develop global material services and distribution to support the Lilium Jet’s global aircraft operations and Lilium’s Aftermarket Services Business.

Bombardier unveiled the first of many academic collaborations on its trailblazing pan-Canadian and sustainability-focused EcoJet Research Project. Bombardier’s long-standing partnership with the University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research (CfAR) and British Columbia’s SME Quaternion Aerospace was announced in a press conference hosted by the University. The three organizations presented how their shared vision of the positive role innovation plays in the sustainable transformation of the Canadian aerospace industry resulted in a fruitful collaboration on the flight-testing program of Bombardier’s EcoJet project.  

In a major boost to ‘Make in India’, Airbus Helicopters has announced that it is partnering with the Tata Group to establish a Final Assembly Line (FAL) for helicopters in the country. The FAL will produce Airbus’ best-selling H125 helicopter from its civil range for India and export to some of the neighbouring countries.

Business jet activity ticked up this week compared to last week, as the US market emerged from the winter storms. So far this year, US bizjet is trending down 6% compared to January 2023, but is still tracking well up on pre-pandemic January 2019. Europe is a different case, with several countries seeing less traffic this January than in January 5 years ago.  

Avia Solutions Group, the world's largest ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) provider with a fleet of 199 aircraft, has signed a Share Purchase Agreement to acquire Australian airline, Skytrans. The acquisition process is planned to be completed in March 2024, subject to the fulfillment of specific transaction conditions.

Duncan Aviation has announced that the company signed an agreement with Embraer Executive Jets to extend the company’s Embraer Service Center authorizations for another five years.

From the second quarter of 2024, Pilatus will gradually take over RUAG Aerostructures Schweiz AG’s entire workforce of around 230 employees, as well as all its machinery.

During its plenary sitting in Strasbourg on Tuesday (16th Jan), the European Parliament adopted Erik Bergkvist’s Own Initiative Report on 'Electric Aviation - a Solution for Short and Mid-Ranged Flights'.

Luxaviation Group, one of the largest business aircraft and helicopter operators worldwide headquartered in Luxembourg, has announced that ExecuJet France, part of Luxaviation Group, has received fully electric ground handling equipment (GHE) at their FBO in Paris Le Bourget Airport, making it the first ExecuJet FBO with fully electric owned GHE in Europe.

Leading aircraft charter specialist, Air Charter Service, recently arranged a charter into its 4,000th airport since 2013, spanning 191 different countries.

We are seeing the usual drop in bizjet demand following the holidays, with a dent in year-on-year activity due to the severity of the winter storms currently pummelling the US. In Europe, although the 4-week year on year decline is only 2%, the drops in bizjet activity out of Germany and France is eye-catching.

Jekta, the Switzerland-based manufacturer of the electrically powered Passenger Hydro Aircraft Zero Emission 100 (PHA-ZE 100) flying boat, has signed a new agreement with Metavonics, the avionics technology developer for the procurement of an aircraft management platform focused on utility functions.