Buisness aviation news

Leonardo and Pratt & Whitney Canada announced the successful completion of the first flight for a AW139 intermediate twin helicopter, powered by PT6C-67C engines, using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Accomplished at Leonardo’s facility in Cascina Costa di Samarate (Italy) on 21 November, the 75-minute flight and ground tests evaluated engine performance with multiple power variation and other systems. The test showed an outstanding response to the new fuel with no significant differences compared to the use of Jet A1 fuel.

TAG Aviation has obtained OTAR-145 approval from the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) for its maintenance stations in Hong Kong, Macau, and Subang, Malaysia.

Daher announced the delivery of its 100th TBM 960, which was provided to a Californian businessman who is stepping up from a piston-engine airplane to this top-of-the-line member of the high-speed, turboprop-powered TBM aircraft family.

Global bizjet activity is now flat over the last 4 weeks compared to last year, falling behind the Covid surge in 2021, comfortably ahead of 2019. Bizjet demand in Europe is weakening towards 2019 trend. Middle East is weaker, with 15% drop YOY in the latest week, although notably the COP conference drew a spike in bizjet arrivals. The US is still relatively strong, especially for the largest operators.

Satcom Direct, the business aviation solutions provider, has received DO-160 approval for its SD Plane Simple Ka-band tail mount antenna, the second variant in its Plane Simple hardware series.

Following the successful first flights of Electra.aero, Inc.’s (Electra) eSTOL technology demonstrator aircraft, Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: VTOL), the leading global provider of innovative and sustainable vertical flight solutions, secured early delivery positions for Electra’s hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) production aircraft by executing a deposit agreement. Bristow signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Electra in 2021 to be the principal launch operational customer for the eSTOL aircraft, with a pre-order of up to 50 aircraft.

Textron Aviation today announced a new ProAdvantage program, SustainableAdvantage, to provide owners with an additional option for reducing their carbon dioxide emissions from operating aircraft.

The Lufthansa Group and Lilium signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore a strategic partnership on electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft operation in Europe.

ExecuJet Haite has signed an agreement with Capital Airport Holding Business Aviation Management (CBM) to operate a new MRO facility at Beijing Daxing International Airport. The binding agreement allows ExecuJet Haite to operate a 5,000 square metre state-of-the-art large-scale maintenance hangar with extensive back shops and offices from Beijing.

EcoPulse, the hybrid-electric distributed propulsion aircraft demonstrator jointly developed by Daher, Safran and Airbus to support aviation’s decarbonization roadmap, has successfully performed its first flight test in hybrid-electric mode. The demonstrator flew with its ePropellers activated, powered by a battery and a turbogenerator.

Once the holiday fluctuations are accounted for, November was a flat month for business jet activity, though fractional flying is still at record pace, particularly in large cabin flying, with Florida and Texas the bizjet hubs in the US. In Europe, November saw a slump in demand, with the full month seeing lower activity in France and Germany than back in November 2019.

Lilium N.V. (NASDAQ: LILM), developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) jet, today announces the start of production of the Lilium Jet, following the arrival of the first Lilium Jet fuselage at Lilium’s final assembly line.  In parallel, Lilium’s world-class tier one suppliers – most of which have decades of experience in supporting the certification requirements of commercial aviation – are ramping up production of parts and systems for the Lilium Jet.

Luxaviation is expanding its fleet with the addition of an Embraer Praetor 600 that will be available for charter from January 2024.

Rotor Technologies, Inc., a developer of autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, unveils the R550X, the largest uncrewed civilian helicopter on the market, and begins production.

Adrian Gander – aka “Anoy” – uses his art and creativity to bring a PC-24 and a PC-12 NGX to life. With pride, he shares his thoughts with us and explains the process behind the striking color schemes and their Swiss-inspired design!

Leading aircraft management business AXIS Aviation Austria has received Part 129 Operations Specifications (OpSpecs) certification, issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to enable operations in the United States.

Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA) and Leonardo are pleased to announce today that ADA’s AW139 intermediate twin-engine helicopter accomplished two flights powered by aviation fuel blended with SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) in Abu Dhabi on 28 and 30 November (the latter carrying on board UAE dignitaries and industry representatives).

Embraer announced that a Praetor 600, equipped with the capabilities to undertake a wide range of flight inspection tasks has been delivered to South Korea’s Flight Inspection Services Center.  This is the first Praetor 600 in the country.

After the latest test flights, Piaggio Aerospace has successfully completed the retrofit of a first P.180 operated by the Italian Air Force: technicians and engineers upgraded, certified and delivered a P.180 “Avanti I” - the first release of the aircraft – carrying now a new configuration called Avanti II+, based on the latest aeronautical technologies.