EBACE Convention 2013
More Stories from EBACE 2013
Geneva Airpark (Booth 1721) has introduced an array of new services and facilities. The expansion of the four-year-old FBO follows a 10-percent increase in traffic handled during 2012, to 4,500 movements.
The new service portfolio includes oxygen system servicing, oil-level and tire-pressure checks, as well as fuel-pump draining. The company also offers aircraft cleaning and permanent video surveillance.
Eurocopter UK at Oxford Airport is branding itself as “Britain’s civil helicopter hub,” and with good reason. Of the 700 or so civilian turbine-engine helicopters that fly in Britain (the largest fleet in Europe), around 45 percent are made by Eurocopter, making it far and away the biggest OEM in the sector. To meet the demands of the operators of the 300-plus civilian Eurocopter helicopters, the company has put in place a comprehensive modification and maintenance program.
The new Garmin G3000-based Prodigy Touch avionics suite for the Embraer Phenom 300 was certified early May by Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil and the U.S. FAA; EASA approval is expected in April 2014.
Russia’s second largest city, St. Petersburg, has a new FBO and by year-end it should have a second. The Pulkovo-3 FBO at Pulkovo International Airport officially opened for business on March 6, initially handling only domestic flights. According to the purpose-built facility’s operator, JetPort SPb, it should be ready to handle international flights as soon as customs and immigration facilities are fully in place.
Embraer Executive Jets (Booth 7041) continues to expand at its headquarters in Melbourne, Florida. The business jet division of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer has been assembling and delivering Phenoms since 2011 at the southeast U.S. complex and its customer center there has been open for about a year and a half. In addition, it is building a new engineering center, and there is ample room for further growth.
Aeronautical Professionals Malta (AP Malta), an EASA-approved Part 147 training provider located in the Mediterranean island of Malta, is offering two aircraft type training courses (valued at more than €15,000, or approximately $23,000) as raffle prizes during EBACE 2013. The two-year-old company offers aircraft type training to engineers, airworthiness review staff and aircraft mechanics.
Few punches were pulled as speakers took on the challenges facing business aviation in Europe at the opening session of EBACE 2013 yesterday morning, with government policies, outdated infrastructure and the slack economy the primary targets.
Dassault Falcon has decided to embark on what it calls a completely different approach to pricing in an effort to counter customer perceptions that spare parts cost too much. The new approach, called “Rightsized Pricing,” takes into account customer expectations of the worth of a particular part rather than basing the price strictly on manufacturing costs.
Evergreen Apple Nigeria (EAN, Booth 2135) announced here at EBACE that it has signed a representation agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace. This announcement comes just a week and a half after the closing of a successful Nigerian business aviation conference, the country’s first, hosted by EAN. The company is the first fully integrated FBO, maintenance and hangar facility for business jets to open at Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.
Marking a year of rapid growth since its launch at EBACE 2012, the African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA; Booth 2135) announced here at EBACE 2013 that it would stage a business aviation expo of its own next April in conjunction with the Marrakech Air Show. The expo and air show will be held on April 23 to 26 at Marrakech’s FRA Airport. AfBAA’s expo will cover 50,000 sq m (540,000 sq ft), providing room for booths, static displays and chalets.
With more than 180 Gulfstream operators, Europe is a major region for the Gulfstream Aerospace, and the company has recently expanded its support infrastructure in the continent. At Luton Airport, the company’s support center has added more employees, while the mobile repair team unit, part of the field and airborne support team (Fast) network has also grown in size. Fast engineers are based in Athens, Paris and Switzerland, and one more is to begin operations from Kiev.
Solid recurrent training is at the core of any safety management system and the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA, Booth 827) and its members know this. The organization has chosen EBACE 2013 as the venue to announce a new member benefit: MEBAA Total Training Service, a package designed specifically for MEBAA by Emirates-CAE (Booth 372).
The global fleet of nearly 1,200 Pilatus PC-12s reached a major milestone this month by accumulating four million flight hours since the first copy of the turboprop single was delivered in October 1994. According to Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus, the highest time PC-12 has logged more than 24,000 hours in operation as an air ambulance with Air Bravo in Ontario, Canada.
Signature Flight Support will open a new facility at Changi International Airport in Singapore this summer, the BBA Aviation subsidiary announced yesterday at EBACE. It will provide “supervisory services” for ground handling and fuel coordination. The Changi location will be Signature’s second facility in Asia and join its investment in the Hong Kong Business Aviation Center at Chek Lap Kok/Hong Kong International Airport.
AgustaWestland (Booth 7070) has received orders from Russia and the British Isles for VIP-configured helicopters.
Exclases Russia inked a contract for five AW139 medium twins–in a mix of VIP and utility layouts. HeliVert, a Russian Helicopters and AgustaWestland joint venture located in Tomilino near Moscow, will produce the AW139s. The deal is a follow-on to a previous agreement, which calls for one AW139 to be delivered in June. Exclases also has ordered a GrandNew light twin in VIP transport configuration.
NetJets Europe plans to operate Embraer Phenom 300s by early 2014, the two companies announced here at EBACE yesterday. Holding a firm order for 50 of the specially outfitted “Signature Series” light jets, NetJets took its first delivery on May 1 for its U.S. operations and expects to accept roughly two airplanes a month.
Cessna Aircraft (Booth 7091) has introduced a treatment to protect Citation jets based in Europe from the corrosive effects of potassium formate (CHKO2), the environmentally friendly but aluminum-hostile runway de-icer increasingly used across the region.
“The potassium formate de-icing situation affects all aluminum aircraft,” Joe Hepburn, the Wichita airframer’s senior v-p for customer service, told AIN. “Our customers have been very uncertain how that will affect them. As an OEM, we want to leave them with certainty about the future.”
Indian business aviation specialist Aviators announced here at EBACE yesterday that it had ordered three Nextant 400XTis, while also revealing that it has been appointed Nextant Aerospace’s exclusive sales agent for India. The first “I” version of the remodeled Beechjet 400 is due to be delivered to Aviators in the first quarter of next year.
Nextant (here on the static display) has hopes for more sales in the country, as 33 entry-level aircraft were delivered there between 2007 and 2011, the manufacturer said.
VistaJet announced yesterday that it is enrolling 50 Bombardier Global 5000s and 6000s with the Platinum engine and APU hourly-cost maintenance program operated by Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI). Valued at more than $205 million at 2013 list prices, the deal is possibly the largest ever concluded for any hourly-cost maintenance program.
If you see Michal Dvorak here at EBACE wearing a big smile, congratulate him on his new appointment. He was just named chief financial officer of ABS Jets (Booth 2052), with operational bases in Prague and Bratislava. Dvorak has always had a keen interest in both aviation and finance, and his new job will enable him to leverage his expertise in both areas.
