EBACE Convention News 2023

WE’VE BEEN BUILDING THE FUTURE FOR SIXTY YEARS

Something that has always connected Dassault people through the years is their dedication to building superior aircraft, business and military. In fact, the same teams design and build both. Which is why you can fly the most advanced business jets in aviation.

XL ASCENDS TO NEW LEVEL

by Matt Thurber

Textron Aviation took the wraps off the latest iteration of its popular 560XL family—the Cessna Citation Ascend—yesterday morning at EBACE 2023, announcing major upgrades to extend the midsize twinjet’s production run well into the future.

Key features of the $16.725 million airplane include Garmin G5000 avionics, autothrottles, more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PW545D engines, a higher maximum takeoff weight (mtow) and payload, increased range, flat cabin floor, and other cabin amenities. The Ascend is expected to enter service in earl y 2025.

The trenched floor on the 560XL, while it provides more headroom, has bucked the flatfloor trend in modern business jet design. In the case of the Ascend, engineers didn’t make any changes to the fuselage’s external dimensions to accommodate the flat floor but essentially filled in the trench and moved some systems components to allow the change.

Then designers were able to create new cabin seats that take advantage of the flat floor, giving passengers more room to move the seat around and find more comfortable positions. A customer advisory board helped influence the design changes, which include power at every seat—a total of three standard universal outlets continues on page 61

ENGINES Testing SAF

Roll-Royce and Gulfstream have been testing 100 percent SAF in a G650 | 06

AVIONICS Honeywell’s Latest

The new Honeywell Anthem avionics suite aims to serve all industry segments | 14

AIRCRAFT Airbus’s ACJ TwoTwenty

The VIP jet is gaining traction in the new business jet marketplace | 40

SUSTAINABILITY Industry in Action

Bizav is leading the way on decarbonization | 62

The Ascend’s flat floor complements the midsize Citation’s newly designed seats.

Debutante G800 makes splash at EBACE

by James Wynbrandt

Gulfstream’s ultra-long range G800 is making its Continental debut this week at EBACE 2023. The twinjet is part of the Savannah, Georgia-based company’s static display featuring every aircraft in its current lineup: the super-midsize G280 and large-cabin G500, G600, G650ER, and G700.

The first G800 flight-test article that’s on display arrived from Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah fueled by a blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from the company’s dedicated supply. To date, all G800 test flights from its headquarters have flown on a SAF blend, the company said.

Announced ahead of NBAA-BACE 2021, the new twinjet’s appearance in Geneva underscores the program’s rapid advance. “By flying the G800 test aircraft to EBACE 2023, we are demonstrating the maturity of the program,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. The

aircraft “presents a compelling combination of high-speed aerodynamics and fuel-efficient engines to decrease emissions and save flying time for our customers.”

Promising to be the world’s longest-range business jet when certified, the G800 was designed for enhanced fuel efficiency and can fly 8,000 nm at Mach 0.85, or 7,000 nm at Mach 0.90.

Powered by the Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines originally developed for the G700, the G800 mates Gulfstream’s G650 fuselage with a new Gulfstream-designed wing and winglets. The cockpit is anchored by Gulfstream’s Symmetry flight deck with active control sidesticks

and what the company calls “the most extensive use of touchscreen technology in the industry.”

Symmetry is also featured on the G700, G500, G600, and forthcoming G400, simplifying pilot transitions among the current generation of models.

The cabin can be configured with up to four living areas, with seating for up to 19 passengers and sleeping space for up to 10. Those onboard will enjoy the lowest cabin altitude in the industry, according to Gulfstream (Booth S120, Static AD_08), as well as a plasma ionization air purification system that delivers 100 percent fresh, non-recirculated air. z

Joining the full complement of current-production Gulfstream business jets, the G800 arrived for its first showing at EBACE as it prepares for certification in the first half of next year.

DAVID M c INTOSH

The four-zone cabin of Dassault’s future flagship, the Falcon 10X, is wide enough to allow easy access to a large dining table. EBACE visitors can view the 10X mockup at Dassault’s exhibit (Booth Z72).

DAVID M c INTOSH

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Rolls-Royce helps fuel aviation’s SAF efforts

by Kate Sarsfield

With sustainability high on the agenda this week at EBACE, Rolls-Royce (Booth X98) is eager to promote its achievements in bringing greener fuel to its family of business jet engines.

In December, Rolls-Royce an d Gulfstream made history by flying the first ultralong-range business jet with a 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blend. The Rolls-Royce BR725-powered G650 made a 2.5-hour flight from Gulfstream’s Savannah, Georgia headquarters using sustainable fuels from both World Energy in Paramount, California, and Virent in Wisconsin. SAF is currently approved up to a 50 percent blend with jet-A.

The World Energy fuel was derived from waste fats and plant oils using the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) process; the fuel from Virent was synthesized from plant-based sugars using the synthesized aromatic kerosene (SAK) production pathway. These fuels have the potential to reduce net CO2 life cycle emissions by nearly 80 percent compared with jet-A, with the possibility for higher reductions.

James Stoddart, Rolls-Royce’s project engineer for the fleet, described the milestone flight as “perfect,” adding, “This was the first time the BR725 was flown with 100 percent SAF. We repeated the same flight with jetA1 and the pilots couldn’t tell the difference, which was also supported by engine data analysis of both flights.”

Rolls-Royce’s core market in the business aviation sector includes large-cabin, longrange, and ultra-long-range jets, which will burn liquid fuel for a long time to come— until other sources of green energy can be developed, Rolls-Royce said. “We see SAF as the opportunity for energy transition in this market and are committed to delivering engines that are compatible with and can run

on 100 percent sustainable fuel,” the company acknowledged.

The company’s current-production engines are 100 percent SAF-capable, it said, “So all we are doing this year and next year is proving it by demonstration.”

That box has now been ticked for the BR725. Next in line are the BR710 on the Bombardier Global 5000/6000 and Gulfstream G500 (previous version) and G550 and the Pearl 15, which powers the Global 6500/5500. The Pearl 700 powering the Gulfstream G700 and G800 business jets and in-development Pearl 10X— which has been selected by Dassault to power its flagship Falcon 10X—have already been ground tested using 100 percent SAF.

“We expect all of our in-production engines to be compatible with a 100 percent SAF blend by the end of the year,” said Rolls-Royce. A decision to pursue a similar SAF strategy for the out-of-production Tay (G350 and G450) and AE 3007 (Cessna Citation X/X+ and Legacy 600/650) has yet to be made.

“We will look closely at these engines, and then we will talk to the airframers and the authorities [which will need to approve the blend],” said Rolls-Royce. “But for now, we are focusing on the in-production models.”

While the industry’s commitment to delivering SAF-ready aircraft is undiminished, the price and availability of synthetic fuel still

remain obstacles. “These are, of course, challenges,” said Rolls-Royce. SAF is more expensive than jet-A, but that is largely due to a lack of availability. Rolls said it is “doing its bit” to help stimulate demand and encourage higher levels of production.

“At our sites in Bristol and Derby in the UK and Dahlewitz, Germany, we purchase a 10 percent SAF blend supplied by Air BP for our testbeds,” the company noted.

“We could sit back and say, ‘Well, we have proven our engines can run on 100 percent SAF,’ but we are also actively advocating for the necessary enabling environment to make it widely available,” said Rolls-Royce. “High production rates and widespread deployment are essential to decarbonize medium-and long-haul air travel.

“Key to this strategy is showing investors in petrochemicals that there is not a barrier to adoption at high rates and there is a path to net zero, which the aviation industry is committed to achieving by the 2050 deadline,” said Rolls-Royce.

To demonstrate its dedication to sustainable fuels, Rolls-Royce signed a memorandum of understanding late last year with Alder Fuels covering the flight testing of new SAF being developed by the U.S. clean-tech firm.

Based on Alder’s proprietary technology— which turns waste biomass from forestry and agriculture into what it calls “Greencrude”— the SAF is being readied for global rollout as a drop-in replacement for jet-A and should be commercially available from 2024. Flight tests, scheduled to begin this year, will see the SAF used to run on an undisclosed Pearl engine— likely the Pearl 15 or 700. z

Rolls-Royce has already run ground tests of the Pearl 10X using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.

Gulfstream building on service center hub

by Kerry Lynch

Gulfstream Aerospace is investing $100 million in the service center complex at its Savannah, Georgia headquarters as it looks to add another 200,000 sq ft of capacity, build on its customer support hub, and continue the growth of its global footprint. Announced last month, the newest expansion at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport would augment the airframer’s service center that opened in 2019 and also spanned 200,000 sq ft. The resulting facilities would be among the largest in the world dedicated to business aviation.

Slated to open in 2024, the Savannah expansion will result in the creation of 250 jobs and increase capacity for customer support at the location, which includes a 24/7 technical operations call center and a main parts distribution center.

This investment is part of a global strategy that Gulfstream (Booth S120, Stand AD_08) has undertaken to keep up with its increasingly large fleet. In the past 15 years, the company has added more than 2 million sq ft of hangar and warehouse space, shops, and offices, and it has expansions either in the works or completed recently in Farnborough, UK; Mesa, Arizona; Fort Worth; Palm Beach, Florida; Appleton, Wisconsin; and Van Nuys, California.

The manufacturer of the super-midsize G280 and large-cabin, long-range twinjets estimates that it has poured some $500 million into these facilities.

“When the G650 was introduced in 2008, we saw the need to modernize our service facilities to accommodate the very largecabin business aircraft Gulfstream brought to the market, and with that came building larger hangars and streamlining the support experience for our customers,” explained Derek Zimmerman, president of Gulfstream customer support. “The introduction of the

G400, G500, G600, G700, and G800 further reinforced that need for modernization and expansion.”

Not only is the aircraft size growing but the fleet itself is rapidly expanding, Zimmerman said, prompting the airframer to implement the strategic expansion plan throughout Europe, the U.S., and elsewhere. This plan involves an enlarged footprint as well as investments in people and parts.

Zimmerman noted that having in-house capabilities such as for repair and overhaul helps the company “gain more control of the supply chain.” To that end, Gulfstream is adding shops, including a component repair and overhaul facility in Dallas that will open in 2024.

As for future projects, he said, “We feel confident in our current footprint and customersupport offerings and continually assess them to identify opportunities for growth.”

“We are increasing our workforce across all sites,” Zimmerman said, noting that Gulfstream’s customer support team now numbers nearly 5,000 individuals in more than a dozen MRO locations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

The company believes its factory-owned networks provide an opportunity to directly engage with its customers, Zimmerman said. “We work closely with them so that we can understand their end-service experiences and use this information to enhance our programs and projects.”

While it has its own expansive network, Gulfstream also has the advantage of having Jet Aviation as a sister company. Acquired by parent company General Dynamics in 2008, Jet Aviation helps extend Gulfstream’s service offerings, Zimmerman said, noting that the multifaceted aviation business chain remains its partner of choice in the regions it serves.

And while the airframer remains focused on its in-house expansion, Zimmerman noted that it is also enlarging its authorized warranty facilities (AWF) footprint. “We have aircraft based around the world and these AWFs offer convenient access to warranty service, maintenance, and parts for our customers,” he said, noting the recent addition of ExecuJet Aviation Nigeria in Lagos to provide warranty and maintenance service and spare parts in West Africa. z

Gulfstream’s Farnborough Airport location in the UK is just one of the company’s maintenance facilities where expansions have recently been completed or are underway.

GJC sees demand for business jets taking a step back

by Peter Shaw-Smith

Business jet demand in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) faces an inevitable slowdown after the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic and the onset of increased global economic uncertainty, Robert Gates, head of international sales at aircraft financier Global Jet Capital (GJC, Booth X90), told AIN.

He believes the past two years have been strong for the business jet industry. Many new users entered the market following the lifting of Covid-19 lockdowns, while established users also continued purchasing aircraft. The result was a surge in orders for new aircraft,

Gates said JetNet placed inventory at about 5 percent of the fleet at the end of March. “While growth in flight operations has slowed and even declined in some segments, it is still well above 2019 levels, indicating that even as commercial operations normalize, many of the new users have continued to use business jets for travel needs. We expect the market to continue at a strong pace, even if it’s not quite at the same level as 2021 and 2022.”

and driving down inventory,” Gates said. “As demand went up and supply went down, prices increased throughout 2021 and 2022. Since the inventory of younger aircraft was limited, many buyers turned to older aircraft to meet their needs, driving prices up more on a percentage basis for older aircraft than for younger aircraft.

“In addition, younger aircraft tend to corollate to values for new delivery aircraft, where OEMs have kept prices more stable,” Gates noted. “Although values of young aircraft have gone up, the premium has not been as pronounced relative to older aircraft.”

According to Gates, like much of the rest of the world, the EMEA region experienced a strong surge in demand for business jets in 2021, following a Covid-induced slowdown in 2020.

increased activity in the preowned market, higher aircraft usage, decreased preowned inventory, and a strong pricing environment.

“As the global economy enters a period of higher uncertainty, the business jet market is inevitably taking a step back from these recent highs,” he said. “However, the market remains on a very strong footing. OEM backlogs are higher than they have been in years and inventory is still very low in terms of the proportion of the fleet listed for sale.”

As the global economy recovered from Covid-19 lockdowns, the value proposition of business aircraft was never stronger. Business aircraft enabled users to conduct travel efficiently while maintaining productivity and avoiding crowded commercial flights and airports. Disruptions in commercial flights in 2021 and 2022 further highlighted the benefits of using business aviation.

“As a result, many new users entered the market, driving up demand for business jets

“By late 2022, both new deliveries and preowned transactions had slowed,” he said. “New deliveries were impacted by supply- chain issues that prevented most manufacturers from producing enough aircraft to meet demand. A lack of inventory early in the year and the normalization of the market led to a slowdown on the preowne d side.”

In Europe, the war in Ukraine and worries about an energy crisis on the continent exaggerated the 2022 softening. “Although

“As the global economy enters a period of higher uncertainty, the business jet market is inevitably taking a step back from these recent highs.”

Robert Gates, head of international sales at Global Jet Capital

Large-cabin jets such as Dassault’s “ultra-widebody” Falcon 6X should be part of a robust market for new business jets in the Middle East, once it enters service later this year.

countries in the region handled the crisis well and avoided the worst of a major energy shortage, the concerns encouraged some buyers to postpone aircraft purchases,” Gates said. “As a result, the market for new and preowned business jet transactions in Europe declined around 25 percent, while by comparison the Middle East and Africa combined declined only about 5 percent.”

One way GJC analyzes the business jet market is by comparing sales of new jets with those of preowned models either above or below 12 years of age. In 2022, older aircraft became more popular in the EMEA region, Gates said. As aircraft inventory declined due to the strong market in 2021, buyers around the world had less selection to choose from. As a result, many buyers who traditionally purchased new or late-model preowned aircraft turned to older airplanes to meet their needs.

“Overall, aircraft older than 12 years in age increased from 25 percent of transactions in 2019 to 42 percent in 2022,” Gates said. “New aircraft deliveries remained relatively stable, dropping from 42 percent of total transactions in 2019, to 39 percent. However, newer preowned aircraft, one to 12 years in age, dropped from 33 percent in 2019 to 19 percent in 2022.”

Gates said Europe dominated the EMEA region, accounting for 80 percent of transactions and almost 90 percent of new deliveries there in 2022. Within Europe, the largest markets were Germany, the UK, Austria, France, and Switzerland, while markets with strong growth in 2022 included Portugal and the Netherlands.

“Within the Middle East, the largest markets include Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, Israel, and

Saudi Arabia,” Gates said. “Turkey was the fastest-growing market in the region in 2022. In Africa, South Africa, Nigeria, and Morocco are important markets. The South African market grew in 2022 but has not yet reached 2019 levels following declines in 2020 and 2021.”

In the Middle East, while governments were working to diversify their economies, GCC economies had largely been driven by the strength of the oil market. While the global economy faced many headwinds, such as persistent inflation, and supply-chain disruptions, higher energy prices meant that GCC countries were experiencing strong economic growth. Years of investment in other sectors of the economy were also beginning to pay countries dividends, enabling them to diversify economic activity.

“Our intelligence indicates that the GCC will be a robust market for business jets over the next few years,” Gates said. “We have also observed an increase in flight operations in the region over the past 12 months, indicating that demand for aircraft is there. Buyers in this region will purchase both new and preowned jets as the fleet in the region goes through an upgrade and expansion cycle.”

Gates noted that heavy aircraft accounted for a larger portion of transactions in the EMEA region than in the rest of the world, especially in the Middle East and Africa. “Globally, heavy jets typically account for about a quarter of all transactions,” he said. “However, in the Middle East and Africa, heavy aircraft account for more than half of all transactions, or 55 percent in 2022. In Europe, the total is a little lower than in the Middle East

and Africa, but at 35 percent, they were still above global ratios.”

Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, in the Middle East, where high oil prices and increasing investment in alternate industries are fueling general economic growth, GJC anticipates an uptick in activity. The European economy continues to face headwinds from inflation, banking concerns, and the war in Ukraine and, as a result, does not anticipate any significant growth in the market.

“However, the region has handled the crisis well so far, and many economists now expect that the continent will not be hurt as much as once thought,” Gates said. “Africa remains a bit smaller than the other two regions, but economic growth should continue to support aircraft transactions. Global Jet Capital and our partners in the market continue to see robust activity levels in the EMEA region, and we expect the region to be a significant driver of business jet transactions in 2023.”

Gates concluded with a note on the efficacy of GJC’s business model. “While Global Jet Capital has observed that values ebb and flow over time, ultimately, business jets are depreciating assets with predictable lifespans,” he said. “So even if they rise and fall in value in the short term, over the life of an aircraft, the value will decline.

“For this reason, as a company, we do not focus on financing one segment or another due to short-term fluctuations. Instead, we have built a diversified portfolio of aircraft composed of different classes, models, and ages, enabling GJC to successfully navigate across varying cycles, both up and down.” z

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Anthem avionics suite preps for prime time

by Matt Thurber

Honeywell’s in-development Anthem integrated avionics suite is well into the flight-testing phase onboard the company’s Pilatus PC-12 testbed, in preparation for some likely airframer announcements that are expected soon. The PC-12 has logged more than 120 flight-test hours with various Anthem systems, and less than two weeks ago it flew for the first time with the complete integrated flight deck and also fully managed by the system, according to Honeywell.

The milestone flight in the Phoenix area was piloted by test pilots Ed Manning in the left seat and Bill Lee in the right seat, with support from flight engineers Paul Carter and Will Quinn.

So far, two advanced air mobility companies—Lilium and Vertical Aerospace—have selected Anthem for their aircraft, and this illustrates one of Anthem’s core features: it is scaleable from small aircraft to large and anything in between. It is also designed for both forward-fit applications on new aircraft and retrofits to existing aircraft.

“There are a lot of big milestones coming in the PC-12 testbed in the next few months,” said Andrew Barker, Honeywell v-p of integrated avionics and general aviation. “It’s continuing to move forward at a really nice pace and fly a lot in our aircraft. We’re getting more eyes on it both in and out of the company.”

Anthem is Honeywell’s sixth-generation avionics suite and will not only move the company beyond its current Primus Epic integrated avionics but also create an avionics ecosystem that can take a pilot from the smallest general aviation airplanes or even advanced air mobility aircraft into business turboprops and jets, military aircraft, and airliners. In other words, Anthem pilots will not have to learn a new avionics system every time they move into a different aircraft type, similar to what Garmin has accomplished

with its G1000 through G5000 family.

However, Anthem is pushing the avionics envelope and adding some new technologies that will help pilots fly more efficiently and safely. Not all the capabilities will be available for every size aircraft, but that makes sense as the cost has to scale up and down with aircraft size. “The core product offering fits in all these different verticals [market segments],” Barker explained. “The objective is to not have significant change across markets. Scaleability is the core of Anthem and what we’re trying to do.”

The main human-machine interface for Anthem is the pilot interface display unit (PIDU), and the number of these will depend on the size of the airplane. A small aircraft, for example, might have one PIDU and one display, while larger aircraft would have more of each.

“Along with hardware scalability,” Barker said, “software features are also scaleable.” For example, a small aircraft operator (at least for the near future) won’t need controller-pilot datalink services. “Maybe the screens and the general look will be the same but some stuff will be different at different levels,” Barker said. The PIDU is a touchscreen avionics controller, but the main displays will also be touchscreens.

One of the most interesting new Anthem features is the secure cockpit browser, which allows users to run vetted software on an Anthem display, with full functionality and

connectivity. Anthem is cloud-connected, which is an enabler of many of its features but requires careful attention to security, hence the philosophy behind the secure cockpit browser.

An example of software that can run on the secure cockpit browser is the web version of ForeFlight, but almost any web-based software could work.

Honeywell engineers are fine-tuning Anthem’s human-machine interface features. “We’re getting them exactly right so they will be familiar to pilots flying in the widely available systems today,” Barker said. “We want people flying Epic to be able to use this seamlessly.”

Other Anthem features include more detailed 2D and 3D airport surface depictions with advanced runway notifications and a taxi-assist feature that helps with routing on the ground.

In the air, Anthem’s 3D waypoints on the synthetic-vision display look like points suspended in the air instead of just drawn on the ground. The conformal synthetic-vision system clearly shows the flight path so pilots can see whether the aircraft will clear the terrain. “Those are core capabilities,” Barker said.

Along with Anthem, aircraft manufacturers might opt for Honeywell’s compact fly-bywire product, designed to bring the benefits of fly-by-wire to smaller aircraft. Lilium has selected this system to go with its choice of Anthem. “If you add compact fly-by-wire to Anthem,” he said, “then you get two products that were designed to work together. You get a lot of capability and additional safety.

“There really are lots of opportunities,” Barker concluded, “and it’s exciting to see what’s possible. This is aviation 2.0, the next generation.” z

Honeywell Aerospace used a Pilatus PC-12 test aircraft for the first fully operational flight test of its Anthem integrated flight deck.

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Bombardier upping environmental reviews

by Kerry Lynch

With the recent completion of environmental product declarations (EPDs) for the Global 5500 and 6500 ultra-long-range jets, Bombardier has established a goal to have EPDs for all of its in-production aircraft by 2025 as it pushes for transparency and prepares for future models. Bombardier (Booth K40, Static AD_09) announced receipt of the Global 5500 and 6500 EPDs earlier this month, joining those already completed for the Global 7500 and Challenger 3500—the only other business jets to have them.

The EPDs detail information about an aircraft’s environmental footprint throughout its life cycle—from design to end-of-life—and are the culmination of more than a decade of development of key metrics that can be standardized through data gathering, validation, and analysis.

The Canadian aircraft manufacturer initially obtained an EPD for the Global 7500 in June 2020 after working with industry organizations and 45 Tier 1 suppliers to assess 200,000 parts over the development of the aircraft. Bombardier followed the same methodology with the Challenger 3500, which received an EPD in 2022, and again with the Global 5500 and 6500, which involved the assessment of a combined 280,000 parts.

While EPDs are prevalent across numerous industries, Bombardier has been forging new territory for business jets. As such, the manufacturer had to work with a panel of industry, environmental, and standards experts to help shape the product category rules for business aviation, according to Mathieu Noel, director of product strategy, industrial design, and sales engineering at Bombardier. Those standards were opened for comments and then validated and agreed to for business aviation.

The result was a template for a sweeping

review of the design, development, production, service, and end-of-life aspects of the aircraft. “We started to accumulate all this information about the environmental footprint of the aircraft and that led to a rigorous data analysis,” he said. After that analysis and third-party validation, the EPDs were issued.

Noel added that the review was exhaustive. “We can’t just pump them out one after the other. We actually go through aircraft parts one by one,” he said, “and validate their environmental impact.”

This includes assessing the sourcing of the material and the assembly of the parts/components and main aircraft. This assessment extends through operations and maintenance “all the way to the end of life,” he said. End-oflife evaluations consider which parts can be recycled and which ones go to waste.

“We measure the use of water, we measure emissions, we measure recyclable, our energy consumption, whether it’s renewable energy or non-renewable energy,” Noel said, recalling the company’s initial interactions as it went down that road. “We were asking how much water did you use in producing this part before you shipped it to us? We got a lot of raised eyebrows.”

He added, however, the e ff ort is critical for Bombardier. “It’s about owning the challenge that our industry faces. It’s about being transparent about it.” The EPD, he stressed, is “not a spin or marketing push. It’s not saying one aircraft is greener than another.” Simply put, it’s environmental data, Noel added, likening EPDs to the nutrition label on food packaging. “For us, it’s important for there to be a report because we want the customer to be educated in making the purchase decision.”

The EPDs also help provide perspective on the design of new products from a sustainability perspective. Noel pointed to elements such as the Rolls-Royce Pearl engines and redesigned wings that brought 13 percent better fuel efficiency on the Global 5500 and 6500. In addition, Bombardier noted the sustainable cabin materials offered on the aircraft and the Challenger 3500 eco app to help guide more efficient operations.

“It’s been our top priority at Bombardier to create products that have less and less of an environmental impact over time,” said Noel, noting the company’s goal is to invest at least 50 percent of its research and development money into greener aircraft technologies with concrete steps short and long term. “We don’t want to have just lofty goals. We want to take steps to get there.”

Bombardier has made its product lifecycle analysis available for industry and public consultation, and Noel said the company is working with other manufacturers on their life-cycle analyses. z

Bombardier’s full business jet lineup will have environmental product declarations, which document environmental data for each aircraft.

Lufthansa Technik shows tomorrow’s CMS

by James Wynbrandt

After earning record-setting revenue last year, Hamburg, Germany-based MRO Lufthansa Technik (LHT, Booth H72) is showcasing at EBACE 2023 some of the innovations it’s bringing to aircraft interiors. The evolution of its Nice cabin management system (CMS) and sustainability initiatives are among the highlights, said Wassef Ayadi, LHT’s senior director of customer relations, OEM, and special engineering services.

The latest iteration of LHT’s Nice CMS, which is now standard equipment on the Bombardier Challenger 3500, features artificial intelligence-driven voice command for controlling cabin equipment, bringing home- and office-like experiences to the sky. The Nice voice command software is self-contained in the CMS and thus requires no internet connectivity, unlike conventional voice-command systems, and LHT is continuing to develop the library of commands the multilingual system can handle.

On a grander scale, the Nice OS is evolving into a “customer-centric and cloud-based open software platform,” Ayadi said, a concept similar to “what is happening in the iPhone world.” Though next-gen CMS hardware will be introduced when major technological advances warrant, all interim upgrades will be software-based and apply to current and recent generations of Nice.

For end users, the evolved Nice will also support customization and remote system configuration via the internet, allowing OEMs and fleet operators to create their own branded versions of the CMS and change configurations in-flight or for select flights, providing “individualized experiences within the cabin environment,” Ayadi said.

At the company’s EBACE booth, a small V-cabin (V for virtual) environment allows visitors to don virtual-reality devices and activate cabin systems and equipment via

Nice virtually. That includes a curved OLED display screen set in a wall-mounted structure composed of lightweight recyclable materials, created in collaboration with Austrian interiors specialist F/List, an an example of its cabin sustainability initiatives.

Aeroflax is another sustainability innovation. A flax-based replacement for glass fiber or carbon fiber parts such as sidewalls and ceiling panels, the fabric has very low density and good mechanical properties and provides a 20 percent weight savings over glass or carbon fiber. LHT developed Aeroflax with German MRO Bcomp. Comprised of flax fibers, biological resin, and a proprietary mix of flame-retardant additives, Aeroflax fabric is renewable and meets all flammability standards.

Meanwhile, a model of a shark on display may seem out of place, except that its “skin” is actually LHT’s in-development AeroShark

Despite what it called “a challenging environment” of supply-chain bottlenecks and skilled labor shortages, LHT reported that its revenue and earnings increased “significantly” in fiscal 2022 to € 5.6 ($6.18) billion and a record-setting € 511 million, respectively.

LHT’s VIP completions and refurbishment services have remained a bright spot throughout, said CEO Soeren Stark. “Over the last three years, we haven’t seen less workload than the years before,” he said. “There’s still a lot of demand in the [VIP] market.”

Given that backdrop, Stark is “very optimistic” regarding the VIP business going forward and LHT is investing a “high double-digit million euro” sum in a new interiors workshop and adjoining paint center at its Hamburg completion center. The back shops are now housed in a 1950s-era complex, making renovations “impossible in economic terms,” said Stark. The new facilities, slated to open in 2025, will help optimize processes and create more efficiencies, he said.

For the year, LHT signed 706 new contracts, including 28 with new customers, worth €9.6 ($10.6) billion, and ended 2022 with 4,242 air-

AeroShark, a drag-reduction coating has the potential to reduce fuel consumption by up to 1 percent by optimizing airflow, according to LHT..

drag-reduction coating. A bionic film, AeroShark mimics the hydrodynamic drag-reducing properties of sharkskin and has the potential to reduce fuel consumption by up to 1 percent by optimizing airflow, according to LHT, thereby reducing fuel costs and carbon footprints.

LHT is also displaying blended, curved screens and components anticipated for tomorrow’s eVTOLs, as the company’s designers and engineers move forward on defining the interior look, feel, and functionality of these next-generation vehicles.

craft operated by some 800 customers under service contracts. After trimming its workforce of 25,000 by 20 percent following the start of the pandemic, LHT hired more than 2,100 employees last year and plans to add some 4,000 this year.

Looking ahead, LHT expects the upward trend in air travel to continue to drive demand for maintenance services and predicts the global MRO market could exceed pre-pandemic levels as early as this year, with a total volume of some €96 billion. z

Energy suppliers are serious about boosting use of sustainable fuel

by Charles Alcock

Discussions about achieving aviation’s commitment to delivering net-zero carbon operations by 2050 are often shrouded in chicken-and-egg circular arguments. How can operators increase their use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) if sufficient supplies aren’t available worldwide? How can SAF supplies increase if sufficient demand doesn’t exist to justify significant investments in production and distribution infrastructure?

At the Sustainable Skies conference in Farnborough, UK, last month, some air trans-

hydrogen—an 89 percent increase from the previous year. Last year, rival BP invested $4.9 billion in what it calls sustainability transition growth, which was up from $2.4 billion in 2021.

Fuel suppliers insist they are fully engaged in the drive for SAF to incrementally replace fossil fuels in aircraft. These efforts are reflected in the Sustainability Summit taking place at EBACE today and tomorrow.

“There has been notable progress in reducing the industry’s carbon footprint but there is a long road ahead,” acknowledged Sergio Nunez, Shell Aviation’s head of marketing

sustainability advisor Sven Riede. “Overall, business aviation is in a more challenging position than other SAF customers due to their operational footprint,” he told AIN “They fly to a lot of unplanned locations at short notice and so have a significantly higher location-to-volume ratio.”

This makes it hard for fuel suppliers to shape their SAF supply network to meet fuel uptake needs that are not as predictable as they are for airlines. “But if you look at the growth curve [in SAF use], it’s impressive and there is now more of an uptick,” Riede noted.

Part of Shell’s commitment to progress is the new biofuels manufacturing facility it is building in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which Nunez said will be able to produce 820,000 tonnes of SAF and renewable diesel fuel from waste materials. The company (Booth J82) expects this facility to be operational in 2024.

Another of Shell’s green initiatives was the acquisition last year of EcoOils, which uses recycling technology to reduce waste going into the landfill to produce spent bleaching earth oil as a biofuel food stock to make low-carbon fuels, including SAF. The group has also invested in LanzaJet’s e ff orts to convert alcohol to SAF and also in integrated hydropyrolysis and hydroconversion techniques to convert organic waste into transportation fuels.

port industry leaders pointed fingers at energy companies and governments for talking the talk on SAF while failing to walk the walk regarding the change they say they want to see. Several commentators pointed to unprecedented oil company profits bloated over the past 15 months courtesy of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, asking why the lion’s share of these aren’t being diverted into green aviation initiatives.

In 2022, Shell invested $4.3 billion in lowcarbon energy solutions, including SAF and

and decarbonization. “Coming out of the pandemic, there has been a change in the discussion, with business travel generally now more in the spotlight. At least 5,000 companies have made public commitments on netzero travel, and what they need to address this is a big task in which SAF can play a big role.”

Business Aviation a Tough Customer for SAF Suppliers

That said, the transition is far from straightforward, according to Air BP aviation

For now, though, aircraft operators wanting to burn more SAF in place of jet-A continue to pay heavy premiums and there seems to be little sign of this changing, with significant regional variations in price. Nunez told AIN that government mandates setting minimum levels of SAF supplies will be important in removing this disincentive. “We need globally aligned policy to move this space forward,” he commented. “On a global basis, we should have a 10 percent mandate [for the proportion of available SAF in the total aviation fuel supply] by 2030, and we also need policymakers

Shell is well aware that sustainable aviation fuel is going to be critical to support net-zero goals and has invested $4.3 billion in low-carbon energy solutions that include SAF and hydrogen.

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to work on incentives that would help to give some price stability.”

Government Mandates Help Companies Do the Right Thing

Air BP (Booth N88) also sees government mandates to ensure specific proportions of SAF availability as helpful, with Riede pointing to directives already issued by countries such as Norway, Sweden, and France, alongside new incentives to expand production in the UK, the Netherlands, and the U.S. “This is more about demand aggregation,” he said. “Because otherwise it’s harder [to justify] putting infrastructure in place for small volumes. So the first step is to scale up demand and achieve a network effect that drives down auxiliary costs.”

Part of Shell’s response to this challenge is the Avelia book-and-claim platform that it launched in June 2022 with Accenture and American Express Global Business Travel to use blockchain technology to pay for SAF that they won’t burn in their own aircraft to claim environmental benefits associated with their own jet-A-fueled flying. “It allows operators to share the cost of SAF in a way that is not connected to the physical supply so that it is not reliant on the fuel that goes into an individual aircraft and avoids double counting [of the amount of carbon dioxide reduced in the process],” Nunez explained. “When you inject SAF into the [worldwide] network you can reduce life-cycle emissions by [up to] 80 percent.”

Shell is working with the Smart Freight Centre and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation and Logistics to ensure that Avelia is based on credible carbon-accounting practices. It said the platform meets all the requirements of the internationally recognized SAF greenhouse gas emission accounting and insetting guidelines.

According to many estimates, SAF could account for 65 percent of global aviation fuel supplies by 2050. With an eye to closing the gap, Shell said, battery-electric and hydrogen propulsion must be viewed as part of the solution, but only on a gradual basis that will increase from the 2030s and into

the 2040s due to limitations in aircraft range and payload. Shell is working with hydrogen propulsion innovator ZeroAvia to prepare the infrastructure to support planned flights in converted regional aircraft, such as the Dornier 228, from 2025.

BP’s investments include the ramping up of SAF production at its refineries at Castellón in Spain and Lingen in Germany using biogenic feedstocks and hydro-processed esters and fatty acids techniques. These sites will also be used to manufacture hydrogen that could be used in aircraft for direct combustion and to run fuel cells, with additional output to come from a new site at Teesside in the UK. In March, the Castellón site delivered the first consignment of SAF meeting the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification standard.

The company’s medium-term goal is to have a 20 percent share of the SAF market in 2030. In addition to more production, plans call for expanding the number of Air BP locations where the fuel is available from the current level of no more than 30 out of its 700 locations worldwide.

TotalEnergies Aviation (Booth X78) is also stepping up its SAF offering through a commitment to producing 1.5 million tonnes by 2030. The French energy group is making biofuels from waste and residues from sources such as animal fat and used cooking oil, as well as synthetic fuels. z

London’s Biggin Hill Airport is committed to expanding the use of SAF and is working with BP to do so, although the airport’s operators are keenly aware that the higher cost of SAF hinders its use.

Air BP is supplying sustainable aviation fuel at 30 locations worldwide, but hopes to add many more of the 700 locations where it supplies jet fuel to the list of SAF providers.

Bunce: Europe bizav facing tough choices

by Kerry Lynch

The business aviation industry is “between a rock and a hard place” in Europe because environmental pressures are increasing and yet regulatory roadblocks are preventing progress, according to General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) president and CEO Pete Bunce.

“A lot of the news has not been good as far as the approach of business aviation over there [in Europe],” Bunce said during this year’s GAMA State of the Industry press conference, referring to environmental activism activities such as the interruptions of the start of the European Business Aviation Association’s AIROPS23 Conference in Brussels. Activists blocked the entrance to the ExecuJet FBO terminal at Brussels airport and also barged into the AIROPS23 event.

Bunce stressed the importance of the industry being able to move forward on sustainable initiatives, including bringing new technologies to market. He stressed that the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is becoming critically important.

“But unfortunately the deployment strategy that is coming forward in Europe does not allow us access at business aviation airports to sustainable aviation fuel,” he said, “and what is happening is a large amount of taxes are going to be levied on our industry because we aren’t using SAF. We can’t get it and then we’re going to be taxed because we can’t get it.”

With limited supply, available SAF is first going to commercial use. In addition, with few production sites, the distribution to many business aviation airports becomes impractical, and there are regulatory barriers to getting

SAF across some borders in Europe, business aviation leaders say.

However, Bunce added, “We’re working those issues,” and further noted, “book-andclaim for us still becomes a very important tool in Europe.”

He reiterated the objective is to have an environment without fossil fuel burning in aircraft and noted OEMs throughout the industry are researching the use of 100 percent SAF.

As for handling the activism targeting the industry, GAMA chair and Simcom International president and CEO Eric Hinson pointed to the response of famed billionaire Bill Gates when questioned about his use of business jets. Hinson noted Gates stressed that he is not part of the problem and that he buys offsets, as well as invests in climate initiatives globally.

“There is specific action that people can take,” Hinson said. “But the reality is we’re probably never, ever going to convince climate activists of that and that’s probably not the people that we should focus on.”

Instead, Hinson said, the focus should be on people who may be watching those climate activists. “They’re looking at it on a cost basis purely. We just need to make sure that they understand both sides of that equation.”

He noted these issues are throughout the transportation system and said he would argue that general aviation is probably more active than many on the sustainability front.

When asked, most business aviation leaders have said they have not yet seen this activism have a significant impact, but the concern remains that it will take a toll in the future if business aviation’s story on sustainability does not get told. z

IBAC joins ICAO on SAF initiative

The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) has joined with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) program to promote the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

ICAO’s Assistance, Capacity-building, and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (ACT-SAF) initiative creates opportunities for states to develop and deploy SAF, in support of its No States Left Behind program and its 2050 vision for sustainable aviation fuels—which stated that the sustainability of alternative aviation fuels is of essential importance to the e orts of international civil aviation to reduce its CO2 emissions.

As the trade organization representing the interests of the worldwide business aviation community, IBAC holds official observer status within ICAO. IBAC director general Kurt Edwards and ICAO secretary general Juan Carlos Salazar signed the partnering agreement in late March at ICAO headquarters in Montreal.

“The business aviation sector is known for innovation,” said Edwards. “We look forward to working with ICAO and other ACT-SAF participants to expand the development and use of SAF—a proven, cutting-edge technology—in greater quantities for use by all operators around the world.” C.E.

ICAO secretary general Juan Carlos Salazar (left ) and IBAC director general Kurt Edwards sign a partnership agreement for IBAC to join ICAO’s sustainable aviation fuel initiative.

GAMA chief Pete Bunce stressed the importance of bookand-claim in Europe because of the unavailability of SAF.

We are celebrating the delivery of our 1,500th »nice« shipset with a good deed

We believe that innovation shouldn’t just be about creating cutting-edge products but also about making a positive impact in the community. That’s why, on the occasion of delivering the 1,500th »nice« shipset, we’re excited to announce a donation of € 15,000 to three Lufthansa Help Alliance projects. These projects support the development and creation of opportunities for budding innovators in developing countries.

But that’s not all – we also invite you to join us in this mission! We would be thrilled if you matched our € 10 per shipset contribution so we can make an even greater impact.

Thank

Booth #H72

Embraer going all in on new tech, sustainability

by Kerry Lynch

Embraer arrived at EBACE this week with a fresh deal from NetJets potentially worth more than $5 billion, a focus on sustainability, and a drive to build on its technologies such as fly-by-wire flight controls.

In the weeks leading up to EBACE, Embraer (Booth Z34, Static AD_22) announced an order from NetJets for up to 250 of its midsize Praetor 500s, with deliveries slated to begin in 2025. This paved new ground for Embraer with NetJets, moving its midsize jets into the fractional operator’s fleet after supplying more than 120 Phenom 300/300E light jets thus far under orders originally placed in 2010 and followed on in 2021, valued at more than $1.2 billion.

Noting that the Phenom 300 is the most requested aircraft in the NetJets fleet, Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Michael Amalfitano credited these successes not only to the efficiency and capabilities of the aircraft but also advancements that have broken ground in their respective categories in areas such as fly-by-wire, airborne connectivity, and synthetic vision.

Embraer plans to push the envelope on these technologies, he said, giving a glimpse of the next evolutions to come: “We’re going to continue to try to look for solutions to bring fly-by-wire to smaller and smaller aircraft.”

This includes the possibility for fly-bywire for the Phenom light jets, something Amalfitano said is doable. “You don’t need a whole new aircraft [for fly-by-wire] because Embraer has done a fantastic job of building robust platforms that have long cycle times and have our ability to really optimize each of those aircraft.”

Another area ahead is more autonomy. Full autonomy is a long-term goal for Embraer’s Eve Air Mobility subsidiary, but Amalfitano said it is also an area where the company can “cross-pollinate” throughout its product lines. “What can we do to the Phenom 100 and the

Phenom 300, which are already single-pilot? How do we further automate that so that they can transition from single-pilot to autonomous flight?” Amalfitano asked.

“We have been the leading edge of innovations coming to market,” he said. “That’s what you’re going to see more and more of.”

Connectivity is another area he cited. Amalfitano called advancements in low-earth-orbit satcom as “the whole next generation of the satellite transformation that’s taking place. There’s going to be a huge shift to more and more things being digital and not only in terms of the aircraft and the ability for users on the airplane to have a digital connection but the entire ecosystem to be built off of digital solutions.”

Embraer continues examining advanced technologies for its Phenom and Praetor lines. Because of their adaptability in the long term, he does not see Embraer trying to fit new models into the categories of those aircraft. Any new aircraft models would either be “upstream or downstream,” he said.

As for EBACE, Amalfitano stressed it “is really all about the sustainability of air travel and the ecosystem for the future.” He noted that Embraer is a sponsor of this week’s Sustainability Summit that is taking place during EBACE and said he expects the topic to be

a central theme throughout the show. These discussions run the gamut from airframe, propulsion, and avionics refinements to SAF and recycled materials used to manufacture aircraft.

For Embraer, it is exploring multiple avenues on this front through its in-house engineering vertical teams, the Embraer-X technology incubator, and Eve.

In other areas, Embraer is looking at manufacturing and digital evolutions to bring efficiencies and more sustainable approaches. “You have to be all in on developing sustainable air travel, and we look at it beyond the asset,” he said. “We’re looking at this in terms of the ecosystem itself.”

As for the timing, Amalfitano pointed to the Praeterra interiors as a more immediate advancement and its EMB-203 Ipanema eco-demonstrator that is testing flight for 100 percent electricity. Lessons learned from those trials are flowing into Eve’s developments.

Another “huge part of our commitment” is SAF. Embraer has struck deals to bring the greener fuel to its factory in Melbourne, Florida, on a quarterly basis and at the same time is moving forward with testing of 100 percent SAF in its products. Plans call for testing 100 percent SAF in the Phenoms and Praetors later this year.

At EBACE this week, Embraer is showcasing its Praetor 500 and 600 and Phenom 300E alongside highlighting its commitment “to really design the future of air travel in a customer-centric way and in an environmentally safe way,” Amalfitano said. z

Embraer’s popular Phenom 300 could be a candidate for technological developments such as fly-bywire flight controls.

EcoJet project aims for lower-carbon future

by Curt Epstein

One year after Bombardier unveiled its smallscale EcoJet blended-wing research demonstrator, the Canadian airframer revealed the existence of its bigger brother on Monday at EBACE 2023. Bombardier (Booth K40, Static AD-09) added that the aircraft achieved first flight late last year.

At twice the size of the previous scale model, this new aircraft—with its 18-foot wingspan— represents the conclusion of the first phase of the test program and the start of the second.

The company believes this second phase will eventually deliver a lower-carbon emissions aircraft design in pursuit of the industry’s goal to be net-zero emissions by 2050.

“The technology that we have on the EcoJet program is how we at Bombardier are going to get there,” said Stephen McCullough, the Montreal-based company’s senior v-p of

engineering and product development. “As we get closer and closer to what the full scale will be, the results have better resolution.”

The project aims to reduce aircraft emissions by up to 50 percent through aerodynamic and propulsion improvements. Among them, the aircraft’s design includes what Bombardier describes as its sixth-generation transonic wing. EcoJet further demonstrates a new aircraft control architecture. “The EcoJet research project has garnered a high level of interest across the industry, and we are looking forward to mobilizing partners as we continue to define the future of business aviation,” said McCullough.

As to whether the next step in the program would be a full-scale aircraft, McCullough noted that as the aircraft design scales up, it will allow for the installation of more representative equipment than smaller versions. But he added a determination has not yet

Bombardier’s EcoJet research program looks to develop a new airframe design that could result in carbon emissions savings of up to 50 percent.

been made. “It’s a technology demonstration platform, and really we will get through the phase of the larger-scale model that we have today, and then we will decide what is the next-step size—if there is a next-step size—to mature the technology,” he told AIN. z

Bombardier, GD team on anti-sub jet

by David Donald

Business jet manufacturer Bombardier has partnered with defense contractor General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS)-Canada to develop a multi-mission/anti-submarine warfare aircraft based on the Global 6500 business jet.

The two companies have formed the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA) team to produce an aircraft intended for export and domestic use. In terms of the latter, the team is calling on the Canadian government to open a fair and competitive procurement for the requirement to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Lockheed CP-140 Aurora fleet of maritime patrol

aircraft, which are due to be replaced in the early 2030s.

Canada has already lodged a letter of request with the U.S. concerning the acquisition of the Boeing P-8 A Poseidon.

The CMMA team’s proposal is based on GDMS-Canada’s integrated mission system, which draws on investments already made in the RCAF’s CP-140 Block IV upgrade program and CH-148 Cyclone helicopter. The adapted Global 6500 would carry weapons such as the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile on four under-wing hardpoints and features a ventral bay for stores such as sonobuoys in a bulged fairing.

At least two other companies have proposed maritime patrol adaptations of the Global 6000/6500. Saab previously offered a Global 6000-based aircraft known as the Swordfish, while PAL unveiled its P-6 Global 6500-based proposal at the IDEX show in Abu Dhabi in February. z

The Bombardier/GDMS-Canada CMMA proposal features an internal bay for stores, as well as underwing hardpoints.

Environmental groups targeting EU bizav

by Cathy Buyck

In a move that has sent shockwaves through the industry, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport announced early last month that it plans to ban private jets and small business aircraft from operating at its facility starting in 2025.

The decision underscores the growing influence of the European Green Deal and the push toward climate neutrality, which are shaping public opinion and policy across the region.

By choosing to remove a part of its business that is perceived as being contentious from an environmental and social perspective, one of Europe’s largest airports took a step that might be followed by others.

“This decision is not representative of the wider aviation industry’s position on business aviation,” EBAA stressed. The group acknowledged, however, that Schiphol’s determination to bar business aviation flights is a “significant blow” that has caused concern among industry leaders.

“The Amsterdam Schiphol decision to ban

business traffic reflects a very specific and complex set of local circumstances and must not set a precedent for the entire aviation sector,” commented Olivier Jankovec, director general of the Brussels-based airport trade body Airports Council International Europe.

aviation industry to achieve it,” he told AIN

Despite the sector’s significant strides in decarbonizing, authorities are intensifying their scrutiny of business aviation’s environmental footprint, while climate activists are increasingly targeting business aviation throughout Europe.

February saw an unprecedented number of sit-ins and at times violent protests as part of the “Make them Pay” campaign organized by Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion, and the Stay Grounded network. Actions took place in cities across the continent, including

“Business aviation is vital for many airports and their communities across Europe. This is particularly true of regional airports, where it provides connectivity not otherwise available. Along with all aviation industry stakeholders, business aviation has as its absolute priority CO2 emission reduction and net-zero by 2050. And it’s likely to be the first segment of the

Brussels; Sevilla, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, and Ibiza, Spain; London; Stockholm; Malmö, Lund, and Gothenburg, Sweden; Milan, Italy, Amsterdam; Værnes and Trondheim, Norway; and Cascais, Portugal. The groups also disrupted EBAA’s Air Ops conference in Brussels, prompting NBAA and EBAA to tighten security this week at EBACE 2023.

This wave of protests followed similar demonstrations by activists demanding to “ban private jets, tax frequent flyers, and make polluters pay” in front of Dassault Aviation’s headquarters in Paris and at FBOs in the UK, Italy, and Germany during the first week of the UN climate change conference COP27 in Egypt in November. Protests to denounce the use of private jets also took place during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.

Schiphol‘s proposed ban on business jets is not yet a done deal. According to minister of infrastructure and water management of the Netherlands Mark Harbers, civil airports have a public charter and the operator cannot ban users without a valid reason. “There is no legal basis for restricting or denying private jets and business aviation aircraft access to an airport for sustainability reasons, or for including provisions on this in an airport decree,” he wrote in a letter to the country’s

“Many of our operations are conducted in small airports not connected by airlines, which is a key added value of business aviation.”

EBAA senior communications manager Róman Kok

Although a ban on business aviation flights at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has been proposed, the airport is a public facility and subject to providing a legal basis for such a ban.

House of Representatives.

Nevertheless, Harbers argued that “there is still a lot to be gained in terms of higher emissions per passenger in a private jet or business aviation compared to passengers on a regular commercial flight.” To achieve this, he said, his department is investigating whether the Netherlands could impose a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending mandate for private jets and business aviation that is higher than what is proposed in the EU-wide ReFuelEU Aviation framework.

In fact, EBAA has been calling on the EU’s co-legislators “to make SAF more accessible in the shortest feasible time frame, considering the special characteristics of the business aviation sector,” said EBAA senior communications manager Róman Kok. The Brussels-based trade body believes that the passengers’ threshold for airports should be “significantly lower” than foreseen in the ReFuelEU Aviation proposal, which states that fuel suppliers must provide SAF at airports that handle at least one million passengers annually.

“Many of our operations are conducted in small airports not connected by airlines, which is a key added value of business aviation. Thus, to reduce emissions within our sector, in accordance with our Business Aviation Commitment on Climate Change, it is crucial that small airports are also required to carry SAF,” he told AIN. “Should SAF not be physically available on site, EBAA supports a book-and-claim system.”

The Dutch Ministry of Finance is also looking to include more passengers from private jets and business aviation in the air passenger tax.

According to the Brussels-based clean mobility NGO, Transport & Environment (T&E), a ticket and fuel tax should be imposed on fossil-fueled private jets, scaled with flight distance and aircraft weight, to account for their “disproportionate climate impact.” The taxes should remain in place till 2030, by which time regulators should permit only the use of aircraft powered with green hydrogen and electricity for private jet flights under 1,000 kilometers within Europe.

In France, the “Ecologiste” party recently submitted a bill proposing to ban private jets and nonscheduled flights with fewer than

60 passengers on trips from or to mainland France. The National Assembly Committee on Sustainable Development rejected the proposal.

“The outright ban gives a good conscience but does not advance the ecological transition in practice,” said French transport minister Clément Beaune, who pointed to the “legal obstacles” and the difficulty of defining and controlling exemptions. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that some business aviation practices by business jet owners and operators in his country were “shocking and sometimes unacceptable.”

Private jet flights are regularly coming under fire in France. Last year, the country was tops in business aircraft flights (258,222) in the European Union, up 36 percent compared with 2019, according to EBAA data. But last year they gained even more attention after an environmental activist started tracking the private jet owned by Bernard Arnault, the richest man in France.

The laviondebernard (Bernard’s airplane) Instagram and Twitter accounts revealed that the Bombardier Global 7500, registered as F-GVMA, operated 18 “capricious” flights in one month, mainly between Paris and Brussels, which are 82 minutes apart by train. There was also a 10-minute flight between two London airports.

Beaune vowed that he is willing to impose an additional levy in next year’s budget, “an eco-contribution revised upwards, which will precisely take these behaviors into account,” Le Figaro reported. A “70 percent increase in the tax on private aviation fuels”—aligning the taxation of kerosene for business jets with that of cars—was already put in place in the finance law for 2023, remarked Beaune.

For EBAA, the recent worrisome developments in Europe’s business aviation industry have highlighted the need for continued collaboration between industry leaders and governments to promote sustainable aviation practices while ensuring the industry’s longterm viability. “We will continue to work with governments and other stakeholders to promote a balanced approach to addressing the environmental concerns of the industry while maintaining its economic and social benefits,” said Kok. z

NEWS NOTE

Scotland’s Inverness Airport is the latest aviaton gateway to stock contnuous supplies of sustainable aviaton fuel (SAF). The fuel, supplied by World Fuel Services, is a 35 percent SAF blend and available to all customers at the airport, which is operated by the Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) Group. Inverness will be the frst of the company’s locatons to contnually ofer SAF and likely not its last. According to HIAL, there is ongoing demand for SAF beyond previous trials and one-of deliveries. HIAL is said it is commited to becoming a net-zero regional airport group and the ofering of SAF is a key part of that strategy. It has already taken several steps toward that goal, including the installaton of solar-powered passenger boarding ramps, the acquisiton of electric or hybrid ground power units, and the replacement of traditonally-powered vehicles with electrically powered units. z

FUTURE FOCUSED

On the ground and in the air, Gulfstream is innovating for a more sustainable future in ight. Join us for the journey.

Daher lays plans for hybrid-electric TBM

by Chad Trautvetter

By 2027, Daher’s aviation division expects to broaden its product lineup with a hybrid-electric TBM and set up a third aircraft production facility in Stuart, Florida, Daher aviation division senior v-p Nicolas Chabbert told AIN . The French company produces four models—the Kodiak 100 Series III and 900 and TBM 910 and 960—and shipped 73 airplanes last year and estimates 85 to 90 deliveries this year.

The additional production line will be located at Daher’s aerostructures facility in Stuart. Combined with Kodiak production in Sandpoint, Idaho, and TBM manufacturing in Tarbes, France, the Florida facility will make both lines and boost total annual output to between 120 to 130 airplanes.

That ancillary capacity will be needed as Daher (Booth W58, Static AD_38) plans to add a fifth model—a hybrid-electric TBM influenced by its EcoPulse technology demonstrator being developed in partnership with Safran and Airbus. According to Chabbert, the hybrid-electric EcoPulse logged 10 hours in

late March with two of its six motors installed. Initial testing focused on thermal issues.

As of late April, flight testing of the demonstrator was set to resume in a four-motor configuration. By next month, the EcoPulse will have all six motors installed before making its public debut at the Paris Airshow, which opens on June 19. Chabbert said Daher is evaluating the motor configurations in stages to guide the development of a production hybrid-electric aircraft, which he expects will enter service in 2027.

Meanwhile, Daher recently announced several upgrades for its high-performance TBM 960 and utility Kodiak 100 turboprop singles, as well as EASA validation for its larger Kodiak 900.

For the Kodiak 100, the company is offering a composite five-blade propeller as an option for Series III models and as a retrofit for all Model 100s. Compared with the stock fourblade propeller, the option is 13 pounds lighter and reduces noise and takeoff roll distance by 6.6 percent and 6 percent, respectively. A Garmin 1000 NXi upgrade that includes the GTX 345R ADS-B In/Out transponder is also

available as a retrofit for all Kodiak 100s.

The TBM 960 is getting a checklist review button on the yoke and repositioned altimeter setting knobs, as well as Garmin PlaneSync GDL 60 4G LTE/Wi-Fi datalink and GWX 8000 StormOptix weather radar.

Daher’s Kodiak 900 also received EASA validation early last month, allowing deliveries to begin in Europe. Despite the fact that the region accounts for only 5 percent of the Kodiak’s worldwide fleet distribution, Chabbert is optimistic that the Kodiak 900, and its smaller Kodiak 100 Series III sibling, will be able to make more inroads there.

In fact, the company had a major presence at the Single Engine Operations Conference on April 21 as part of the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany. This conference sought to explore how this aircraft segment could take advantage of EASA’s 2017 approval for single-engine turbine aircraft to fly commercially at night and in instrument meteorological conditions.

Further, the company designated Simcom as the factory-approved training organization for all of its aircraft. The addition of Kodiak 100 and 900 training at Simcom builds on the companies’ 24-year relationship for TBM instruction. As part of the agreement, Simcom is installing a fixed-based Kodiak flight simulator, built by Frasca International, at its Scottsdale, Arizona facility that is expected to be online by October. z

Daher expects to bring a hybridelectric TBM to market in 2027 that is influenced by the EcoPulse.

Jet Aviation expands MRO and adds BBJ2

by James Wynbrandt

Business aircraft MRO, charter/management, and completions services specialist Jet Aviation (Booth E50) arrives at EBACE 2023 on the heels of expanding its Middle East MRO footprint, adding a first BBJ2 VIP airliner to its charter fleet, and redelivering a groundbreaking VIP aircraft.

In December, the company expanded MRO services at its Dubai International Airport (OMDB) facility, enhancing maintenance, interior refurbishment, nondestructive testing (NDT), and borescope capabilities in response to growing regional demand. Calling the Middle East “a key strategic hub in our network,” Jet Aviation is “committed to supporting the growth of business aviation across the region,” said Jet Aviation senior v-p of EMEA regional operations Jeremie Caillet.

Modular tail docking equipment added at the base maintenance hangar allows more efficient heavy structural repairs, while avionics modifications and upgrade capabilities, including high-speed connectivity installations, have expanded cabin refurbishment options. To support increasing demand for NDT inspections for maintenance and pre-purchase aircraft inspections, the OMDB facility has also introduced improved equipment and techniques for eddy current and ultrasonic inspections and expanded on-site borescope capabilities in-house and through OEM partners in the region.

Further bolstering its regional support, Jet Aviation has added line maintenance at Al Bateen Airport in Abu Dhabi, and on-demand charter services at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Additional line maintenance expansion is expected in Saudi Arabia later this year.

Long known also for its global charter capabilities—Jet Aviation operates some 100 business jets in its on-demand fleet—the company added late last year the first BBJ2 into its charter fleet, and the first on its air carrier

certificate. The 17-passenger VIP airliner’s amenities include a completely enclosed stateroom with a full bathroom and shower.

Jet Aviation performed the prebuy inspection on the Bermuda-registered BBJ2 for the new owner, created a game plan for importing the aircraft into the U.S., and developed and implemented the work scope for Part 135 commercial operations. Conformity required validation of more than 150 airworthiness directives, as well as 75 modifications. The Jet Aviation conformity team also worked with the local FAA office to review an aircraft model type the FSDO was unfamiliar with, the company said.

No stranger to working with VIP airliners, Jet Aviation has performed scores of VIP cabin completions at its Basel completion center and in October redelivered its quietest and lightest completion to date, installed in a narrowbody head-of-state aircraft, the latest result of its emphasis on creating light and quiet VIP aircraft interiors.

Jet Aviation has used sister company Gulfstream Aerospace’s statistical energy analysis technology to model custom interiors and predict interior noise in VIP cabins. Engineers and designers can then evaluate how various materials will affect sound levels, allowing the completion center and the customer to collaborate on optimizing sound and weight before production begins.

The redelivered narrowbody also

incorporates the company’s first OLED screen installations in a VVIP cabin. A trio of 55-inch OLED displays were integrated on both sides above the window line, following the curvature of the ceilings, the configuration reducing the cabinetry required to house the screens and further reducing cabin weight, while maximizing interior floor space.

Two recent system innovations from Jet Aviation’s engineering team promise further completions refinements ahead. A new water system complements a standard system’s metal piping with lighter, recycled PFA plastic tubing that is not subject to corrosion and less susceptible to bacterial growth. Moreover, the PFA tubing can be measured, cut, and connected simply on the aircraft, rather than requiring offsite manufacturing and welding as does metal piping, reducing installation time and costs. PFA piping also withstands damage and leaks in the event water within freezes.

The engineering team also created an antenna mount for a Ka-Band satcom connectivity system on VIP transports that provides quicker maintenance access and resolution to antenna service issues. The new 2.5-meter grid mount features multiple attach points that allow access and easy removal of specific components, enabling service technicians to improve maintenance schedules and minimize the number of fuselage penetrations while reducing maintenance costs. The engineering team worked with EASA regulatory colleagues in Cologne for approval of the new mount.

Continuing its sustainability efforts, Jet Aviation again offered customers an SAF option, this year via its book-and-claim program, at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in January. z

General Dynamicsowned Jet Aviation’s maintenance, charter, management, and completions activities are all growing rapidly.

Boeing logs ‘strong start’ for 2023 BBJ sales

by James Wynbrandt

“We’re off to a strong start,” Boeing Business Jets president Joe Benson said on Monday at EBACE. The company (Booth A51, Stand AD_05) has received orders and an option for four aircraft thus far this year: a BBJ Max 7, two BBJ 787-8s, and the first option to purchase a BBJ 777-9.

“Each part of our family is represented in those orders and commitments,” Benson added. Those families are the single-aisle BBJ; in-production widebodies (the all-composite BBJ 787 Dreamliner); and BBJ 777X next generation widebody.

The spread of the orders, Benson said, “demonstrates the strength and breadth of our

portfolio, and that our customers see we’re offering them the right combination of comfort and performance in our operating economics.”

Designed to fly upwards of 4,000 hours per year, BBJs provide higher reliability and retain more residual value than competing executive airliners, according to Boeing, and also benefit from Boeing’s global network of services, parts, and maintenance.

The BBJ Max 7 ordered this year is the longestrange single-aisle executive jet, according to Boeing, with a range of 6,600 nm, capable of linking Geneva and Singapore nonstop.

Boeing Business Jets’ BBJ 787-8 has a range just shy of 10,000 nm (9,945) and features all-electric system architecture, with the comfort of its 6,000-foot cabin altitude

A BBJ Max 7 is one of four Boeing Business Jets ordered and optioned this year. With a maximum range of 6,600 nm, the single-aisle jet can fly nonstop from Geneva to Singapore.

complemented by a cabin humidification system and smooth ride technology thanks to flyby-wire flight controls.

The in-development BBJ 777X, with a projected range of 11,025 nm, will be the first business jet capable of connecting any two cities in the world nonstop and will offer more than 3,000 sq ft of floor area and the largest interior space of any civil aircraft in the world.

Engineering design improvements and innovative technologies on the jet include a new carbon-fiber composite wing, whose outboard sections can fold upward when not in flight, making the big widebody compatible with current airport infrastructure. When it comes to market, anticipated in 2025, the 777X will be Boeing’s new flagship, replacing the 747-8. z

EBACE organizers brace for turbulence from disruptor groups

EBACE 2023 promises to be a show unlike any previous version due to its potential as a target for environmental protestors. Other European industry events this year—including EBAA’s AirOps2023 Conference in February—have attracted negative attention from organized groups that sought to disrupt the activities.

While a permit has been filed for a peaceful demonstration to take place Tuesday evening near the main entrance to Palexpo, show organizers EBAA and NBAA said they are prepared for any contingency. “One difference that people will notice this year is there is more emphasis on security,” said EBAA COO Robert Balthus.

While EBAA anticipates the demonstrations will remain civil and peaceful, it noted other precautions have been coordinated with local authorities in case they don’t. “As an organization, to make sure you have a safe event you have to think about all kinds of di erent

scenarios, and hope that the protestors, rather than shout something, sit in on some sessions and listen to what we’re doing and also the questions we ask ourselves as an industry,” Balthus told AIN. “Are we doing enough, are there enough alternatives, and what can we do to improve things?” he asked rhetorically.

Balthus noted that the industry has been “doing something” on sustainability for more than a decade.

Among the areas where business aviation is moving forward is being at the forefront of new technology such as advanced air mobility and potential new propulsion technologies. “That’s where we can lead the industry and are leading the industry by making sure we decarbonize as quickly as possible,” explained Balthus. But he noted that at the heart of the discussion there is common ground with the protestors: “We agree to disagree on the timetable, but not with what we want to achieve.”

EBAA chief operations officer Robert Balthus hopes any EBACE protestors will choose to peacefully engage with the organization.

ALENA KORENKOV

wing test article logs 10k cycles

by David Donald

Development and testing of Dassault’s 7,500-nm, Mach 0.925-capable Falcon 10X is proceeding apace. Primary parts for the 19-passenger ultra-long-range jet are now in production, as well as long-lead elements such as the landing gear. Key systems and components are now undergoing rigorous tests at various Dassault and supplier locations.

Among them is the all-composite wing. The wing test article, known as the LNX, has now completed 10,000 equivalent flight cycles, while the flight simulator bench at Dassault’s development center in St Cloud has conducted 300 representative “flights.”

Two multi-system bench rigs are located at Istres in southern France and the fuel system is being put through its paces. Engine provider Rolls-Royce has reported encouraging results from tests of the new Pearl 10X turbofan, which is due to begin in-flight trials aboard a Boeing 747 in the second half of this year.

The Falcon 10X introduces a new flight deck known as NeXus. It is a development of the Falcon 8X’s Honeywell-based EASy IV suite but introduces several new features, notably the Smart Throttle, which integrates power control into the digital flight control system and autopilot. A 2.9-meter cabin width and modular cabin concept set the Falcon 10X apart from its competitors, claims Dassault. Carlos Brana, Dassault’s executive v-p of civil aircraft. He said the majority of interest is aimed at a fourcabin layout with lavatories.

At the time of launch, the certification date for the Falcon 10X was projected as the end of 2025, but Dassault (Booth Z72, Static AD_02) is now unwilling to put a firm date on when approval might be expected. The primary reason, explained CEO and chairman Eric Trappier, is continuing problems with the supply chain, which he claimed were “worse now than a year ago.” The company is working

hard to alleviate the problem, but Trappier could not give any assurances on when the industry-wide issue might improve.

In the meantime, Dassault’s current focus is on getting the 5,500-nm wide-cabin Falcon 6X into service. The aircraft has performed 1,480 flight hours in 580 flights and has completed all certification flying. The results and paperwork are all lodged with EASA, and certification is expected “within weeks,” said Trappier. The first aircraft is in Dassault’s completion facility at Little Rock, Arkansas, and the training program is getting underway.

The first EASA- and FAA-qualified fullflight 6X simulator has been installed at CAE Burgess Hill in England, and theoretical maintenance training began at CAE Mérignac in April. A second facility is to open in the U.S. in the coming weeks. The Dassault Training Academy is due to begin practical maintenance training next month. z

CAE to open business aviation training center in Vienna

CAE announced at EBACE that its promised Central European business aircraft training center will be located in Vienna, Austria. Construction of the 8,000-sq-m (86,000-sq-ft) facility is well underway, and operations are scheduled to begin in the second half of next year. Vienna offers an attractive location that complements CAE’s existing centers, making training for Europe-based pilots more accessible.

“Vienna is the ideal location for CAE’s new business aviation training center,” said Nick Leontidis, group president of civil aviation at CAE (Booth P98). “The new center will be a game-changer for business aviation training in the region, offering programs on

the region’s most sought-after aircraft platforms in an immersive training environment.”

Initially, CAE Vienna will operate six full-flight simulators (FFS). One will be the first FFS for the Bombardier Global 7500 to be located in Europe and the fifth to become operational globally. A second FFS will be a Global 6000 Vision system, but which aircraft types the other four sims will support has not yet been disclosed. The facility itself has growth potential to enlarge to house up to nine FFSs.

The Vienna center will begin as an EASA-certified facility, but FAA-accredited training is likely to be included subsequently. D.D.

Until the first Falcon 10X takes shape, the only way to view the

interior is to walk through the mockup.

For Comlux, the future starts at TwoTwenty

by James Wynbrandt

Comlux has seen the future, and it starts at TwoTwenty—the Airbus Corporate Jets ACJ TwoTwenty, that is. The model is now the focus of completions and sales activity for the Swiss VIP aircraft service company, which delivered the first of the newest ACJ model to launch customer Dubai-based hospitality firm Five Hotels and Resorts earlier this month.

“The core business of Comlux Completion is now the TwoTwenty,” said Comlux Group founder and chairman Richard Gaona on the e ve of EBACE 2023, where the aircraft is making its world debut on static display. But this direction may move Comlux away from the bespoke custom interiors on which its completions arm was built since the TwoTwenty has a more modular cabi n design.

The TwoTwenty is the executive version of the Airbus A220 regional airliner. Airbus Corporate Jets (Booth Z52, Static AD_03)

partnered with Comlux on the TwoTwenty program in 2020; Comlux handles the certification and installation of the cabin interiors of the first 16 jets.

Comlux and Airbus are excited about the TwoTwenty’s potential because the aircraft’s interior has twice the floor space yet the same hangar footprint and similar price range of large-cabin business jets—about $80 million. It also costs 40 percent less to operate than a narrowbody bizliner, but the TwoTwenty’s 5,650-nm range doesn’t match that of ultralong-range business jets.

But delivering TwoTwentys at the price and pace the market demands doesn’t allow for highly customized interiors. Instead, Comlux developed a selection of zone and configuration modules, monuments, and other cabin elements that can be mixed and matched, available in four “signature ambiances.” This gives customers wide latitude in designing a cabin that

Comlux completed the EASA-certified cabin of the first ACJ TwoTwenty in 14 months and delivered it to Five Hotels and Resorts in early May.

meets individualized needs at minimum time an d cost.

The partners believe the market can absorb six TwoTwentys per year in the near term, with eight-month completion times, and Comlux is gearing up to meet the schedule. But the production and certification method requires a dramatically different approach from that employed for one-off VIP interiors. Every part must be marked with airframespecific identification (identical coffee makers, for example, cannot be swapped among aircraft), for which Comlux had to develop a new parts labeling process.

Now that the first TwoTwenty is flying and prospects can see the aircraft and the interior, orders are expected to pick up. Thus, Airbus is planning a world tour to showcase the aircraft.

Eight firm TwoTwenty orders have been received to date—Comlux is taking three of them—and the next open slots are for two deliveries available in 2025. z

Signature Aviation inaugurates Scotland FBO at Edinburgh Airport

Signature Aviation recently held a grand-opening celebration for its newly completed FBO at Scotland’s Edinburgh Airport (EGPH). The facility, which took two years to build, features a 5,575-sq-ft (515-sqm) terminal with discrete entrances for passengers and crew. Amenities include VIP suites, conference room, coffee bar, business center, crew lounge, and 48-space secure vehicle parking lot.

The location has nearly 70,000 sq ft of dedicated ramp, which allows it to handle any size aircraft up to an Airbus A330. It is fully self-sufficient with its own equipment ranging from a pair of fuel

trucks to airstairs, tugs, ground power units, and belt loaders.

Signature has invested substantially in the FBO and its security screening equipment. Installation of a CT3 X-ray machine upgrade is planned for early 2024. The company is in negotiations with airlines to introduce its Elite Class product there, which will allow commercial passengers to use the facility for arriving and departing flights.

“We are looking forward to a successful partnership with Edinburgh Airport as we grow our business in Scotland and the UK,” said John-Angus Smith, Signature’s managing director for EMEA. C.E.

DAVID M c INTOSH

Palexpo hosts Ukrainian refugees

by Mario Pierobon

The bus stop to reach the EBACE aircraft display has been moved to another area because Ukrainian refugees are being hosted in Geneva Palexpo’s Hall 7. In previous years, this hall was used as an indoor loading/unloading area for static display buses.

Like other European countries, Switzerland has been receiving Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the war, according to a Geneva

Palexpo spokesperson. “In Geneva, the ‘Hospice General’ is in charge of the care and reception of refugees,” the spokesperson added. “A large number arrive in Hall 7 and are housed temporarily before finding more suitable accommodation in the city. About 1,000 places are available. Unfortunately, this war is still going on and Palexpo remains a privileged place to allow those who have fled the war to find a safe and welcoming place before being able to return home.”

Attendees preparing to visit the EBACE aircraft display should know that the new bus boarding

area is accessible from Hall 6—about 80 meters (260 feet) to the left of the previous access. “It is no longer necessary to go down the stairs—new access is on the same level through door 613,” the spokesperson told AIN. “Proper signage will help visitors find the exact location. No luggage, even cabin size, will be authorized in buses serving the EBACE 2023 aircraft display. Only handbags will be authorized, but they must be checked before boarding. Waiting lanes will be organized from inside Hall 6, and the bus pickup and drop-off area will be just outside door 613.” z

EBACE 2023 is taking place while Ukrainian refugees are processed in Hall 7 of Palexpo.

DAVID M c INTOSH

AAM innovators merging with bizav

by Charles Alcock

The increasing convergence of fast-emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) and mainstream business aviation is visible this week at EBACE 2023. Developers of eVTOL aircraft and companies contributing technology to these programs can be found on the exhibit floor, and most specifically at the show’s Innovation Zone.

Discussions of new propulsion systems and flight automation capability will also feature prominently in the EBACE Sustainability Summit today and tomorrow—with some of these sessions also at the Innovation Zone. The increased presence of AAM pioneers at the world’s secondlargest business aviation show seemingly signals serious intent by the industry to broaden the scope of its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint beyond the ongoing push to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuels.

With several frontrunners in the eVTOL race to market promising to have their aircraft in commercial service barely two years from now, 2023 promises to be a critical time for determining how credible these ambitions are. After investors flocked to the AAM sector in 2020 and 2021, the capital flow started to diminish in 2022 and observers are now starting to assess which players might not have sufficiently deep pockets to complete an onerous type certification process that is still somewhat clouded in uncertainty.

The ambitious performance objectives of the dynamic new sector of aviation have motivated many of the mainstream aerospace industry’s largest players to invest in cutting-edge propulsion, flight controls, and aerostructures technology. These companies include Honeywell (Booth D31), Safran, Garmin (Booth D62), Rolls-Royce (Booth X98),

Thales, Collins Aerospace (Booth V72), and GKN Aerospace.

Airbus (Booth Z52) is developing its own eVTOL vehicle, the CityAirbus NextGen, drawing on expertise and technology from across the European group. Rival Boeing (Booth A51B) has skin in the game through its majority stake in California-based Wisk Aero, while Textron Aviation (Booth T26) has established its own electric aviation business unit, bolstered by the acquisition last year of Slovenia-based Pipistrel. Daher (Booth W58) has announced plans to develop a hybrid-electric version of its TBM fixed-wing aircraft based on the EcoPulse technology demonstrator it is working on in partnership with Airbus and Safran.

Lilium Seeks Bizav Role

One of the highest-profile exhibitors in the EBACE Innovation Zone is Lilium, which is

working to secure EASA’s approval for its six-passenger eVTOL aircraft in 2025. The German company first needs to complete the construction of a production-conforming prototype and fly it, which is now anticipated to occur in 2024. Its engineering team has already been flying a technology demonstrator, most recently at the Atlas test site in Spain.

The design features 30 tilting ducted fans in its wing and canard. The all-electric vehicle is expected to have a range of up to 155 mph and a maximum cruise speed of 175 mph.

Lilium (Booth D32) has been taking provisional orders and some of these have come from the business aviation sector. In December, UK-based private aviation management and charter group Volare said it plans to add 20 of the all-electric Lilium Jets to the fleet of its new

eVolare division, with options for another 10.

These will be the special four-passenger Pioneer Edition of which Lilium intends to make just 50 examples, offering a customizable cabin and prices ranging from $7 million to $10 million. The manufacturer aims to have all these units sold by the end of 2023 and said that it has started collecting pre-delivery payments from some customers.

Last year, NetJets agreed to add 150 Lilium Jets to its portfolio of business aircraft. Under a memorandum of understanding, NetJets and its affiliates would operate the aircraft, and Berkshire Hathaway sister company FlightSafety International (Booth W72) is expected to provide flight simulators as it competes with rival training group CAE (Booth P98) to provide pilots for the AAM sector.

Luxaviation is another prospective partner for Lilium and it has now formed a division called Sigma Air Mobility. In 2021, the business aviation services group agreed to work with the eVTOL company to develop plans to secure all the necessary operational approvals and to manage pilots as part of a training program under development by Lufthansa Aviation Training.

Other provisional sales commitments for the Lilium Jet have come from Globe Air, Helity, ASL Group, AAP Aviation, iFly, and Bristow. In addition, Saudi Arabian Airlines expects to take 100 of the aircraft, which features 30 ducted fans and electric motors installed through its wing and canard.

As of the end of 2022, Lilium said it had a provisional sales backlog of 603 units, including many from undisclosed customers, and

Renderings Courtesy of Massari Design

now aims to firm up these agreements into binding contracts this year.

Paul-Franck Bijou, Lilium’s business development v-p, expects business aviation operators to be among the first customers signing binding contracts because, in his view, “they are faster risk-takers.” He and his colleagues are also working with prospective airline customers looking to deploy the Lilium Jet on scheduled regional services, carrying passengers to and from airports and city centers and thus improving connections between major conurbations such as Munich and smaller communities such as Ingolstadt.

Bijou told AIN that the vehicle’s cabin is roomy enough to accommodate six travelers with sufficient personal space for them not to be bumped up against each other. “The cabin is more like that of a business aircraft, and with advanced cockpits the aircraft is halfway between being a helicopter or a private jet,” he commented.

Like many other eVTOL aircraft developers, Lilium is investing considerable effort toward developing the ground infrastructure needed to make the new vehicles’ vertical takeoff and landing capability meaningful. It is partnered with airport groups Ferrovial and Aéroports de Paris, and Bijou indicated that Europe will see the first Lilium Jets in the air in locations such as the south of France, Spain, Greece, and the UK.

“There are currently no specific regulations for [eVTOL] landing sites, but there is also no specific prohibition so we don’t expect to see regulatory impediments,” Bijou stated. “There will need to be discussions with individual air navigation service providers, and operators will need to show that the aircraft won’t disrupt existing traffic.”

Lilium expects to hold entry-into-service conferences with each new operator during 2024 to implement specific operational preparations such as arrangements for aircraft maintenance and pilot training at least 12 months ahead of initial flights. Bijou said the company will need to approve maintenance, repair, and overhaul

service providers for the Lilium Jet by the end of next year, while pilots will need to secure new type ratings closer to service entry so that these approvals are current. The manufacturer expects maintenance contracts for the aircraft and its propulsion system (including batteries) to be covered by power-by-the-hour contracts.

According to Bijou, flight crew could be recruited from the business and private aviation sector. Since the services will operate under Part 135 rules, Lilium believes companies will be able to attract younger, less experienced pilots looking to build flight hours.

In the longer term, Lilium is looking at

to operate from runways as short as 1,800 feet.

The Cassio 330 is the first of three aircraft that VoltAero is working to bring to market under EASA’s existing CS-23 type certification rules, with the others being the six- and 12-seat Cassio 480 and 600 models. Each model number refers to the propulsion system power rating in kilowatts.

VoltAero is offering five 20 percent shares in each aircraft, based on a projected initial annual utilization of 800 flight hours. This total could rise to 1,000 flight hours per year as operations expand, with owners being able to fly in aircraft across a planned fleet operated by various anticipated European operating partners, with services beginning in France. In 2021, That country’s Montpellier-based Airways Aviation agreed to buy 15 Cassio aircraft with the intention of using them for both private charter flights and regional air services.

offering a larger, longer-range version of its eVTOL, though this plan hinges on further progress being made with battery technology. But with the prospect of some flights being operated in conventional takeoff and landing mode from airports, the company envisions the prospect of a 19-seater flying on regional feeder routes into major hub airports.

Fractional Shares for VoltAero Cassio

Last year at EBACE, French startup VoltAero (Booth A20) got the business aviation sector’s attention when it announced plans to start marketing fractional ownership shares in its five-seat Cassio 330 hybrid-electric aircraft. The company expects the fixed-wing model to be able to achieve a range of about 800 miles and a cruise speed of around 230 mph, with the ability

According to the manufacturer, operators participating in the fractional ownership program will have an exclusive relationship with VoltAero under which it will sign up customers and also provide training, service, and support, maintenance manuals, and financing options. The French company has not yet released pricing for the shares and is partnered with private flight booking platform Kinect Air on the project.

In developing its hybrid-electric technology, VoltAero has already flown more than 10,000 kilometers in its Cassio 1 technology demonstrator with multiple trips around Europe on typical air taxi and charter flight route segments.

Production versions of the Cassio will be powered by three 100-kilowatt EngineUs 100 electric motors and a 370-hp piston engine, collectively driving a five-blade pusher propeller. The Cassio 1 demonstrator has a pair of forward-mounted propellers, each driven by an EngineUs 100 motor, which is produced by French aircraft engine maker Safran. Electric Power Systems is providing the energy storage system.

The Cassio aircraft will use the propulsion system’s electric motors for all-electric power

VoltAero is offering fractional shares in its Cassio hybrid-electric aircraft.

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during taxi, takeoff, “primary flight,” and landing. Power from the internal combustion engine can be deployed during cruise phases to extend the range by recharging the batteries during flight.

In November 2022, VoltAero’s plans were boosted by the completion of a €32 million ($32 million) Series B funding round. This was led by strategic investor Tecnologie e Servizi Innovativi (TESI), manufacturer of the prototype for the five-seat Cassio 330 model, which is expected to make its first flight this year. VoltAero says that once type certification is achieved—in 2024, it is hoped—it intends to produce 150 aircraft per year in its new factory at Rochefort Airport in southwest France.

Italy-based TESI specializes in the production and integration of metallic structures and assemblies, as well as mechanical parts. The company said it has experience in aviation manufacturing with clients including Leonardo, Piaggio Aerospace, and Boeing.

Another key program partner is Thales, which is responsible for airborne data collection and computing solutions, including its FlytLink Edge system. This platform uses a compact processor that’s connected to the cloud to enable real-time data collection, processing, and transmission from an aircraft’s onboard cameras and sensors. The companies have already begun validating the technologies on the Cassio 1 prototype.

ARC Advances eVTOLs and eSTOLs

Earlier this year, Samad Aerospace, the UK startup working on the Starling family of eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft, rebooted itself under the name ARC Aerosystems (Booth C25). It has an ambitious plan to bring new models to market: a compound rotorcraft, as well as a pair of autonomous cargo uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs).

ARC stands for “advancing regional connectivity,” and founder Seyed Mohseni said the company’s mission has shifted to serving subregional passenger and freight applications, rather than short flights within urban areas.

The key features of the new Linx P9 design

are a main rotor that draws electric power only during jump takeoffs and no-roll landings. An electric motor spins the rotor head until there is enough speed to make the rotors turn, at which point the pilot changes the tilt angle of the rotors for takeoff. A pair of pusher propellers and a fixed wing then support horizontal cruise flight. Once the vehicle is airborne, the rotor will be unlocked to act as a wind turbine generating more electrical power.

The concept is based on a 1960s-vintage Canadian gyroplane called the Avian, for which ARC purchased rights to the type cer-

approach means that minimal electrical power is expended for the VTOL stage of operations. “Otherwise, we would have to use about half a megawatt of power for takeoff and would need more batteries, resulting in fewer passengers on board and less range,” said Mohseni.

ARC intends to eventually integrate a hydrogen propulsion system with the Linx aircraft. However, initially, the hybrid system will use an as-yet-unspecified turbine engine.

The company’s engineers have been working in stealth mode on the Linx design for 12 months. The team said it has flown a one-third-

tificate. ARC has added the fixed wing to the design and will use a hybrid-electric propulsion system to support a range of up to around 950 kilometers (594 miles).

The cabin is expected to seat nine passengers, and with six plus a pilot on board the range is expected to be just over 500 miles. The Linx P9, which is roughly the size of the Leonardo AW109 helicopter, will operate at altitudes of up to 1,200 feet and have a maximum cruise speed of 187 mph.

Mohseni believes that the Linx’s architecture means that it will not be subject to current requirements for powered rotorcraft and therefore offers a more cost-effective path to market. “It can be certified like a [fixed-wing] general aviation aircraft, and the competitive advantage of our technology is that it has a defined certification path,” he told AIN, explaining that he expects it to receive airworthiness approval under a mix of Part 23 and Part 27 rules.

According to ARC, the jump takeoff

only for jump takeoffs and

scale technology demonstrator and is now increasing the size of its team to complete the preliminary design phase of the program.

Its program timeline calls for a full-scale prototype to be ready to fly by 2025, with a production-conforming version debuting in 2026. The company’s aim is to begin deliveries in 2028.

At the same time, ARC said it is advancing plans for a pair of UAVs called the C-600 and the C-150. Both are derivatives of Samad’s earlier Starling aircraft, but with rotors replacing ducted fans used for the earlier designs, which included models such as the eStarling, QStarling, eStarling Cargo, and Starling Jet. The new models will be available with both all-electric and hybrid-electric powertrains, offering ranges of 400 and 100 kilometers and payloads of 150 and 30 kilograms, respectively.

According to Mohseni, ARC has already flown full-scale C-600 and C-150 demonstrators and they recently participated in flight trials in Scotland as part of the UK

The Linx P9 compound rotorcraft features a main rotor system that is powered

no-roll landings.

government-backed Future Flight Challenge.

To date, all this work has been conducted with limited funding of around $10 million. Mohseni said this has been achieved with the help of low-cost partners in Africa and Asia, which he said have been able to complete tasks at around 10 percent of what they would cost via Western companies. The company is now seeking to raise a further £30 million through a Series A funding round, with anticipated backing from the public sector and a mix of strategic and financial investors.

ARC, which is looking to recruit 26 staffers this year, is preparing to build a headquarters and engineering center at Cranfield Airport in England. The company intends what it refers to as the ARC eVTOL House to be the model for future “eVTOL Aviation Village” developments around the world. With funding provided by partners, these developments might include residential areas and a business park.

Atea Hybrid-electric VTOL Takes Shape

Another French advanced air mobility startup, Ascendance Flight Technologies, is working on a hybrid-electric VTOL dubbed Atea, which it aims to certify by 2025. The company spent more than three years detailing plans for the five-seat, lift-and-cruise model that is expected to deliver a range of 250 miles and speeds of 124 mph.

Digital images released in December 2022 show eight ducted fans for vertical lift, with four in the main wing and four more in a new large canard, in addition to a single horizontal propeller at the top of the tail section and another in the nose of the aircraft. An earlier design, released by the Toulouse-based company in February, had just a pair of ducted fans for vertical lift in the inner-wing section and a single three-bladed propeller in the nose.

According to Ascendance, the additional fans increase the power available during takeoff and landing and add redundancy and improve maneuverability should one or more fans shut down in flight. The company told

AIN that it also believes the new design will be easier to certify under EASA’s Part 23 special conditions rules. By moving the main wing toward the rear of the airframe, the Ascendance engineering team has improved access to the four-passenger cabin, which now features large “sky view” windows.

“We set up Ascendance Flight Technologies with a very clear vision of what we wanted to achieve—to accelerate the transition towards green aviation thanks to hybrid technology,” said co-founder and CEO Jean-Christophe Lambert. “The design of Atea is the concrete reflection of our values, our experience, and our know-how. The aircraft we are presenting today is the result of huge efforts by our research and development department, tests and trials on four prototypes, and a great deal of thought on costs and the ease of flying such an aircraft.”

In September, the company raised €10 million to support the development of the Atea. It expects to be ready to start flight testing a production-conforming prototype this year.

About a year ago, Ascendance reportedly signed letters of intent for 245 aircraft. It said these early commitments have been made by a mix of six helicopter operators and private flight providers spread across Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

Atea is to be powered by Ascendance’s proprietary Sterna hybrid-electric powertrain. The company said Sterna’s modular design and “embedded intelligence” will allow it to

support various energy sources, including sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen.

The aircraft will use electrical power for takeoff and landing, with a turbine engine powering the cruise phase of flight when less power is needed. This approach is mainly motivated by the desire to reduce noise and emissions.

The company’s founders previously worked on Airbus’s now-suspended E-Fan electric aircraft program. Its board of directors was recently bolstered with the appointment of former Safran chairman Jean-Paul Herteman and former Renault executive committee member Jean-Christophe Kugler. On the board, too, is Agnes Plagneux-Bertrand, who was head of the E-Fan program.

Also in the EBACE Innovation Zone is AirCar Corp, which has been working on a two-seat vehicle that it expects to be able to operate at ranges of up to around 50 miles at speeds of about 75 mph. The Turkish startup, which says it has conducted more than 45 flights with a full-scale prototype, aims to have a cargo-carrying version of the aircraft ready to enter service in 2024, followed by a passenger model in 2026.

Switzerland’s SolarStratos (Booth D19) is also at EBACE to promote its effort to fly a solar-powered unpressurized aircraft above 80,000 feet. The mission, which is intended to promote the potential for tapping energy from the sun, will involve the pilot wearing a pressure suit during the six-hour flight. z

Ascendance’s radical-looking Atea uses a hybrid-electric powertrain to deliver electric power to eight ducted fans and two propellers.

Leonardo Helicopters plans Agusta-branded service centers

by Mark Huber

Leonardo is continuing to evolve its Agusta luxury sub-brand with plans to offer dedicated helicopter service centers in the coming years. The first likely will be in Europe, according to Manuela Barbarossa, Leonardo’s head of the VIP/corporate segment.

Leonardo Helicopters (Booth S58) launched the Agusta brand in 2021 following a similar move by rival Airbus in 2017, when that company announced Airbus Corporate Helicopters (ACH). Formed in Italy in 1923 by Giovanni Agusta, Agusta began manufacturing helicopters under license from other OEMs— most notably Bell starting in 1952—and began developing its own indigenous helicopter, the Agusta A109 light twin, in the late 1960s. It then merged with Britain’s Westland Helicopters in 2000 to form AgustaWestland. The company was rebranded as Leonardo Helicopters in 2017, a nod to Italian inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Eighteen months after Leonardo announced its Agusta VIP brand, the company is beginning to attach features and benefits to it, including the “Agusta for You” menu of custom-tailored completions, maintenance, and operational solutions. Available maintenance plans under the program cover scheduled and unscheduled events for both airframe and avionics. “E ff ectively, it provides customers with a turnkey solution in terms of coverage,” Barbarossa said. Plans are available for the company’s complete line of helicopters, typically billed on a per-flighthour basis, and can include features such as substitute aircraft.

Concurrently with program evolution, Leonardo is adding more Agusta-branded dealers, including long-time Leonardo dealer Sloane Helicopters in the UK and Ireland.

Leonardo is now the largest corporate/VIP helicopter manufacturer in the UK. Over three decades, it has delivered 91 helicopters to Sloane, and it plans to turn over another 10 through this summer.

Barbarossa said the Agusta brand is likewise making inroads in Turkey and South America. Leonardo announced recent orders for three AW109 GrandNew and Trekker light twins into the South American market.

is picking up for some of Leonardo’s other models, including the AW169, super-medium AW189, and AW609 civil tiltrotor.

The AW609 is winding its way through the final stages of certification, and interest in that model is expected to increase once certification has been achieved. At Heli-Expo 2023 in March, Leonardo managing director Gian Piero Cutillo admitted that an order for four AW609s from an unnamed European customer, announced last year, was the largest contract it had received for the type.

Cutillo also said that the recently announced switch of engines on the AW09 (formerly Kopter SH09) single, from the Honeywell HTS900 to the Safran Arriel 2K, would delay certification by no more than six months to one year. Fitted with the new engine, the AW09 PS4 prototype made its first flight in March at Leonardo’s Mollis, Switzerland facility.

These VIP-configured helicopters were sold to SynerJet Latina, a new distributor responsible for Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Paraguay, with deliveries slated for 2024 and 2025. Of the more than 900 Leonardo VIP/corporate helicopters flying worldwide, approximately 25 percent are based in Latin America.

While the AW139 intermediate twin continues to be the VIP ride of choice among the company’s offerings, Barbarossa said interest

Leonardo said it received “preliminary” orders for 50 AW09s to date and predicted the order book could reach 200 by the time serial production starts in mid-2024. Barbarossa said she expected the AW09 to appeal to Agusta customers due to its low noise signature and smooth ride from a redesigned fiveblade main rotor system. The aircraft made its first flight in 2014 and subsequently went through several major redesigns. z

As part of its move to provide company-owned dedicated service centers under its Agusta brand, Leonardo is offering customers a variety of maintenance plans covering aiframes and avionics.

Inmarsat Jet ConneX soars with speed boost

by Charles Alcock

Inmarsat is introducing new service plans for its Jet ConneX inflight broadband satcom, guaranteeing customers connection speeds of up to 100 Mbps. The latest options will be available to new and existing customers through the company’s JX Evolution program via Honeywell’s JetWave terminal or next-generation terminals to be launched later this year by Honeywell, Satcom Direct, and Orbit.

The new levels of connectivity mark a significant advance on the maximum rates of 20 Mbps offered by Jet ConneX Pro a few years ago. The exact connection rate will vary according to the specific package customers commit to with any of Inmarsat’s distributors, which also include Collins Aerospace.

According to Inmarsat head of business aviation Kai Tang, the lighter-weight broadband terminals will tap technology that will expand their use to additional business jet types, including super-midsize jets. He said

the equipment also will be easier and less costly to install and maintain.

By 2025, Inmarsat (Booth I82) expects to increase its Ka-band network to 12 satellites with the addition of seven more payloads. Tang said the investment will boost the company’s commitment to providing Jet ConneX with a guaranteed connection rate that will be consistently available on more than 1,400 aircraft already fitted with the system.

Meanwhile, Collins last week became a global distribution partner for Inmarsat’s new SwiftJet in-flight connectivity service for business aircraft. The L-band-based service is due to enter commercial service this year, offering maximum speeds of 2.6 Mbps. Inmarsat noted the new service is up to six times faster than its existing SwiftBroadband service.

SwiftJet uses Inmarsat’s Elera satellite network and can support assured global connections in flight, according to the company. Its bandwidth is sufficient to support video calls, web browsing, email, texting, and cloud-syncing.

In a new survey of business aircraft operators conducted by Inmarsat and Corporate Jet Investor, 82 percent said that in-flight connectivity is now a key passenger expectation, regardless of the size of the jet. Respondents said that consistent rates of connectivity are the most important consideration, followed by service availability on all routes and then connection speeds. z

The HondaJet Elite II arrived for its EBACE debut after making a flawless transatlantic crossing. EASA certification is expected soon for the Elite II, which o ers a range of 1,547 nm. According to Honda Aircraft, the 230 in-service HondaJets have logged more than 170,000 flight hours.

Inmarsat is expanding the capacity of its Jet ConneX broadband service for business jets.

Piaggio debuts Avanti Evo corporate shuttle

by Kate Sarsfield

Piaggio Aerospace (Booth W83, Static AD_17) is introducing a corporate shuttle variant of the Avanti Evo this week at EBACE 2023. The debut of the quick-change shuttle-configured version of the turboprop twin comes less than two weeks after the Italian government gave the go-ahead to make a third attempt to sell the aircraft manufacturer.

With seating for seven passengers in a high-density layout, the shuttle-configured Evo is targeted at corporations and charter operators looking to provide group transportation. To broaden its appeal, the variant can “easily be reconfigured for cargo or medevac operations,” said Piaggio.

A quick-change shuttle variant has been available to Piaggio’s military and government customers with 20 examples—all earlier Avanti models—now in service. “This configuration has found success with the Italian Air Force and other institutional customers, so we decided to open up the market to private customers and operators,” the company noted.

The offering will also allow Piaggio’s prospective new owner to gauge the market for a dedicated commercial passenger shuttle, a concept the firm has been eyeing for some time to broaden the market for the Evo.

In October 2019—just ahead of the launch of its first public tender—Piaggio touted two eight-passenger, corporate shuttle interior concepts for its flagship business aircraft. The first was a classic version with lightweight seats and integrated headrests and the other was a more modular design with high-tech advanced seat materials.

The Evo, the third iteration of the P180 Avanti, was introduced in 2015. Sixteen copies of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66Bpowered type are in service and 17 more are on order.

Piaggio Aerospace—which includes

Piaggio Aero and Piaggio Aviation—has been in extraordinary receivership since December 2018, when previous owner Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, pulled out. Two previous attempts to sell the airframer in 2019 and 2022 failed when no agreement with buyers could be reached.

According to the latest quarterly update for Piaggio Aerospace covering the period ending Dec. 31, 2022, 11 expressions of interest were received during the most recent sales process. Of these, five were taken forward to the due-diligence phase. A binding offer was also received from a consortium, the update noted. Although no name has been disclosed,

company this time, the Italian government has appointed two more extraordinary commissioners—Carmelo Cosentino, former chief executive of Italian aircraft manufacturer Aermacchi, and Gianpaolo Davide Rossetti, a chartered accountant and auditor. They join Vincenzo Nicastro, who was installed by Piaggio at the start of the sale process.

Documents supporting the sale process stipulate that expressions of interest must say which entities or business units the bidders want to buy, along with “recovery/development programs planned for them.” Also, prospective bidders should detail the corporate structure and chain of command of their operations and present three years’ worth of financial statements.

Interested parties have until the close of business on June 12 to supply the required information. A decision will then be made as to which can enter the 30-day duediligence process.

the offer is widely believed to have come from Sweden’s Summa Equity, which had been negotiating exclusively with Piaggio during the first bidding process.

Headquartered in Villanova D’Albenga near Genoa, Piaggio suggests that the bidders in both rounds filed offers that did not meet the tender requirements. “Our objective is to identify a new owner for the company that not only recognizes its fair [market] value but also proposes a long-term strategy, safeguarding both skills and employment,” it said.

To improve its chances of selling the

As it awaits results of the latest effort to sell the company, Piaggio is offering its Avanti Evo in a quickchange shuttle configuration.

For sale are all the business activities of Piaggio Aero, performed at five facilities across Italy. These consist of its Villanova D’Albenga site, plant, and machinery; inventory; certification; employment contracts for around 850 staff; and intellectual property. Piaggio Aviation, meanwhile, holds the type certificates for the P180 Avanti and the out-of-production P166. The deadline to complete the sale process is May 13, 2024.

Piaggio Aerospace said it has an order backlog and contracts valued at more than € 555 million. z

With four to eight seats in executive configuration, the ACH160 is available in a variety of configurations. Two ACH160s are on display at EBACE, including one for customer demo flights.

Airbus demonstrating ACH160 during EBACE

by Mark Huber

Airbus Helicopters’ H160 is front and center this week at EBACE 2023. Airbus Corporate Helicopters (ACH; Booth Z52, Static AD_03) has an intermediate twin ACH160 on static display and another is available for customer demonstrations during the show.

The focus on marketing the ACH160 to the corporate/VIP segment follows Airbus’s announcement of several new orders for the H160 platform and the continued evolution of the ACH brand, which it launched in 2017. Altogether, Airbus has booked orders for more than 30 VIP-configured ACH160s.

The medium-twin helicopter received EASA certification on July 1, 2020. Airbus already has received several large fleet orders for the H160. Last month, it signed a contract with China’s GDAT, a helicopter lessor and operator, for 50 H160s—a deal worth more than $700 million.

That announcement came during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to China and is the largest single order for the H160 on the civil and parapublic market since

the helicopter was unveiled in 2015. Other significant orders for the type to date include one for 169 militarized aircraft (H160M) from the French Armament General Directorate.

According to Airbus, the intermediate-twin helicopter features 20 percent more cabin volume per passenger and 35 percent larger windows than legacy helicopters in its class. It makes extensive use of carbon-fiber composites in the fuselage and main rotor blades that enhance corrosion resistance, especially in maritime operations.

The multirole, 12-passenger (four to eight in executive configuration) H160 also offers noise-reducing Blue Edge main rotor blades and advanced Helionix avionics with safety features that include accrued pilot assistance and flight envelope protection. Power comes from a pair of 1,300-shp Safran Arrano 1A engines that incorporate variable inlet guide vanes to cut fuel consumption. The H160 has an estimated maximum cruise speed of 150 knots, a 20,000-foot service ceiling, and a 475nm range (no reserve, standard tanks).

For executive and VIP ACH160 customers,

Airbus has designed a variety of configurations. In March, the airframer delivered the first ACH160 Exclusive helicopter to a private customer in France. The ACH160 Exclusive is the premium version of the H160 helicopter, which is certified by EASA and being delivered to private and business customers.

Last year, Airbus Helicopters, via its Helibras affiliate in Brazil, sold the first ACH160 equipped with the new modular “Line Lounge” interior. The Line Lounge can be configured with bench seating for four to eight passengers or two forward-facing armchairs with a rear-facing bench and cabinet. The option also comes with several high-end interior features and finishes, including leather patterns, metallic inserts and plating, and custom carpeting. Line Lounge is one of three interior configurations offered on the ACH160.

Airbus also continues to see success with its ACH130 Aston Martin edition (ACH130AM) following a recently announced design refresh that added more interior and exterior colors and detailing for the turbine-single helicopter. In fact, it now has orders for 18 and a production commitment for at least 30 copies.

All of the ACH variants offer a range of premium completion features, including high-end interiors and various exterior paint schemes. ACH booked orders for 108 helicopters in 2022—the second successive year in which sales exceeded 100 aircraft. z

DAVID M c INTOSH

Pearl X engine on track for flight test this year

by David Donald

Rolls-Royce (Booth X98) reports that its Pearl 10X engine is on track to begin flight trials on the company’s Tucson-based Boeing 747 testbed later this year. The engine—which is destined for Dassault’s forthcoming Falcon 10X—delivers more than 18,000 pounds of thrust and is compatible with 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) operation. It is the first time a Rolls-Royce product has been selected to power a Falcon business jet.

At the heart of the Pearl 10X is Rolls-Royce’s Advance2 core, which combines with technology developed for the current Pearl-generation engines to create a highly efficient powerplant that will push the Falcon 10X to near-sonic speeds. The powerplant incorporates a high-efficiency blisk fan, compressor with six blisk stages offering a market-leading pressure ratio, two-stage shroudless high-pressure turbine, and four-stage low-pressure turbine.

The result is an engine that offers 5 percent greater efficiency compared with the current

Pearl generation while further reducing noise and emissions. Further, the additive-layer-manufactured combustor contributes significantly to the engine’s low-emission performance, while a new accessory gearbox increases the amount of power that can be extracted for aircraft systems.

Tests to date have been conducted on the Advance2 demonstrator, as well as in the full Pearl 10X configuration, in which it exceeded its thrust requirement on the first run. Earlier this year, the powerplant was tested in its Spirit AeroSystems nacelle, engine build-up, and mount system. More than 1,500 hours of running time have been logged to date and have confirmed the engine’s reliability and its ability to meet Dassault’s performance requirements.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce is building a production support plant close to the Dassault final assembly facility at Bordeaux-Mérignac. The 2,000-sq-m (21,500-sq-ft) facility at Le Haillan will accommodate around 30 employees and feature offices, a workshop, and warehouse. It will play a significant role in Falcon 10X production and flight-test activities. z

Jet Aviation: SAF available at EBACE

After introducing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Geneva Airport for the first time last year in honor of EBACE 2022, Jet Aviation (Booth E50) has done it again for this year’s show. In partnership with renewable fuel producer TotalEnergies, the Zurich-based service provider imported a stock of 30 percent blended SAF and is making it available to aircraft operators visiting the company’s Geneva FBO until Friday.

A cornerstone of the aviation industry’s decarbonization e orts, SAF o ers life cycle carbon emissions savings over jet-A that increase depending upon the amount of SAF in the blend ratio. For example, the use of a 30 percent SAF blend reduces an aircraft’s life cycle emissions by about 24 percent, while 100 percent SAF raises that benefit up to 80 percent.

“SAF is an important part of our efforts toward a more sustainable future, for the industry and for Jet Aviation,” said Joao Martins, the company’s v-p of FBO operations in Europe and general manager of its Zurich FBO. “We were the first company to bring SAF to Switzerland, in a temporary supply for the World Economic Forum 2020, and since then we have continued to work in partnership with various stakeholders to increase availability in the region.”

Other companies are also working to promote the use of SAF in relation to EBACE. Avfuel (Booth N72) had SAF available for aircraft heading to Geneva from Arkansas’s Little Rock Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Kansas, and Florida’s Melbourne Orlando International Airport. The fuel provider also partnered with Atlantic Aviation to allow operators departing Westchester County Airport in New York to use SAF through the book-and-claim process. C.E.

The Pearl 10X engine has already notched more than 1,500 running hours and is soon to go aloft on Rolls-Royce’s Arizona-based Boeing 747 testbed.

ExecuJet eyes rest of Gulf

by Peter Shaw-Smith

ExecuJet Middle East closed its Riyadh FBO in 2021 due to Covid but is now planning market expansion in Saudi Arabia. It also expects to open an FBO at Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport (OMDW) in the fourth quarter.

The company will retain the FBO presence it has had for 11 years at Dubai International (OMDB) when the new facility opens but will close the temporary site it has been operating at OMDW as soon as the new FBO becomes active; it will also close the MRO shop it has been operating at OMDB. Dassault has owned and operated ExecuJet MRO worldwide since its acquisition in 2019.

ExecuJet FBO regional director Dumani Ndebele told AIN that “2022 was a very strong year for ExecuJet Middle East across all our divisions—FBO, aircraft management, and charter. FBO in particular had a really significant year. It was our busiest year on record and considering we were coming out of Covid, we are very pleased. A lot of it was driven by Dubai Expo 2020.”

In the early months of 2022, ExecuJet saw several diplomatic and head-of-state flights coming through its facilities at OMDB and OMDW. “That really bumped up our movements,” he said. “Then, obviously, late in the year we had the World Cup in Qatar in November and December, and that ended up being the busiest period that we’ve had in almost 15 years of operating FBOs in the region.”

Having one company that could support World Cup fans in both airports resulted in ExecuJet having quite a large share of the

traffic during that period, he noted.

He said clients continue to choose OMDB based on location and access to downtown and other areas. “You also have a lot of clients who connect: they fly in commercial from the U.S. or Europe, and then fly privately within the region,” Ndebele said.

Because it will open soon, Ndebele said, business involving the use of ExecuJet’s new hangar adjoining the FBO at OMDW would likely start in summer, as it has already signed up clients and has its own fleet based at the airport. “We probably are at four new clients. We expect that there’ll be huge demand and it might be difficult for us to accommodate all the aircraft that are coming our way.”

The vast majority of owners on ExecuJet’s UAE air operator certificate do not charter out their aircraft. “They want them exclusively for their own use,” Ndebele said. “We have two aircraft that are currently available to charter. One is a Bombardier Global 6000, which is based out of OMDW. Then we’ve got an Embraer Lineage 1000 based at OMDB. Those two aircraft are chartered out quite often.”

Turning to Saudi Arabia, Ndebele said ExecuJet had an FBO in operation in Riyadh for a decade, in association with the local NasJet. “Unfortunately, we had to close that during Covid. However, we are in talks to resume our operations there. We’ve established ourselves extremely well and built up quite a strong client base. We are actively looking to open there again soon, and hopefully we will be able to announce that at some point.”

ExecuJet also has a strategic partnership in

the region with Belin in Turkey. “At Istanbul, we’ve been working with them for the last 10 years or so, and that’s been going very well,” Ndebele said. “There have been a couple of conversations on FBO opportunities in other Middle Eastern countries. It’s still very much in discussions.”

Although he did not give details, Ndebele said ExecuJet Middle East is studying the launch of FBO operations in Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain.

He said Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 envisioned the entry of more business aviation companies to set up MROs and hangars and establish a base for aircraft, as the majority of private jets in the region are in Saudi Arabia. “They’re really going to open it up,” he said. “I think right now, they’re very receptive to having the right companies, with the right level of experience, as well as global reach, to come in and help them achieve their goals.”

He expects that ExecuJet will be represented at the main airports at Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. “With the Red Sea projects— Al Ula, Amaala, Neom—these are all airports that I expect will be having significant private aircraft movements due to the projects that are being constructed in those areas,” he said. “There are at least eight airports in Saudi Arabia that you’d need to look at seriously.”

He said ExecuJet was still very much in the deliberation process regarding where it was going to be and ascertaining from the authorities what it could and could not do in the kingdom.

“The ideal would be to obviously have our own facilities in these areas because that’s the ExecuJet model,” he said. “We would rather have standalone facilities where we can service clients at the level that we do across the world. I think the changes have actually already started.”

He expects a substantial change in Saudi Arabia soon. “They are getting the right people in place,” he said. “I know that they’ve taken on people within the government authorities that understand how private aviation works elsewhere in the world—and particularly in Dubai—and they’re the people actually driving the changes. I do feel that Saudi Arabia is going to be a very attractive market coming up soon.” z

Demand for MRO drives growth at AMAC Aerospace

by James Wynbrandt

Strong MRO demand, increasing group synergies, and expansion into Saudi Arabia have marked the past year at AMAC Aerospace (Booth C72), the Swiss VIP aircraft services specialist told AIN on the eve of EBACE 2023. AMAC, which has headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, also provides MRO services in Istanbul and Bodrum, Turkey. These services are complemented by two subsidiaries—online maintenance data services firm Gamit UK and composites component specialist JCB Aero— along with the company’s new office in Riyadh.

MRO demand has been particularly strong in Basel, with all hangar slots booked and brisk widebody activity. In the first quarter, AMAC simultaneously hosted four VIP Boeing 777s for MRO work. Demand for the repair of composite materials is high, as AMAC is among

the few companies in Europe with the equipment and expertise to handle such fixes, due in part to its JCB subsidiary. In addition, the company said, the Basel location has “earned an excellent reputation for AOG support.”

AMAC also services large-cabin business jets—its purpose-built Hangar 5 can accommodate seven of them simultaneously—and robust aircraft acquisitions activity has created “intense interest” in pre-purchase inspections, with AMAC currently conducting four to five per week.

Its Istanbul and Bodrum facilities are also busy, and the team in Istanbul has expanded its service capabilities to include the Dassault Falcon 6X, which is set to enter service in the third quarter.

AMAC’s VIP completions activity, for which

it first became known, has also been strong, with two redeliveries in the first half of the year—a BBJ Max 8 and an AC320neo—and two green bizliners—a BBJ Max 8 and ACJ319neo—due for induction in the second half.

Gamit, the company’s digital maintenance records service, has introduced records online asset management, which uses advanced technologies to deliver a user-friendly document management solution. The division is in discussions with many operators and two wellknown airlines interested in signing on to the service. Gamit is also expanding its materials and technical services teams to meet increased demand from the rapidly expanding customer base. AMAC was a customer before purchasing the company in December 2021.

Meanwhile, during the past year French composites specialist JCB Aero, which operates a production facility in Auch, received a contract to produce first-class cabins for an undisclosed “well known” airline, AMAC said. JCB, which AMAC purchased in 2016, serves clients in fixed- and rotor-wing aviation, as well as maritime sectors. Currently expanding the range of honeycomb panels it produces, JCB is also adding 3D printing and five-axis milling machines to its factory.

Looking toward the year ahead, AMAC noted that supply-chain constraints remain challenging, but as a result of diligent planning the company’s projects and profits from Gamit’s spare-parts and materials business are on track for the year. z

AMAC Aerospace’s JCB Aero division in Auch, France, manufactures composite components for a variety of products for first-class airline and VIP aircraft cabins as well as helicopter customers.

AMAC Aerospace’s Hangar 5.

Beyond Chauffeurs

#BizAv #PrivateAviation #PrivateChauffeur

Re-filling the pipeline for aviation workforce

by Kate Sarsfield

As the European aviation industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, a crisis in recruitment and retention looms. “The world collapsed, flying hours disappeared, training stopped, and people were laid off,” explained Marc Bailey, chief executive of the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA). “Many of those workers have retired or simply decided not to return to the aviation industry. This has placed the industry in a dire situation.”

Unfilled roles cover all areas of the business aviation and airline sectors, from ground handlers to maintenance technicians. While business aviation has successfully steered through its post-Covid bounce with adequate staffing levels, the equilibrium could soon be challenged as airlines make a comeback and lure skilled workers away with lucrative offers.

Bailey reflected on a missed opportunity to embrace the skills shortage earlier in the UK industry. “Evidence of this developing problem was there in 2015,” he noted. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) observed that a large number of its licensed staff—particularly aircraft maintenance professionals — were more than 50 years old and there was a shortage of young talent coming in to replace them. “A demographic time bomb was marching towards us even then,” he said.

He blames the shallow talent pool partly on vocational courses falling out of favor with students. “The mantra for many years had been ‘get 50 percent of school leavers into university,’ so moving from school into a service and support role in aviation was regarded in a negative light—[it was seen as] a dirty career, so to speak, unlike careers in, say, law or finance,” commented Bailey.

The Covid pandemic provided a “slight breathing space” in the recruitment process for aviation talent across most disciplines, but the industry hadn’t counted on

such a huge exodus of personnel once travel restrictions wer e lifted.

It is now all hands on deck to build an abundant, skilled labor force, encourage industry to do its part, and engage colleges and universities to promote aviation careers to students across many disciplines. Courses in subjects such as law, business, and philosophy, for example, teach students problem-solving and analytical skills valued by the industry, Baile y said.

The industry is making some progress. A

described by engagement director Richard Smith as “pivotal tools in helping to address ongoing skills gaps in the aviation sector as it continues to recover from the pandemic.”

ASRP is designed for companies looking to attract, retain, and develop skilled employees, while Talentview is aimed at the “next generation of employees,” promoting entrylevel roles, apprenticeships, training, and graduate schemes.

The industry is now seeking to expand its engagement with educational institutions.

“We need to get things underway and moving this year,” said Bailey. “Can’t keep putting it off because the aviation industry is bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels of activity, and we are going to need many people to fill these roles and build a pipeline of talent as we approach that demographic cliff.”

handful of colleges and universities in the UK are already engaging with the sector and promoting aviation careers, while the flagship government-funded aviation skills and employment portals—launched in 2021 in response to the post-Covid slump—are building momentum among employers and potential employees.

The Aviation Skills Retention Platform (ASRP) and Talentview Aviation are

The BBGA is seeking to gather research to determine how many jobs the aviation community will need over the next decade, what mix of skills will be required, where the training will be performed, and who will deliver it. “We need the industry to provide this data with some urgency, so we understand where the gaps will be and work together—along with government and educational institutions—to fill them,” he added.

Aging aviation workers are already leaving the industry, leading to a “demographic cliff,” and companies and educational institutions now need to encourage young people to consider aviation careers.

Talentview’s Smith shares Bailey’s vision. He believes that if the aviation industry is to compete effectively for talent in the “hugely competitive” jobs market, it must promote itself more effectively. “We must create a greater awareness of the sector and the depth of roles it offers over and above those visible, front-facing jobs such as pilots, cabin crew, and security,” Smith said.

There must also be a concerted effort to raise the profile of business aviation as it can often be overlooked as an industry in favor of its larger and better-known commercial stablemate, which is stuffed with large, universally recognized companies from Boeing to British Airways.

EBAA backs up Smith’s position. The Brussels-based trade body notes that only 50 of its 700 members are big companies—Dassault, NetJets, Luxaviation, and VistaJet, for example. The rest are small and medium-sized enterprises that lack the appeal of big brands— particularly with young talent.

Consequently, the overwhelming number of professionals working in business aviation in Europe today are there “by accident,” according to EBAA senior manager of market and business intelligence Arthur Thomas.

He believes business aviation has to do a better job of selling itself. “For far too long, this sector has kept under the radar, but that now has to stop,” Thomas noted. “It’s time to step up, be visible, be proud, and demonstrate how business aviation is leading the charge in sustainable technology to secure a long and prosperous future.”

Few universities in Europe mention business aviation in their air transport courses, he noted, recounting his experience studying for a master’s degree in air transport management at ENAC, the aviation college in Toulouse, France.

“I went back [to ENAC] as an alumnus after

working in business aviation on an internship, and realized I needed to do something about raising the sector’s profile,” said Thomas.

EBAA developed a business aviation module for an ENAC course in 2018 and a second one was introduced earlier this year. The content covers all aspects of the industry, including charter, manufacturing, airport operations, and regulations.

“We built this program for ENAC with the content delivered by industry specialists,” Thomas explained. He described the take-up as “positive.” Of the 20 students graduating from the course so far, seven are now working in business aviation. EBAA is continuing to raise awareness of business aviation across universities in Europe and supporting other national associations to implement similar modules within their own institutions.

“We need our members and other players from the industry to step up, too, and realize that we are building a talent base from which they can recruit,” concluded Thomas. z

Unfilled roles cover all areas of the business aviation and airline sectors, from ground handlers to maintenance technicians.

Late EBAA chief Husain Khan ‘deeply missed’

by Cathy Buyck

Athar Husain Khan’s contributions to the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) as secretary general will be remembered for years to come, business aviation leaders told AIN. As a dedicated and charismatic leader of the EBAA secretariat from July 2018 until his death on March 26 at age 60, Husain Khan played a pivotal role in strengthening the association’s position in the aviation industry.

“Athar always put the human element first and steered the industry in the right direction during challenging times,” said EBAA chairman Juergen Wiese.

One of Husain Khan’s significant achievements was strengthening EBAA’s relationship with European Union institutions, Wiese added. He worked tirelessly to improve the association’s representation and advocacy efforts, resulting in the EBAA’s increased influence in shaping EU policies on aviation. His extensive experience in aero-political affairs proved to be particularly valuable in this regard.

“Athar brought to EBAA a thorough understanding of European policy-making and the importance of a more consensual and proactive approach to advocacy towards the EU institutions,” asserted Filip Cornelis, director of aviation at the European Commission’s directorate-general for Mobility and Transport (DG Move). “As a result, he delivered a bigger presence in the public debates and better public understanding than ever before of the role of business aviation in ensuring connectivity, not least during the Covid pandemic.”

Husain Khan recognized that sustainable practices were critical to the industry’s longterm viability. “Athar understood, and convinced his members, that business aviation must embrace greening like no other if it wants to maintain its license to serve its customers,” noted DG Move’s head of unit aviation policy, Flor Diaz-Pulido. She said the ambition to quickly ramp up the use of sustainable aviation

fuel (SAF) in business aviation motivated him, for example, to argue successfully for an opt-in for small airports into the upcoming ReFuelEU regulation, and to plead for a book-and-claim system to allow business aviation to co-finance the wider uptake of SAF.

Furthermore, “Athar led efforts to improve the EBAA’s engagement with its members, ensuring that the Brussels-based trade body’s activities and initiatives were closely aligned with their interests,” Wiese pointed out. He oversaw the development of various memberfocused initiatives, including the investment in young professionals through EBAA’s One Young World and STARS, and with the EBAA Ambassador program, which aimed to provide members with the tools and resources they needed to succeed in public affairs.

focus on collaboration. He recognized that the success of the EBAA depended on the collective efforts of its members and staff, and he worked to foster a culture of collaboration and cooperation within the organization.

“Athar was supportive to everybody around him, regardless of rank or seniority,” said Diaz-Pulido. “He was a gentleman…somebody whose European spirit, professional ethic, and commitment were valued by policymakers and industry alike. We will miss him.”

Husain Khan was actively involved in European and international aviation for more than 30 years, holding roles with the Dutch Ministries of Education and Transport, KLM, the Association of European Airlines, and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

He worked closely with the U.S. National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) on many issues and events, most notably the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE), which is co-hosted each year by NBAA and EBAA. “Athar was a trusted partner, respected leader, and true aviation professional,” commented NBAA president

“If the measure of success is whether a person left the organization in better shape than he or she found it, Athar was unquestionably a success,” remarked Andrew Charlton, managing director of Geneva-based consultancy firm Aviation Advocacy. He described Husain Khan as “a context guy” and a leader who fundamentally believed that “if there was no business aviation it would need to be invented.”

Husain Khan’s leadership style was characterized by inclusivity, transparency, and a

Former EBAA secretary general Athar Husain Khan left the organization in better shape than he found it.

and CEO Ed Bolen. “He will be deeply missed.”

General Aviation Manufacturers Association president and CEO Pete Bunce called Husain Khan “a champion and strong advocate for European business aviation. His knowledge, expertise, and savviness about the global aviation industry will be greatly missed. Athar was a good friend and was well known for his hard work, passion, and dedication to fostering and advancing a healthy and robust ecosystem for our industry to flourish.” z

(NBAA-BACE), taking place from Oct. 17-19 in Las Vegas. View fixed-wing aircraft of all sizes – from single-engine airplanes and turboprops to long-range jets. See today’s helicopters and tomorrow’s advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft.

NBAA-BACE is the biggest and most productive event of the year for business aviation.

UAS underlines bizav’s green credentials

by Peter Shaw-Smith

Business aviation faces constant pressure to assert its green credentials. In a blog published in March, Omar Hosari, co-owner and CEO of Dubai-based UAS International Trip Support (Booth A29), argued that, in being singled out, business aviation is being unreasonably treated. He set out some of the developments that have taken place to show that the sector is alive to the issue.

airlines must use it on a scale that will drive down its cost.

Hosari is unsure when governments in the region will make their support for SAF explicit. “It is difficult to say, but as a passionate environmental and sustainability advocate I hope this will be as soon as possible,” he told AIN

National oil companies must commit to scaling up production of SAF, ensure that it is as affordable as possible, and demonstrate the will to invest in research and development.

available are not developed enough and prices are not competitive,” he said.

“Neither the producer nor the consumer should be left with the cost burden,” Hosari continued. “Last year, UAS launched an initiative to encourage operators to transition to SAF by charging no additional fees on orders. Despite our efforts, uptake is slow. It’s time for governments and suppliers to ensure that SAF is not only more accessible but also more affordable for operators all over the world.”

Asked when SAF would be available at private jet terminals and FBOs in the region, Hosari said, “It is impossible to say without first knowing when it will be available at all major airports. It is commercial aviation that will dictate the demand that will make SAF production viable for manufacturers. Perhaps government incentives could encourage more investment in SAF development, and this could be a way of expediting the process.”

No matter how long it takes to ramp up SAF production volumes, Hosari said, Middle Eastern companies in the sector will continue to advocate for green business aviation.

“Business aviation often unfairly comes under scrutiny for its environmental impact, despite statistics confirming that the industry creates just a fraction of the total environmental impact that the broader aviation sector is responsible for,” Hosari wrote. “In reality, business and general aviation are a hotbed for sustainability-related innovations and the creation of greener technologies.

“Business aviation companies are exploring measures such as electric flights, hydrogenpowered aircraft, and the conscious adoption of more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint.”

The playbook for implementation of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the Middle East has three components. First, governments must give their blessing to the concept, most obviously by providing the money that will allow producers and end-users to commit to it as economically feasible. Then, national oil companies in the region must throw their weight and resources behind it. Finally,

Although the onus is on airlines in the region to take the lead on SAF, he believes business aviation will also have a role. “The business aviation community is making tremendous efforts to achieve carbon-neutral growth, but as of now the technologies and infrastructures needed to make SAF widely

“Beyond the environmental aspect, which is the main reason to use SAF—and rightly so—how SAF is made would render it a much safer bet than traditional jet fuel as fluctuating prices could be avoided,” he said. “I think the business aviation community, particularly in Europe and the Middle East, has made its position clear with the commitments it has made to achieve carbon zero. In the meantime, we will continue to advocate for the widespread production and distribution of SAF.” z

Major SAF production plant on tap for Spain

Global vegetable oil processor Apical is partnering with sustainable energy producer Cepsa to construct what will be the largest second-generation biofuel production facility in southern Europe. Second-generation fuels are those derived from plant wastes and byproducts rather than purpose-grown crops.

The plant, with a price tag of up to €1 billion, will be at Cepsa’s La Rábida Energy Park in the Spanish province of Huelva. Scheduled to be

operational in the first half of 2026, it will have a projected annual output of up to 500,000 tons of SAF and/or renewable diesel fuel.

With refineries in China, Indonesia, and Spain and processing and distribution operations in the U.S., Brazil, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, the Middle East, and Africa, Singapore-based Apical—through its Bio-Oils subsidiary—will provide feedstock in the form of farm waste and residue. C.E.

“In reality, business and general aviation are a hotbed for sustainabilityrelated innovations and the creation of greener technologies.”

Omar Hosari, co-owner and CEO, UAS International Trip Support

Citation Ascend

and 19 USB charging ports—and wireless phone charging.

Of course, flattening the floor does shrink the height of the Ascend cabin by eight inches when measured from the previous bottom of the center trench in the 560XL. The height is 60 inches in the Ascend’s main cabin but 63 inches at the threshold where the entry door is located. From the entry, passengers will step up a small three-inch ramp into the main cabin.

Mockup on Site

EBACE visitors can judge how the flat floor changes the cabin by visiting the Ascend mockup at the Textron Aviation booth (T26). “The flat floor gives customers the ultimate relaxation experience,” said Christi Tannahill, senior v-p of customer experience.

“When you sit down,” said Textron Aviation president and CEO Ron Draper, “it feels like a bigger cabin. Customers overwhelmingly supported it.”

“A notable difference is the flat floor,” said Chris Pinkerton, director of cabin development. “It’s level with the threshold and makes ingress and egress easier. We worked with customers on this feature, and it’s much more comfortable to have options where you can place your feet, especially once you move your seat.”

Along with the less-cramped look afforded by the flat floor, the Ascend cabin windows are 15 percent larger to admit more light to the cabin.

Revamped seats with an “ergonomic design” have dual armrests that fold into the seat back and movement controlled by an electric pushbutton. Buyers can opt for footrests, electrically controlled lumbar support, and personalized quilting and tailoring.

The manufacturer’s Clairity cabin management system lets passengers wirelessly control cabin lighting, temperature, window shades, and the entertainment system.

For airborne connectivity, the Ascend includes Gogo’s Avance L-3 Max air-to-ground system. Options include the higher-capacity Avance L-5 and Cobham’s Aviator 300 Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satcom for light internet

use and voice calls outside the U.S.

External storage is easier to see at night, with the addition of LED lighting on the left engine pylon. The aft baggage space hasn’t changed and can take up to 700 pounds in its 80 sq ft.

Meanwhile, the P&WC PW545D delivers more power and improved fuel efficiency than previous iterations of the engine. Changes include a more efficient high-pressure compressor, enhanced single-stage high-pressure turbine module, and upgraded exhaust mixer, according to Textron Aviation.

Autothrottles Standard

A Woodward autothrottle system is integrated with the Garmin avionics to reduce pilot workload, especially in busy airspace. This is the same autothrottle system on the Latitude and Longitude, so all three will share the same avionics systems. “Having a common flight deck is important for customers,” said Lannie O’Bannion, senior v-p of global sales and flight operations.

With the introduction of the Ascend, only one in-production Citation model—the CJ4 Gen2—will be equipped with Collins Aerospace avionics, with all others now featuring Garmin G3000/G5000 avionics.

In addition to the autothrottles, G5000 features in the Ascend include three ultra-high-resolution 14-inch displays with split-screen capability and synthetic vision; four touchscreen controllers; autopilot with envelope protection; a Garmin GSR 56 Iridium

satcom for flight crew voice calling and messaging; Garmin GWX 8000 StormOptix radar with weather detection and avoidance technology; and a second Iridium satcom for CPDLC and FANS 1/A communications and operations.

While final performance specifications aren’t yet available, the preliminary numbers anticipate a range of 1,900 nm at high-speed cruise with four passengers, up from the XLS+’s 1,750 nm. Maximum cruise speed at 441 knots and range at 2,100 nm are the same.

The new mtow is 20,500 pounds, 300 pounds higher than the XLS+. Maximum zero fuel weight grows by 400 pounds to 15,500 pounds, and maximum payload to 2,390 pounds, up from 2,240 pounds.

One of the XLS’s popular features is its auxiliary power unit (APU), and for the Ascend, Textron Aviation upgraded to the unattended Honeywell RE100 [XL] APU, which allows heating and cooling the cabin while the crew attends to other duties. This APU has self-management features and added bleed leak detection.

“This is built on 20 years of 560XL success in the market,” said O’Bannion. “Whether for charter, personal transportation, or corporate flight departments, nothing competes with Ascend’s cabin and performance. This offers pilots the power of Garmin’s G5000 with autothrottles and the improved performance of the PW545D. This is the next aircraft in the proud lineage of the XL family.” z

The Citation Ascend will be equipped with a Garmin G5000 flight deck with four touchscreen controllers, three ultra-high-resolution displays, and autothrottles.

Bizav leads the push to net-zero emissions

by Hanneke Weitering

Business aviation has long been the target of environmental protestors who say private jet travel is an unnecessary luxury that produces a significant amount of harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But the business aviation industry is actually leading the pack when it comes to decarbonization, according to a group of business jet OEM executives who gathered at an EBACE media luncheon yesterday for a panel discussion on sustainability.

In the push to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the broader aviation industry is working collaboratively to wean off of fossil fuel in favor of using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). But given that SAF is more expensive

than jet-A and is not available in most parts of the world, adopting the use of SAF at scale is proving to be a colossal challenge. This is especially so for the airline industry, which accounts for about 2.5 percent of global carbon-dioxide emissions.

“Business aviation has a big advantage in that we will be the first ones to operate at a huge level on SAF. Why? Because we and our customers are ready to pay a little bit more,” Airbus Corporate Jets president Benoit Defforge said during the panel discussion. He added that he believes flying less will not be the answer to the climate crisis because there will always be a need to transport people and goods.

Mark Burns, president of Gulfstream Aerospace, echoed that sentiment. “Aviation is the engine for global commerce, and it has been for decades,” he said. “We really need to be a leader

Air-Dynamic orders Lilium Jet eVTOLs

Swiss private jet and helicopter operator Air-Dynamic just signed an agreement with Germany-based Lilium to buy five Lilium Jet eVTOLs. The Swiss company plans to operate and manage the all-electric aircraft for customers in Switzerland. Air-Dynamic selected the Lilium Pioneer Edition model, which features a four-seat club-configured cabin rather than the standard six-passenger layout. The order is backed by an unspecified deposit.

Lilium (Booth D32) is building just 50 examples of the Pioneer Edition, for which customers can specify their preferred fabrics and other materials. Prices range from $7 million to $10 million per aircraft, depending on the

interior fittings and other specifications.

The Lilium Jet has 30 electric ducted fan motors installed in its wing and canard and is projected to have a range of up to 155 miles. Lilium aims to complete EASA type certification under the new SC-VTOL standards in 2025.

Lugano-based Air-Dynamic has around 20 years of experience operating charter flights and managing aircraft for private owners. Its fleet includes a pair of Pilatus PC-12 turboprop singles, as well as several jets and helicopters.

According to Air-Dynamic CEO Raffaella Meledandri, the operator plans to offer flights

Captains of the aircraft manufacturing industry joined an EBACE panel session on sustainability yesterday and highlighted how their companies are helping make business aviation more efficient.

at this moment and prove that, in fact, we can solve or be part of the solution even though we are a fraction of the issue,” he said, referring to the fact that business aviation accounts for only about 0.04 percent of total emissions.

“While we’re under a lot of pressure right now, I think that one of the things we’ve proven as a group is that we solve problems,” Burns added. “We make airplanes better each and every day,” he said. New business aircraft today are about 33 percent more efficient than they were just a decade ago, he noted.

And as aircraft OEMs continue to make new aircraft more efficient, they’re also working to educate their customers and operators about SAF, as well as offering incentives to encourage more people to consider using the alternative fuel through direct sales or bookand-claim programs. z

from Lugano in southern Switzerland to Milan city center. This is a distance of just over 50 miles but the drive can take at least 90 minutes. It will also fly to tourist destinations such as Lake Como and Capri. C.A.

Lilium’s cabin mockup shows EBACE visitors a taste of what’s to come in eVTOL aircraft.

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DAVID M c INTOSH

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