General Business Aviation News

Cranfield airport is ramping up its effort in a bid to attract more business aviation traffic to the southern UK site. Situated some 50 miles North of the Central London area, "Cranfield is ideally placed to serve London and the business aviation community," says Cranfield airport director Jason Ivey. "We have spent around £3.5 million on hangar refurbishment and upgrading the taxiway. We have an 1,800m runway, which can accommodate all traditional business jets, an instrument landing system and a 24h operating licence. However, the airport is underused because many operators don't know about us."

A photo of the Nextant 400XT

The G650 is an impressive aircraft all-round, Gulfstream should be proud. I know this bird has a long wingspan but I didn't realize that it was practically 100-feet across! That's wider than a DC9-50 at 93'5''.

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Boeing is toying with the idea of a heavier MAX 8 737 for the BBJ market

At the EBACE currently going on in Geneva, Switzerland, Boeing has been actively considering a heavier version of the MAX 8 737 for the BBJ market. Boeing has revealed a new option is under consideration to develop a business jet version of the 737 Max with 7,000 nautical mile range.

A Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) version of the 737 Max 8 was launched in 2012, and Boeing is close to signing the first deal, BBJ president Steve Taylor revealed at EBACE. However, the standard BBJ Max 8 is limited to a range of 6,330nm, a 9.5-percent shortfall on the 7,000 nautical mile range standard set by some of its competitors in the ultra-large-cabin sector, namely the Gulfstream G650 and upcoming Bombardier Global 7000.

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Pilatus unveils new business jet aircraft at the EBACE in the form of a mock-up. It's called the PC-24, typically carrying six to eight passengers but it can carry a maximum of ten if needed. The range with four passengers onboard will be 1,950-nautical miles.

Here is a look at that PC-24 by Pilatus that debuted at the 2013 EBACE. It was a cabin mock-up that was showcased.

Pilatus plans to establish a manufacturing facility in India, as the country looks at acquiring more aircraft from the Swiss aircraft maker. The facility will initially manufacture airframes for its single-engine turboprop PC-12 aircraft. “This will be our third support facility for PC-12 aircraft, the other two being in Portugal and Poland. It will be part of our offset commitment in India,” says Pilatus Vice President Jim Roche.

Google guys sinking 82-million dollars in new FBO...

http://bloom.bg/18PX4vX#ooid=VkdGQ1YzpCEPTu_dJy0dkGo41q61k3Zi

Bombardier Aerospace Releases Annual Business and Commercial Aircraft Market Forecast Numbers

24,000 forecasted business jet deliveries from 2013 to 2032 valued at $650 billion 12,800 predicted deliveries in the 20- to 149-seat commercial aircraft market worth more than $646 billion Today, Bombardier Aerospace released its annual 20-year forecast for the business and commercial aircraft market numbers.

As the business and commercial aircraft markets continue to recover from the industry downturn, signs of forward momentum are beginning to emerge. While demand for new aircraft orders will continue to come from established and developed markets, the growth potential in emerging markets such as China, India, Russia and Latin America is predicted to play an increasingly important role in the global aviation marketplace. With fuel prices and environmental concerns continuing to rise, operators across both industries continue to focus on fleet optimization and aircraft efficiency.

“Bombardier Aerospace has a long history of developing industry-leading solutions to meet the diverse mobility needs of its customers. This has been achieved by following its long-term vision to create state-of-the-art aircraft, and investments in the technology and the talent to develop new and sustainable products within the business and commercial aviation sectors,” said Michael McAdoo, Vice President, Strategy and International Development, Bombardier Aerospace. “With its comprehensive product portfolio, dedication to superior customer support, and solid product-development roadmap, Bombardier is well-positioned for future growth.”

Business Aircraft Market Forecast Numbers

Bombardier is confident in the strong, long-term potential of the business aircraft industry and forecasts a total of 24,000 business jet deliveries from 2013 to 2032 in the segments in which Bombardier competes*, which represents approximately $650 billion** in industry revenues. Bombardier’s Business Aircraft Market Forecast anticipates 9,800 aircraft deliveries, worth $269 billion, during the 2013 to 2022 period, and 14,200 aircraft, worth $381 billion, from 2023 to 2032.

The business aviation market continues to recover, and while current macroeconomic indicators are mixed, the overall trend for the world economy is stable to positive. It is expected that as confidence returns to world markets, aircraft orders and backlogs will expand and deliveries will grow. While business jet orders and deliveries for 2013 are expected to be comparable to those of 2012, Bombardier forecasts that they will begin to improve in 2014 and that the industry will surpass its prior delivery peak year of 2008 by as early as 2016. It is also anticipated that with demand for business jets shifting towards emerging markets, the fleet of Large and Medium category aircraft will grow, with the Large aircraft category demonstrating the fastest growth.

Over the forecast period, Bombardier predicts North America will receive the greatest number of new business jet deliveries between 2013 and 2032, followed by Europe which, despite its continued economic challenges, remains the second largest market. China is forecast to become the third largest region in terms of deliveries over the next 20 years with 1,000 deliveries from 2013 to 2022, and 1,420 deliveries from 2023 to 2032. Bombardier also expects key growth markets including Brazil, India, Russia/the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Mexico, and Turkey to receive a significant share of business jet deliveries during the next 20 years.

Bombardier predicts that – similar to commercial aviation – future challenges facing the business aviation sector include rising fuel prices and increased environmental awareness. Through its new aircraft development programs, Bombardier continues to invest in innovative transportation solutions that include the Global 7000, Global 8000, Learjet 70, Learjet 75, Learjet 85 and Challenger 350 jets.

Nextant Aerospace hopes to launch up to two remanufactured business jets at October's National Business Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas and has commissioned US aviation consultancy Argus to help identify potential market segments and desirable aircraft types to add to its product line.

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Farnborough-based business aviation services company TAG Aviation has become the first UK operator to receive approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to introduce paperless cockpits in its fleet of managed aircraft. TAG says it is now in the process of equipping crews across its managed fleet with iPads (Class 1 Electronic Flight Bags) loaded with Vistair DocuNet and Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck applications.

"The introduction of paperless technology will ensure that pilots have up-to-date, essential information at their fingertips," says Russ Allchorne, TAG's vice-president Flight Operations Europe. "Flights manuals, manufacturer's documents and aeronautical flight charts can be updated at the touch of a button instead of the time-consuming and wasteful process of manually updating hard copies," he adds.

An exercise flight for this Bombardier Challenger 604

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaA_fhPPgW4

Gulf carrier Emirates has launched a private jet charter operation - Emirates Executive - using a 19-seat Airbus ACJ319.

"Emirates Executive elevates the high standards and quality of Emirates that our customers have come to expect, with the flexibility and luxury that can only be offered by a private chartered flight," says Adnan Kazim, divisional senior vice-president at Emirates.

Key Leaders Assume New Roles At Cessna

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, today announced new leadership appointments positively impacting the company’s Citation business jets. Bob King has been named business leader for the Mustang, M2, CJ2+, CJ3 and CJ4 aircraft and Brian Rohloff has been named vice president of Quality. In his new role, King will be responsible for overall profitability, as well as for guiding strategy within his product lines.

“Bob is a proven business leader and has gained broad experience from his time within other business units across Textron,” said Brad Thress, Cessna senior vice president of business jets. “Throughout his career, Bob has consistently been involved with shaping teams and identifying ways to improve processes while also being mindful of the product, and of the company’s objectives. His strong business focus and demonstrated strategic ability make him uniquely suited for this important role.” King has dual bachelor’s degrees in accounting and history from Muskingum University. He most recently served as Cessna’s vice president of Information Technology. Previous to this, King worked at Textron sister companies Jacobsen and E-Z-Go, in addition to working for Textron’s corporate office.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to very directly bring my business lens to the performance of the light end of the Citation product line,” said King. “Citations represent the most popular line of business jets ever introduced and it’s thrilling to be a steward of that legacy. With our customers’ needs at the center of our engineering excellence, you are already seeing exciting new additions to the line with the planned introduction of the M2 later this year. I look forward to continuing this customer-centric approach for which Cessna is well-known.” Brian Rohloff has accepted the position of vice president of quality with Cessna, in which he will lead the quality team and focus on Cessna’s continued priority of producing and delivering superior products that exceed customer expectations. Most recently, Rohloff was business leader for the Mustang and M2 jet aircraft.

“My time with the Mustang, M2 and Citation product lines reinforced the fact that our customers place a great deal of confidence in the safety and reliability of Cessna Citations,” said Rohloff. “My new role will allow me to draw upon that experience as I work to achieve the highest possible standards in Cessna quality. I am looking forward to remaining directly involved with customers, and will continue to strive for the excellence our customers have come to expect from Cessna.” Rohloff’s new role is the latest in his 16 year history with Cessna. His roles have included value stream manager for the CJ4, senior product director for the XLS+ and Citation X and product director for paint operations. He brings a broad business perspective in managing groups that focus on customer satisfaction, product quality, and continuous improvement. He is a graduate of Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Cessna's new Citation Sovereign can fly non-stop from Rio de Janeiro to Panama City.

Aircraft broker Air Charter Service has reported record business aircraft charter bookings in July, due in part to a hike in the number of leisure flights using small-cabin aircraft. "We booked more than 800 flights in July [across its offices in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America,] meaning that on average an ACS private jet flight departed every 55min throughout the month," says ACS Executive Jets director Ruan Courtney. "The summer period is traditionally the busiest time for private jet charters, as our regular corporate business is boosted by leisure travel." UK-headquartered ACS says there was a "slight shift in its clients' buying behaviour - many are booking smaller aircraft, but more regularly", it concedes.