In the aerospace industry and throughout the global economy, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity can serve as a barometer for economic health. During times marked by strong market fundamentals, M&A activity tends to accelerate as healthy balance sheets make companies ripe for dealmaking. Today, the aerospace business finds itself in a tepid M&A environment, thanks largely to the increased cost of capital wrought by inflation and soaring interest rates.

According to a recent report by KPMG, M&A activity plunged by nearly 20 percent from 2019 to 2020 with the onset of the Covid pandemic, which forced aerospace and defense companies to cut production and capacity. Now, persistent supply chain constraints, the war in Ukraine, and labor shortages have largely offset the resumption of air travel and resurgent demand for aircraft.

That Bombardier’s Challenger 350 has the seal of approval from its celebrity brand ambassador John Travolta is hardly surprising. What did grab people’s attention at the 2013 edition of EBACE was that the movie star has been working as a flight test pilot supporting the airframer’s efforts to get the new super-midsized jet certified.

“I felt like an astronaut,” he told a packed Bombardier booth in Geneva. “We did full performance takeoffs and climbed straight to 41,000 feet. This aircraft is definitely going to break records. It’s like a homesick angel.” Watch Bombardier video of Travolta's flight.

With its strategic location in the heart of Asia, Hong Kong serves as a gateway to the rapidly growing markets of Mainland China and the Asia-Pacific region. As such, Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre (HKBAC)—based at Hong Kong International Airport—had seen steady growth with its round-the-clock services that range from personalized flight handling to technical support and passenger and crew amenities. HKBAC was also the first FBO in Asia to have a co-located Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) facility, further supporting international business travel.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018, the FBO stated: “From a few hundred flights handled per annum at HKBAC’s establishment in 1998, HKBAC has grown to serve an annual total of nearly 7,000 in recent years.” However, when Covid hit the world in late 2019, even Hong Kong’s business aviation sector was not immune to the worldwide lockdown. 

ARC Aerosystems has announced the return of the Avian Pegasus gyroplane, an aircraft developed in Canada during the 1960s that remains the only FAA Part 27-certified gyroplane in the world. It features a jump takeoff and zero-roll landing capability and acts as a technology demonstrator for the UK startup’s nine-seat Linx P9 compound rotorcraft.

The Linx P9 will incorporate the jump take-off technology of the Pegasus, as well as a hybrid propulsion system and advanced flight controls, offering a fast and efficient regional air transport solution. The company is also developing a small P3 model and the C-600 uncrewed cargo drone.