Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (EHAM) intends to ban private jets and small business aircraft starting in 2025 as part of a wider strategy to reduce noise and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The airport’s revamped environmental strategy, announced on Tuesday, also includes a ban on night flights and scraps a project for an additional runway. However, police and ambulance flights would continue to be allowed.
According to the Dutch airport operator, business aviation flights cause a “disproportionate amount of noise nuisance and CO2 emissions per passenger.” It maintains that business flights produce “around 20 times” more CO2 than commercial flights.
But EBAA noted that “banning business aviation at Schiphol can lead to a significant loss of income for the Dutch economy, while the CO2 savings [would be] minimal. This is less than half a percent of emissions from all departing international flights [from EHAM], according to research by CE Delft for Greenpeace.” EBAA added, “Flights in our sector almost never cause noise nuisance because they are usually small aircraft.”
It is unclear what a court ruling yesterday blocking the Dutch government’s imposition of a reduction in flights at the airport might specifically mean for the proposed ban on business aircraft. The ruling was made against the government rather than against Schiphol Airport officials who proposed the business aircraft ban, but these plans could be reviewed in the wake of the judge’s decision.
Sitting at my desk day after day, I receive e-blasts for preowned business aircraft all day long. It is really interesting to see the subject lines of today, as they are changing from just a handful of months ago.
In 2017 and 2018, the average number of days on market for business aircraft from the inception of a listing to an agreed-upon LOI was 34. Things were selling so quickly that there was hardly time to advertise them in traditional print media.
Back then, most e-blasts were just about “new to market.” From that notice, we hardly advertised the listing again. If we did, it might have been a maintenance update or some other relevant bit of information meant to round out the marketing. Next thing you knew, it was under contract.
Since the beginning of the year, there has been a slight dip in activity, an increase in inventory, and an increase in sale cycle timing. Many sellers have had to adjust their pricing based on market conditions.
The safety picture for this year's first quarter was marred by fatal accidents involving two U.S.-registered business jets and three turboprops that killed 16, compared with zero business jet and three turboprop fatal accidents that claimed 12 in the same period last year, according to data compiled by AIN. Preliminary data indicates that all but one of these fatal events occurred during flights operated under Part 91.
U.S.-registered turboprops suffered the same number of accidents in the first quarter versus a year ago, but fatalities increased from 12 to 14. The February 24 crash of a Pilatus PC-12, which broke up in flight and killed all five onboard, was the only U.S.-registered turbine business charter fatal accident in the first quarter.
Non-U.S.-registered business jets suffered no reportable accidents in the first quarter, compared with four non-fatal accidents in the same period last year. Meanwhile, non-U.S.-registered turboprops experienced fewer mishaps in the first quarter, but fatal accidents climbed from one to two and fatalities rose from one to three.
Baldwin Safety & Compliance has developed a tool that will help companies build on their safety management systems (SMS) through external stakeholder safety and quality reporting. Available to Baldwin SMS subscribers, the tool provides a unique URL that aircraft operator clients can share to facilitate external stakeholder access. This can involve a direct link or a QR code to enable the external reporting.
“Receiving external safety reports can help companies of any size improve safety through widening the scope of hazard identification beyond the organization,” said Jason Starke, director of safety for Baldwin Safety & Compliance. “This tool was developed so external stakeholders can participate as an additional hazard and risk identification mechanism for organizations."
Baldwin, which emphasized that the tool was developed with strict security protocols to protect client data, called external stakeholder safety reporting a key component of an interface management concept backed by the International Civil Aviation Organization. SMS subscribers can activate the tool by contacting Baldwin’s customer support team.
Diversifying Services and Strategy for the Future
COVID-19 forced many businesses both large and small to rethink strategies that can carry them through during difficult times. Unfortunately, many businesses within the aviation industry were hit hard, and some are still working to recover from the disruption. A key factor to Greenwich AeroGroup’s success out of the turmoil was diversification.
SAR Trilogy Management has completed the acquisition of Epps Aviation, the family-owned, full-service provider at Atlanta Peachtree-DeKalb Airport (KPDK), completing a deal announced in January. The facility will now be rebranded as part of the Aero Centers chain.
Nearby at Gwinnett County Airport (KLZU), Sheltair has begun operations as the lone service provider on the field, giving the Florida-based chain its 16th location and its second in Georgia. The company was selected in January at the end of an RFP process. As part of its 40-year lease, Sheltair committed to $17 million in infrastructure improvements, including building a new FBO as it operates from the existing facility.
Aero Centers's complex at KPDK has a 7,000-sq-ft terminal and 220,000 sq ft of hangar space that can accommodate ultra-long-range business jets. The purchase also included Epps’s Part 135 aircraft charter certificate and Part 145 repair station and avionics shop, allowing the now eight-location Aero Center chain to offer these services for the first time.
“Aero Centers Epps Atlanta is now the new crown jewel of our Aero Centers FBO portfolio,” said Sanjay Aggarwal, SAR Trilogy’s co-founder and co-CEO. “Entering a top-10 market is exciting. The size, scale, and location of Epps allow us to grow as well as extend the Epps service offerings and back-office support to the balance of the portfolio.”
Boeing-owned electronic flight bag and flight planning app developer ForeFlight has purchased CloudAhoy, a flight data analytics provider. CloudAhoy began offering post-flight debriefing services in 2011 and has expanded into more detailed analytics based on flight data and more recently launched flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) analysis.
In its early days, CloudAhoy, founded by Chuck and Tani Shavit, uniquely gave pilots a way to review flights based on recorded GPS data. As aircraft became equipped with sophisticated avionics, more flight data became available and analytics software such as CloudAhoy’s delivered increasingly refined post-flight analyses at a reasonable cost. Now CloudAhoy’s FOQA service is making flight data monitoring capabilities such as FOQA available to far more pilots and operators at a fraction of the cost of traditional analytics companies that pioneered FOQA.
CloudAhoy’s current pricing is $65/year for the standard version and $150/year for the pro version, which includes the CFI Assistant scoring system, instrument approach profiles, and other advanced features. When CloudAhoy announced its FOQA service last year, the anticipated cost was about $2,000/year per aircraft.
“We are excited to become part of ForeFlight and Boeing, and for the opportunity to have a growing impact on aviation safety,” said CEO Chuck Shavit. “We have known the ForeFlight team for many years and share a passion for aviation and the customer.”
Wichita-based FBO and charter operator Clemens Aviation acquired local rival Midwest Corporate Aviation on March 31, Clemens said in a statement released today. Midwest Corporate has provided FBO services at Colonel James Jabara Airport for more than 50 years, while the city of Wichita awarded Clemens FBO status in December, allowing it to sell fuel.
"We are excited to grow Clemens Aviation with the addition of Midwest Corporate's team and culture,” said Clemens Aviation principal owner Dwayne Clemens. “This expansion will help us to create better opportunities for our employees and help us to promote general aviation within the community. Acquiring Midwest gives our company the infrastructure and advantage we need to better serve our customers. It also enables us to focus on our main priorities, which include increasing transient FBO traffic, expanding the capabilities of our maintenance division, and being the best in all aviation services for our customers.”
Clemens Aviation operates a major powerplant and airframe repair station and is a full-service Garmin Dealer. It manages some 30 business jets with more than 40 full-time pilots. With the acquisition, Clemens now occupies more than 200,000 sq ft of hangar space for based and transient traffic.
Hourly rates for on-demand charter dipped by an average of 4 percent quarter-over-quarter in the first three months of 2023, according to a report from private aviation charter marketplace JetASAP. The data is based on 9,103 rate quotes from customers using the JetASAP app. More than 700 charter operators use the JetASAP marketplace.
Turboprop rates increased 1 percent, to $3,841 per flight hour, while light jets experienced the largest decrease, falling 10 percent to an all-in hourly rate of $6,358. Midsize jet prices declined by an average of 4 percent, to $7,831 an hour, and super-midsize jet prices slid 5 percent, to $11,036 an hour. Heavy jet prices descended 2 percent, to $13,387 per flight hour.
JetASAP noted an overall decrease of 2 percent in direct charter operator hourly rates from February to March. Turboprops had the largest drop-off month-over-month, falling 5 percent, and light jets experienced a 2 percent slide in hourly pricing.
According to JetASAP, the most popular travel destination in the quarter was the Caribbean—primarily Turks and Caicos, followed by Nassau and the Abacos. South Florida was also a popular spring-break destination, with customers flying to Miami and Palm Beach, the company said.
Sustainability Question of the Week
Sponsored by
What does “additionality” mean for carbon credit projects?
A. A carbon credit from this project covers additional emission types
B. The activity from this project would not have occurred through business as usual
C. Additional co-benefits come with a credit from that project.
D. A carbon credit from this project offsets all carbon emissions produced by an entity.
Aviation Safety Webinar: Mastering Flying in the Rockies
Join AIN on May 2nd as we explore flying in some of the United States’ toughest terrain – Colorado’s Ski Country. A must-attend seminar for flight crews that frequent Rifle, Vail, and Aspen, we’ll break down the need-to-knows of operating safely in mountainous and snowy terrain, and share some helpful tips to keep you mission ready. Sponsored by FlightSafety International and Signature Aviation. Register today!
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
.png){kind=small}
