Pilatus is acquiring Germany-based Air Alliance, which provides sales and support for the Swiss aircraft manufacturer’s PC-12 and PC-24. Announced at a contract signing event last week, the deal is subject to regulatory approval by Germany’s civil aviation authority and does not include Air Alliance’s ambulance flight subsidiary Unicair.

From its headquarters at Burbach in northwestern Germany, Air Alliance has operated a Pilatus factory-authorized sales and service center since 2014. It also provides flight training, as well as aircraft charter and management services with both the PC-12 turboprop single and PC-24 twinjet.

All 120 employees will stay with the organization following the takeover by Pilatus. Air Alliance managing director René Petersen will continue to lead the operation as CEO and, at the contract signing, he said the new ownership will support further expansion.

“Europe, particularly Germany and Austria, is a very important market for Pilatus and offers potential for further growth,” said Pilatus chairman Hansueli Loosli. “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to leverage synergies and move even closer to our customers with the Pilatus brand and our own services.”

India’s rapidly expanding upper‑middle class, a growing customer base of high-net-worth individuals, and an ambitious corporate sector are driving business aviation growth in the world’s fourth-largest economy. Just about all of the sector’s main aircraft manufacturers—including Dassault Falcon, Bombardier, Gulfstream, Embraer Executive Jets, and Textron Aviation—are now prioritizing sales growth in a market they view as too strong to ignore.

This was the bullish consensus among many industry leaders at the recent Corporate Jet Investor conference in the capital of Delhi. However, while it appears to acknowledge business aviation’s economic value—some might say belatedly—India’s government appears not to have fully responded to the sector’s anticipated scale-up from around 200 based aircraft today to 300 within three years.

The contrast in how authorities treat business aviation and airlines is highlighted by the impact of the Iran war. While scheduled carriers are protected by a 25% cap on increases in the cost of jet fuel, all private aircraft, including those operated for commercial charters, are having to absorb spikes of up to 115%.

“This exposes how policy buffers are selectively deployed,” said Rohit Kapur, managing partner with aircraft sales group The Jet Company. RK Bali, managing director of India’s Business Aircraft Operators Association, echoed this frustration over what he views as discrimination.

Global business aviation activity increased 6.5% in March compared to the same period last year, despite challenges such as the conflict in the Middle East, according to Argus International’s latest TraqPak flight activity report. North American activity rose 6.6% year over year (YOY), averaging more than 10,100 flights per day versus 9,500 flights daily in March 2025. European activity increased 4.9%.

“March activity stayed resilient amidst a host of challenges from the conflict in the Middle East,” according to Argus. “We saw activity in the Middle East decline more than 50% in March and fuel prices spike globally, but activity still posted significant gains in the U.S. and around the world.”

Fractional operations led North American growth with a 13.8% YOY gain. Part 135 activity climbed 6.5%, while Part 91 operations increased 3.5%. Light jets recorded the largest aircraft category increase in the region at 11.5%, followed by midsize jets, 6.4%; turboprops, 5.8%; and large jets, 0.4%. Light-jet fractional operations posted the largest individual segment gain at 22.7%.

Western Europe, which accounts for 80% of continental activity, rose 4.5%, with France remaining the region’s most active country. Other regions, including Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America, combined for a 6.5% increase.

Argus analysts are forecasting 3.9% and 5.6% gains in North America and Europe, respectively, this month.

A HondaJet pilot’s failure to control the twinjet after landing with known wind gusts exceeding the airplane’s crosswind limitation resulted in a runway excursion and substantial damage to the aircraft, according to the NTSB final report of the Jan. 28, 2024 accident in Orlando, Florida. “Contributing to the accident were the flight crew’s continued approach to the runway despite knowing about the consistent wind gust crosswind component that exceeded the airplane’s published crosswind limitation, and their incorrect wind gust crosswind calculation in flight.”

The two pilots and two passengers were not injured in the Part 135 on-demand flight when the aircraft veered off the left side of Runway 36L at Orlando International Airport (KMCO) and the left wing hit a sign. The pilot was able to steer the aircraft back onto the runway and stopped on a taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing’s forward spar.

Nearly an hour and a half before landing, the flight crew reviewed the destination airport’s ATIS, which indicated wind from 270 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 24 knots. At 39 nm from the airport, the left-seat pilot flying checked the airport’s ASOS, which reported wind from 270 degrees at 13 to 14 knots. About 1.2 nm from the landing runway, the tower controller advised that wind was from 290 degrees at 19 knots, gusting to 24 knots.

The G1000 NXi continues to modernize the King Air cockpit through faster dual‑core processing, sharper LED‑backlit displays, expanded HSI mapping, and a deeply integrated avionics architecture. This overview explains how these capabilities improve clarity, reduce scan distance, and streamline pilot workflows in current-day operations. View the complete guide to Garmin G1000 NXi.

Vietnam Helicopter Corp. (VNH), via its two subsidiaries VNH North and VNH South, has placed an order for three Airbus H225s to bolster the country’s offshore energy support missions. Alongside augmenting the existing fleet, these additions will also progressively replace aging Super Puma and H155 helicopters.

“As we look ahead, we see the H225 forming the backbone of our future fleet, allowing us to modernize our operations while expanding capacity and mission flexibility,” said VNH CEO Kieu Dang Hung.

VNH has operated the twin-engine, long-range EC225/H225 since 2008. “[The VNH’s] decision to center future operations around the H225 underscores the aircraft’s exceptional reliability and performance in demanding offshore environments,” said Airbus Helicopters CEO Matthieu Louvot.

Airbus markets the H225 as “the choice of commercial operators and governmental agencies for its long range and all-weather capabilities,” able to carry up to 19 passengers around 1,110 km (600 nm). Alongside offshore energy transport provision, VNH will also use it for utility missions, search and rescue, and wider transport operations.

Nimbl hosted a webinar yesterday explaining the FAA’s improved process for letters of authorization (LOA) that allows Part 91 operators to receive approvals before aircraft delivery, eliminating months-long delays under the traditional system. The streamlined process, implemented in 2023 through a joint FAA-industry effort, enables operators to apply for multiple LOAs with a single application using statements of compliance covering aircraft capability, training, and procedures.

“This is one of those where we’re all in the same boat…just looking at doing the same work, but in a smarter way, more effectively and efficiently, using government and industry resources,” GAMA v-p of operations and safety Jens Hennig said during the webinar.

The program emerged from more than a decade of collaboration between industry and the FAA, Hennig explained. The effort began when the FAA’s Performance-based Operations Aviation Rulemaking Committee chartered a team to address bandwidth constraints at local flight standards district offices. That work led to Advisory Circular AC 91-85A in 2016, which provided guidance on LOA approvals. In 2018, the FAA and GAMA established a joint working group that developed the streamlined framework.

“It was about 3 inches worth of paperwork,” Hennig said of the traditional process. “The core issue…is that the FAA is looking at material that has already been looked at by somebody in flight standards, [someone] in aircraft certification, or elsewhere already.”

Comlux America, in collaboration with its subsidiary DOA21, has received an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) for the Airbus ACJ TwoTwenty cabin. This follows EASA permissions received for the type in 2023.

This latest certification builds on previous approvals the Indianapolis-based company has received from the U.S. regulator. In 2024, Comlux received an FAA STC for a Boeing BBJ Max 8 cabin.

Customers can now acquire the ACJ TwoTwenty cabin from Comlux America and register the aircraft under the FAA registry. “While no ACJ TwoTwenty to date is on the U.S. register, today marks the biggest step forward in ensuring when this comes, it will be a timely, straightforward process,” said Comlux America CEO Adam White.

Based on the Airbus A220-100 narrowbody airliner, the ACJ TwoTwenty can seat up to 18 passengers across six interior zones. Comlux has an exclusive contract with Airbus to complete and redeliver the first 15 units.

Skylark Labs has begun deploying fixed foreign-object debris (FOD) detection technology at major commercial airports in India. According to the California-based start-up, the stationary system uses optical sensors to autonomously monitor runways, eliminating the need for manual inspections and mobile vehicle patrols. Using adaptive AI algorithms, it identifies and classifies debris in real time and transmits precise coordinates to ground staff and air traffic control, who then dispatch personnel to remove it.

Skylark Labs’ fixed FOD detection technology is powered by the company’s Runway Monitoring Intelligence Layer (RMIL), a machine-learning platform that also underpins the company’s mobile Tracer AI Vehicles. Through the RMIL, intelligence gathered at one airport—such as debris signatures, false-positive patterns, and surface degradation indicators—is shared with every other device in the network.

Founded in 2018, Skylark Labs initially developed AI surveillance and video analytics systems for drones and security cameras before expanding into defense markets with FOD detection work for the Indian Navy. Last week, the company said it successfully demonstrated the technology aboard an Indian Navy aircraft carrier; the commercial airport deployment is its first application in civil aviation.

“Because the same intelligence layer runs across our entire network—carriers, airfields, and mobile vehicles—every deployment makes the whole system smarter,” said company founder and CEO Amarjot Singh.