Business aviation played a prominent role in getting journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, as well as fellow American Paul Whelan, back on American soil shortly before midnight last night as part of an arranged prisoner exchange with Russia. The flight—conducted by a Vistajet-operated Bombardier Global 7500, registered as N7584G—departed Ankara Esenboğa International Airport  (LTAC) in Turkey for Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C. Travel time for the flight was about 12 hours.

“After enduring unimaginable suffering and uncertainty, the Americans detained in Russia are safe, free, and have begun their journeys back into the arms of their families,” wrote President Joe Biden in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Gershkovich is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He was detained in March last year and was accused of spying along with Whelan. Kurmasheva was a reporter for Radio Free Europe and was also accused of spying.

The prisoner exchange is the largest in post-Soviet history. They were part of a deal that included 21 other people being freed in exchange for Russian prisoners in other allied countries.

Little makes aviation pedants happier than splitting hairs over what they view as embarrassing inaccuracies and lack of authenticity in movies involving flying machines. I take more of an impressionistic attitude to Hollywood’s treatment of aviation, leaning towards artistic license over literalism.

When you watch movies like "Top Gun" and its long-awaited sequel "Top Gun Maverick" with their breathtaking depictions of air combat, it’s hard not to ponder how on earth these scenes happen. A recent visit to CAE’s flight training center in Burgess Hill, UK, provided some exceptional insights when I met Kevin LaRosa, who was the aerial coordinator for "Top Gun Maverick" and has worked on more than 100 motion pictures including "The Avengers," "Iron Man," "Transformers," and "The Last Knight."

It got better when Kevin offered to show me how he prepares for the flying sequences in a full-motion simulator. These opportunities generally make the palms of my hands break out in a sweat at the realization that my sub-kindergarten-level flying skills will once again be found wanting. Back in the early 1990s, I took three lessons in a Cessna 172 before accepting that, with the attention span of a gnat, I was a real and present danger in the cockpit to myself and others.

LABACE, Latin America’s largest business aviation event, opens on Tuesday in São Paulo with 144 exhibitors and 44 static display aircraft confirmed. According to event organizer Brazilian Association for General Aviation (ABAG), 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day show at Congonhas Airport. Exhibitors are expected from OEMs, FBOs, MROs, and other sectors such as avionics, insurance, catering, fuel, and logistics.

TAM AE, the largest exhibitor for the seventh year running, is bringing seven aircraft from Textron Aviation (Beechcraft and Cessna) and Bell. The company comes to the show upbeat, with the first six months of sales already at 70% of all of last year’s sales. Thus, it expects LABACE to help boost sales for the traditionally stronger second half.

ABAG has reinforced the educational panels, including presentations on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, regional aviation, aeromedical support, training maintenance manpower, and government regulation. An eVTOL panel includes Embraer’s Eve subsidiary.

LABACE is unusual in hosting booths and a static display in the same walkable downtown location in one of the world’s largest cities. With plans by Aena, operator of the now privatized Congonhas Airport, for an enlarged terminal and other improvements to meet growing airline demand, the airport may have less space for business aviation users, including LABACE, in the future.

A business aviation coalition asked the Biden Administration to follow its existing biofuel program regulations as it develops rules surrounding qualifying feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In comments to a request for information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on quantifying, verifying, and reporting on greenhouse emissions from various feedstocks used to produce SAF, eight aviation organizations welcomed the Biden Administration’s efforts to facilitate the expansion of the production and use of SAF.

Efforts are underway by the administration to work on greenhouse gas rules that will impact how SAF is produced and can qualify for the clean fuel production credit under the Inflation Reduction Act. That credit provides up to $1.75 per gallon for fuel using qualified feedstocks.

The organizations pointed to the approach already in place for the Renewable Fuel Standard and existing biofuel audit programs, saying this should be a guideline for SAF.

“The Bizav SAF Coalition encourages the department to enable as much adaptability and flexibility in its framework as is practicable and encourages the USDA to embrace a performance-based approach in its analysis, focusing on outcomes rather than prescriptive and exclusionary lists of acceptable feedstocks,” the organizations said in their letter to the USDA.

AEG Connect, AEG Fuels’ branded dealer network, has added the Detroit area to its footprint with the addition of Maven by Midfield at Oakland County International Airport (KPTK). One of the six service providers at KPTK, the FBO was founded in 2019 by owner and pilot Stephen Polk, who also operates Midfield Management, an aircraft management company on the field.

The complex features a recently remodeled 5,200-sq-ft terminal on a more than seven-acre apron with direct access to the customs ramp. Included among its 102,000 sq ft of hangar space is a 28,500-sq-ft hangar completed earlier this year that can shelter aircraft as large as ultra-long-range business jets.

“Maven prides itself on excellence in all aspects of our operation and we are delighted to be a part of the AEG Connect network,” said Maven president Jason Zimmerman. “We are passionate about this industry and service customers.” Being a network member is another opportunity to demonstrate that commitment, he added.

AEG Connect was launched in 2022 and now includes 20 locations in the U.S. and Brazil.

Air New Zealand remains committed to exploring the introduction of electric and hybrid-electric aircraft despite an announcement this week that it is scrapping a net-zero carbon reduction target for 2030. A spokesperson for the carrier told AIN it is “still progressing all our work on next generation aircraft” when asked about the status of cooperation agreements it reached in December 2022 with Eviation, Beta Technologies, VoltAero, and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions.

At the time, as part of its Mission Next Gen Aircraft program, the airline signed a letter of intent to purchase three aircraft, as well as options for another 20, from at least one of the four companies in the partnership. In the U.S., Beta is developing a four-passenger eVTOL and a short takeoff and landing version, and Eviation is working on a nine-passenger all-electric regional airplane. France-based VoltAero is seeking to bring a family of hybrid-electric aircraft to market, while in the UK Cranfield is developing hydrogen-powered versions of the Britten-Norman Islander.

On July 29, Air New Zealand announced it is withdrawing from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and the associated carbon-intensity reduction target set for 2030. The carrier said it is now considering an alternative near-term carbon emissions reduction target while stressing that it is still committed to meeting the longer-term 2050 net-zero carbon target.

The Corporate Angel Network (CAN) is bringing back its annual Fund an Angel fundraiser to the upcoming NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, providing an evening of networking with a silent auction that supports the nonprofit’s mission of arranging business aircraft travel for cancer patients seeking treatment. To be held October 23 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the event is CAN’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the organization said.

CAN is seeking donations for its silent auction—either a unique item or an experience. “We welcome all donations big and small, but high-end experiences tend to raise the most for our mission (i.e. luxury travel packages, masters/golf tournament packages, sporting tickets, etc.),” the organization added.

Last year's event raised nearly $500,000 through individual donations and the silent auction. That auction included items such as tennis rackets signed by Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, and Steffi Graf; various flight training packages from CAE and FlightSafety International; jet fuel cards; Apple watches; club-level Giants tickets; and various vacation packages.

The organization facilitated more than 2,000 flights in 2023, matching patients needing transportation to or from treatment with available seats aboard business jets. They were among the more than 68,000 cancer patient flights that the organization has arranged since its inception 42 years ago.