Brazil auctioned 30-year concessions for 15 airports on August 18 at the B3 stock exchange, including the three most vital to business aviation in the country’s two largest cities. One group of concessions featured Congonhas, where airlines vie for the country’s most profitable slots but which is also home to business aviation operations, hangars, and maintenance facilities. Others were Rio and São Paulo’s general aviation airports, Campo de Marte and Jacarepaguá respectively. The last group—the northern block—included Belém and Macapá airports, both near the mouth of the Amazon, and these attracted the only competitive bids.
The general aviation block with Campo de Marte and Jacarepaguá was first to the hammer and attracted a single bidder, Brazilian financial group XP Investimentos. This was the only minimum bid of the afternoon. XP executives outlined plans to capture certain business aviation operations that are anticipated to be pushed out of Congonhas under the new management. But they also pointed to plans to raise fees and to capture real estate revenues from areas currently housing business and general aviation facilities.
The event’s biggest surprise? The sole and winning bid for Congonhas by Spanish group Aena was 231 percent over the minimum, a difference of $342 million. Taking live bids for the northern block, the auctioneer allowed a stately two or three minutes between bids, until Vinci Airports folded. Once the hammer dropped for the Novo Norte consortium, decorum was lifted and the crowd erupted in cheers.
Flexjet unveiled a bespoke interior and paint livery on one of its Sikorsky S-76 helicopters at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance auto show in California over the weekend. The “LXi Cabin Collection” is inspired by the interior of the limited-production Bentley Mulliner Bacalar luxury automobile.
Flexjet already has outfitted one of its Gulfstream G650 large cabin, long-range jets with a coordinating interior. “Like the Bacalar, of which there are no two alike, we will only be using this interior in one of our helicopters and one of our Gulfstream G650 aircraft,” said Flexjet CEO Michael Silvestro.
Key interior design cues borrowed from the Bacalar include: the 5,000-year-old Riverwood that forms the auto’s wraparound dashboard, inspiring one of the matching wood veneer species used in the aircraft’s interior; the exterior Julep color paint that prompted a one-time change from the Flexjet livery red-gold chameleon paint to a silver-green chameleon; and the copperhead shape and basketweave stitching on the white leather and black trimmed seats.
Directional Aviation unit OneSky Flight, Flexjet's parent company, acquired the S-76 fleet of the Associated Aircraft Group in 2021.
Flexjet launched its helicopter division in June to provide last-mile transport for owners of Flexjet aircraft traveling from airports to their final destinations in the U.S. and plans to expand the service to Europe this fall.
Guam district court judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood will hear a defense motion for a mistrial in the Hansen Helicopter trial on Tuesday morning.
Hansen and its CEO, John Walker, are on trial for more than 100 counts related to fraud, money laundering, bribery, and violating a long list of FAA regulations in relation to operating more than four dozen helicopters used for fish spotting aboard tuna boats.
Defense counsel Mack Martin demanded a mistrial late Monday afternoon after lead prosecutor Marie Miller attempted to introduce expert testimony by the trial’s last witness, accident investigator Jeff Guzzetti, about last week’s fatal crash of a 1973 Hughes 369 helicopter. The aircraft was operated by Hansen affiliate company Pacific Spotters in the Philippines. The investigation into that accident is continuing and the official cause remains unknown.
Miller had previously mentioned the Philippines crash outside the presence of the jury during a motion argument last week. At that time she was cautioned by Tydingco-Gatewood about mentioning a fatal crash with an ongoing investigation. “At this point, the Court is not going to allow the Pacific Spotters issue to be brought up,” she said.
Martin accused Miller of intentionally asking a witness a question that would prompt a mistrial. “This is outrageous conduct by the government,” he said. “Mr. Walker's not going to get a fair trial when they cheat like this. This is cheating, Judge.”
Generation Jets, an aircraft charter, sales, management, and maintenance provider, has relocated from Washington to North Texas Regional Airport (KGYI) in Denison, according to an announcement from the airport’s FBO, Rise Aviation.
Founded in 2002, the company was acquired late last year by a holding company owned by Paul “Monty” Renfro, who is the new president and CEO of Generation Jets. He told AIN the company’s core business is Part 135 operations and aircraft management but that he also plans to expand into air ambulance, including fixed-wing and rotorcraft. Renfro was previously CEO of Medical Air Rescue Company, which maintained operations in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and Texas.
Generation Jets also provides Part 91 maintenance on aircraft ranging from pistons to heavy jets, such as the Bombardier Challenger. Renfro noted that before Generation Jets had relocated, there was no maintenance facility at KGYI.
There, the company operates from a 28,000-sq-ft facility. The Generation Jets fleet includes Citation CJ2s and Excels. It is an Argus gold-rated operator.
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has published a handbook offering solutions to aviation’s most pressing challenges in transitioning from fossil-based fuels to cleaner fuels.
While the aviation sector accounts for more than 3 percent of human-related climate change impacts, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced from a variety of feedstocks will be crucial to aviation’s goal of decarbonization by 2050. But SAF must be high-integrity, according to EDF, meaning it credibly reduces emissions, adheres to strong environmental and social safeguards, and has an accurate accounting system in place to prevent duplicate crediting of emissions reductions.
The High-Integrity SAF Handbook examines the tenets of responsible SAF production including avoiding indirect land use changes. “We won’t solve our climate problems by producing SAF in ways that cause deforestation or divert land that is needed to grow food and feed,” explained study author Pedro Piris-Cabezas, EDF’s director of sustainable international transport and lead senior economist. “If we aren’t careful, we can do more harm than good.”
The document also includes guidance for policymakers to further grow the industry, including ensuring financial support for SAF feedstocks with low land-use competition and those offering the highest emissions reductions.
“If we take the right steps to advance the use of high-integrity SAF, it has incredible potential to change the nature of flight for the better,” said Piris-Cabezas.
CrewBlast—an app-based aircraft staffing company that launched last year—is adding to its product portfolio with a subscription-based membership service that will provide operators with unlimited access for their crew needs.
The service moves away from a traditional staffing model under which operators would pay a fee based on the cost of the crew retained. Instead, operators pay a flat monthly cost. “For operators that have regular staffing needs throughout the month, our subscription will be far more cost-effective than the percentage-based model that most agencies use,” said CrewBlast president Timothy Griffin.
Subscribers will have the ability to send required documentation directly to crewmembers and will have access to a dedicated online portal where they can track their active crew “blast” requests and manage crewmember applications. “With our membership program we are really hoping to take aircraft staffing into the 21st century for operators around the world,” said Griffin. “It’s not just about saving cost but about operating more efficiently.”
Through the CrewBlast app, operators can send out notifications of staffing needs, providing available qualified crew the opportunity to respond within minutes. CrewBlast said it has experienced rapid growth as operators try to keep pace with demand.
Magellan Jets is adding to its membership programs and refocusing its jet card offering to provide customers with more benefits, lower-cost options, and flexibility if their long-term travel requirements change.
The Boston-based charter broker introduced the Explorer100 private jet membership that provides a refund clause if market changes force customers to reconsider their investments. Based on its Explorer membership category, Explorer100 provides fixed-rate pricing across four categories of cabin sizes, starting with an account of $100,000.
“We’ve seen hesitancy among companies and individuals around making large, multi-year investments right now without knowing what the impact could be months and years down the line,” said Magellan Jets president and co-founder Anthony Tivnan. “We want to provide an additional layer of risk- and recession-proofing by allowing customers to recoup their unused investment if the need to pivot their business travel plans arises.”
In addition, Magellan is now focusing its legacy jet card program on its most-requested aircraft, such as the Phenom 300, a move that it says will be more cost-effective for the customer. The daily minimum has also been reduced to 60 minutes. However, jet card customers who purchase in larger blocks will have additional benefits such as 18-month rate locks.
Magellan is also shortening its callout time for both the Explorer100 and jet cards to enable booking with as little as 24 hours’ notice.
AviationManuals has updated its safety assessments of foreign aircraft (SAFA) manual services to reflect the latest guidance from Europe. The operations manuals and safety management systems specialist noted that it has received a marked increase in requests from customers for SAFA inspection manuals this year in light of the expansion in the ramp inspection program in Europe.
This increase has come as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s latest guidance clarified checks for non-commercial operations. The ramp inspections ensure compliance on items such as pilot licenses, procedures, safety equipment, cargo, and aircraft condition.
AviationManuals said the SAFA inspection manuals are designed to help ease the inspection process and reduce delays by providing guidance to crews and information on where to find inspection items in the aircraft, as well as the operator's documentation.
“Staying up to date is vital to our clients and so our subscribers consistently receive updated notifications and revised procedures to mitigate risks and ensure compliance,” said AviationManuals CEO Mark Baier. “We incorporated these changes, which in this case will benefit both operators and inspectors during a SAFA inspection.”
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