The HondaJet Elite II is now type validated in Brazil, and Honda Aircraft has delivered the first of these latest very light jets to a customer in the country. An Elite II is on display this week at HondaJet-authorized sales representative Lider Aviação at LABACE 2026 at São Paulo Campo de Marte Airport (SBMT).

Featuring Garmin’s Emergency Autoland, the Elite II is equipped with autothrottles that ease pilot workload in busy airspace and Garmin G3000 avionics. Ground spoilers improve takeoff and landing performance, and Honda Aircraft increased the jet’s four-passenger NBAA IFR range to 1,547 nm. The Elite II was unveiled in October 2022. 

The HondaJet’s over-the-wing-engine-mount design allows for a larger cabin while maximizing high-speed cruise efficiency. With an enclosed lavatory and seats for up to eight occupants, the Elite II can cruise at up to 422 knots.

“This delivery underscores Honda Aircraft Company’s commitment to building a global fleet presence while delivering meaningful value to customers worldwide,” said Amod Kelkar, senior v-p and chief commercial officer. “The enhanced features of the Elite II will enable customers in Brazil and across South America to travel farther, more efficiently, and with an elevated level of comfort.”

Latin America’s varied landscape and vast distances have shaped an appetite for business aircraft that can go where roads and infrastructure can’t, and Textron Aviation says that demand has made Brazil home to the largest installed turbine fleet outside the U.S. As LABACE 2026 spools up today in São Paulo, Marcelo Moreira, the company’s v-p of sales for Latin America, told AIN that Textron Aviation aircraft account for more than half of the turbine fleet across the region.

The OEM is showcasing that regional lineup this week at the Latin American business aviation show with a Cessna Citation Latitude, CJ3+, and M2, as well as a Beechcraft King Air 360 and Cessna Grand Caravan EX and Turbo Skylane. They are displayed alongside TAM Aviação Executiva, Textron Aviation’s authorized sales representative in Brazil.

More than 760 King Airs, 500 Citation business jets, and 240 Grand Caravans are in operation in Brazil, Moreira said. He attributed the concentration partly to the country’s size and the difficulty of ground transportation. “It’s a country with continental dimensions—north, south, east, west,” he said. “When you think about the business owners who need to get to places efficiently, our aircraft are very much used as a business tool throughout the country.”

King Airs remain especially strong in Brazil’s agriculture sector, and he expects the upcoming Denali turboprop single to do equally as well.

Bombardier is searching for a location in Canada to perform various modifications to its portfolio of special-mission Global 6500s. This provisional second site builds on elevated demand for its defense offerings amid a “strong and sustained…growing pipeline of opportunities,” according to the company. 

During Bombardier’s recent second-quarter 2026 earnings call, CEO Éric Martel confirmed the company has a “strong desire” to replicate the defense-specific conversion work currently undertaken at its Wichita facility. “We’re looking at establishing ourselves somewhere in Canada,” he explained, adding that a Bombardier team is already visiting potential sites.

While this “mirror operation” would encompass modification work across a variety of special-mission airframes, discussions are ongoing with Sweden’s Saab, producer of the GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft. “It makes a lot of sense. We build the plane; we know the plane more than anyone else to make structural modifications, provision, and potentially even installation of some of that equipment,” Martel said. “We are very active on this right now.”

GlobalEye’s main structural modifications and mission systems installations are currently carried out at Saab’s facilities in Linköping, Sweden.

Notably, Canada and NATO’s recent downselection of the type—alongside an additional Middle Eastern order—could represent up to 18 total GlobalEyes, while subsequent firm contracts “will translate…into real backlog,” Martel noted.

Still chasing a net trading surplus, air charter and membership group Wheels Up achieved a gross profit of $9.6 million in the second quarter, representing a $7 million improvement year over year. However, its net loss widened to $107 million from $82.3 million in the prior-year period, driven by a $13 million increase in interest expense and aircraft lease costs and a $13 million non-cash impairment charge for legacy fleet retirement.

Reporting results today, the private flight group said the margin boost had been achieved despite having about $5 million in quarterly expenses associated with ongoing “transformation” costs, including the now-complete fleet replacement. 

Revenues in the quarter dipped by 4% year over year, to $182 million, which Wheels Up said reflected the cessation of income from non-core service businesses sold off in 2025. Over the same period, bookings declined 8%, to $241.8 million, which Wheels Up said reflected transitory inefficiencies from its ongoing sales force transformation. 

Private jet flight revenue was flat year over year, as demand for trips on the company’s Embraer Phenom 300s and Bombardier Challenger 300/350s more than doubled, offsetting the retirement of legacy aircraft flying. Live flight legs fell 28%, to 8,649, while revenue per flight leg rose 27%, to $22,048, reflecting the higher average rates commanded by the premium fleet.

NBAA praised the FAA and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for working with industry on the final radio altimeter mandate that will require retrofits on nearly 60,000 aircraft. Released Friday, the rule calls for upgrading the radio altimeter minimum performance on aircraft operating in the 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia. 

Under the rule, aircraft operating under Part 121 and large aircraft (30 or more passenger seats, or 7,500 pounds or more payload) operating under Part 129 must meet the new standards by Dec. 30, 2030. All others—including those operating under Part 91K, 135, and some 91—must meet the requirements by Oct. 31, 2034.

The FAA estimated the cost of upgrades at $80,000 to $120,000 per aircraft, but believes some of this could be offset by an FCC rebate program involving the spectrum auction winners. A radio altimeter retrofit rebate program is expected to be funded within six to 12 months of the completion of an upper C-band auction.

NBAA said the rule addresses the industry’s concerns about costs and timelines, pointing out the rebate program and the fact that the agency provides nearly a decade for compliance. The business aviation association plans to discuss the radio altimeter mandate in an October 20 session at NBAA-BACE.

Preowned large-cabin business jet median values climbed 13% year over year (YOY) in the second quarter even as average asking prices based on active listings fell 34.6% over the same period, according to data from Amstat. According to Amstat general manager Andrew Young, this divergence reflects a market sorting itself between desirable aircraft that are changing hands at firm prices and older, lower-value units that are sitting unsold and pulling down listing averages.

Total preowned transactions of jets and turboprops combined increased 11.2% in the second quarter YOY, exceeding the 10-year second-quarter average by 14%.

Large-cabin jet transactions surged 43.8% YOY in the second quarter. Year-to-date, large-cabin-jet transactions are up 18.5%. Inventory for the segment fell to 5.2% of the active fleet, its lowest level since February 2023. Asking prices, though sharply lower in aggregate, dropped 13.7% from the start of the second quarter, consistent with the compositional shift Young described.

Across the broader business jet market, preowned transactions rose 15.5% YOY in the second quarter, reversing underperformance from the first quarter. Inventory tightened to 6.5% of the active fleet, the lowest level since August 2023 and below the 8.1% historical average. Median values across all business jets rose 5% YOY and 2% year to date.

Turboprop transactions, which underperformed in the first quarter, turned positive in the second, rising 3.5% YOY.

The U.S. Senate is considering a stopgap funding measure that would give Congress until December 11 to finish work on fiscal year 2027 government funding. This would provide a buffer for Congress, which would otherwise face a September 30 deadline to approve government funding, as midterm elections loom in November. 

Passing a procedural vote to cut off debate on the short-term measure on Monday, the Senate was resuming consideration today; however, no set vote appeared to be scheduled at press time. The House already has passed its own continuing resolution (CR), extending the federal government’s budget at current levels until December 4.

This is among a few of the differences between the Senate and House bills. The Senate bill temporarily prevents a move to provide the administration more latitude in rejecting certain grants and prevents the shifting of certain funds to border control efforts.

Once approved by the Senate, the CR would need to be hashed out with the House, which is on August recess. A CR appears necessary since little movement on FY2027 funding bills has formally occurred on Capitol Hill. Neither the House nor Senate has passed FY2027 FAA funding.

The CR would defer action on the White House’s supplemental funding request, which Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) hopes can serve as a potential vehicle for a $10 billion bump in funding for air traffic control modernization.