Private aircraft management and charter group Volare has agreed to add up to 20 of the Lilium Jet eVTOL aircraft to its UK-based fleet. In an agreement announced on today, the UK company's eVolare division placed firm orders for 10 of the Lilium Pioneer Edition version of the all-electric aircraft, with options to take another 10.
Volare is the launch customer for the Pioneer Edition, with Lilium intending to build just 50 examples of the model. The “limited edition” version of the Lilium Jet will seat four passengers and a pilot with a more spacious interior than the standard six-passenger model. Owners will have the option to customize the cabin with special fabrics and materials, with the price for the aircraft ranging from between $7 million and $10 million depending on the interior fittings and other specifications.
From its headquarters at Oxford Airport, eVolare intends to operate the Lilium Jet for charter flights throughout the greater London area. The aircraft is expected to have a range of 155 miles and achieve type certification in 2025.
Under the agreement with Lilium, eVolare will operate a service center to maintain the eVTOL model and develop landing sites. It will also handle sales of the Lilium Jet to private individuals.
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Sheltair has completed construction and opened an additional 30,000-sq-ft hangar at its Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (KSAV) FBO. The $5.5 million project began this May and features 28-foot-high doors to accommodate the latest ultra-long-range business jets. The second 30,000 sq ft-plus hangar the company has added over two years at KSAV, it will provide shelter for both based and transient aircraft and brings the complex to 151,000 sq ft of aircraft storage space.
“We greatly appreciate Sheltair’s decision to once again invest millions of more dollars in aviation development here at our airport,” said Greg Kelly, executive director of the Savannah Airport Commission. “We are fortunate to have a great partnership with them as they are one of the top FBOs in the country.”
“At Sheltair we are focused on investing in new facilities to better serve the general aviation industry across our network,” added COO Todd Anderson. “This hangar expansion will allow us to accommodate Savannah’s growing business sector while actively participating in the long-term economic development of the airport and the community.”
Orlando, Florida-based charter operator SpeedBird announced today that it has acquired six aircraft, including a new type. The additions to its fleet include four Cessna Citation CJ3/CJ3+s and two Bombardier Challenger 605s which are the largest and longest-range business jets in a fleet that’s mostly made up of aircraft manufactured by Textron Aviation.
“The prestigious Challenger 605 was an inevitable addition to our fleet,” said SpeedBird CEO Christopher Bull. “Our customers have high expectations, and we intend to deliver aircraft with quality unmatched by anyone in our space.”
The additional aircraft follow SpeedBird’s hiring of 50 employees in Orlando this year, including pilots and cabin crew. Also, the company has developed contractual maintenance relationships with the nearby Textron Aviation service center.
Founded earlier this year as the private air charter services division of The Heli Team, SpeedBird’s fleet also features Citation Xs and CJ2s.
A recent survey by Airbus Corporate Jets showed that among U.S. companies with annual revenues of $500 million or more that use business jets, 57 percent of the 100 senior executives queried say more than half of their flights are carbon offset at present.
While all of the 69 survey respondents whose companies own private jets said they believe their employers will eventually insist on fueling only with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the cost of SAF still weighs heavily upon their thinking. As the supply of SAF increases, and its price declines to become more on par with that of conventional jet-A, 58 percent of the senior executives surveyed indicated that it would lead to a dramatic increase in their use while 32 percent said they would expect a slight increase.
“Businesses in the U.S. place a huge focus on reducing the environmental impact of their flights, and this will increase in terms of offsetting, but also in the measures taken to reduce carbon emissions,” said Sean McGeough, v-p of commercial Airbus Corporate Jets North America. “Advances in SAF will be key to this.”
Aviation Safety Question of the Week
Provided by
Which of the following changes will always increase climb performance after takeoff?
A. Reducing the takeoff mass, operating at lower outside air temperature, and operating at lower density altitude.
B. No change to takeoff mass, operating at higher outside air temperature, and operating at higher density altitude.
C. Increasing the takeoff mass, operating at lower outside air temperature, and operating at higher altitude.
D. No change to takeoff mass, operating at lower outside air temperature, and operating at higher density altitude.
Jet Aviation has bolstered its maintenance capabilities at its Dubai International Airport facility in response to customer demand. The FBO and MRO arm of General Dynamics has added modular tail docking capability that will improve the efficiency of heavy structural repairs on large-cabin business jets, and refurbishment capability also has been expanded to include avionic modifications and upgrades.
“We are committed to providing an effortless experience for all of our customers,” said Hardy Bütschi, Jet Aviation's v-p of regional operations in the Middle East and the general manager of the Dubai facility. “Part of this is growing and developing our capabilities and expertise to meet the evolving requirements of customers in and visiting the region.”
Increasing volumes of non-destructive testing and pre-purchase inspections have also prompted the facility to introduce improved techniques and equipment for eddy current and ultrasonic inspections, as well as expansion of its on-site boroscope capabilities.
With the increased capabilities in Dubai, the company has extended its line maintenance to Al Bateen Airport in Abu Dhabi and on-demand services at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Next year, the company anticipates additional line maintenance expansion in Saudi Arabia.
“The Middle East is a key strategic hub in our network and we are committed to supporting the growth of business aviation across the region,” said Jeremie Caillet, Jet Aviation's senior v-p of EMEA regional operations.
A man with a history of criminal behavior and who pleaded guilty in July to making numerous false statements on documents to the FAA, including a failed attempt to fraudulently register a stolen business jet, has been sentenced to 37 months of incarceration. Cole Allan Peacock, 30, also must serve three years of supervised release.
Court documents show that in July 2019, Peacock made false statements on an application for an FAA student pilot certificate. Although he had previously been convicted of multiple criminal felony offenses, the application did not disclose that criminal record. A month later, Peacock forged an FAA flight instructor’s signature authorizing him to serve as the pilot-in-command on multiple flights, including flights with passengers. In August 2020, Peacock submitted fraudulent records to the FAA to register a stolen Bombardier Learjet 55. In June 2021 he was indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. federal court for the Southern District of Florida.
According to AIN research, between 2013 and 2019, Peacock was variously convicted of credit card fraud, grand theft, resisting arrest with violence, bomb threats, assaulting police officers, passing fake checks, felony impersonation of a public official, and misdemeanor reckless driving. He served jail time for some of these crimes.
Switzerland-based air rescue service Rega has ordered 12 more five-bladed Airbus H145 light, twin-engine helicopters to replace its fleet of AW109SPs. This order follows an initial contract for nine H145s, announced in March.
By 2026, Rega—which operates 14 helicopter emergency medical service stations in Switzerland—will operate an all-Airbus fleet consisting of 21 five-bladed H145s. Last year, its helicopter crews carried out 14,330 missions, including transporting 471 Covid patients.
“By selecting the five-bladed H145, we are ensuring that Rega will continue being able to provide its patients with reliable and professional medical assistance by air for the next 15 years,” said Rega CEO Ernst Kohler.
Rega’s helicopters will be custom-configured with a Garmin GTN750 Xi flight management system which integrates and controls a multi-sensor system that provides highly accurate navigation, backed up by a Thales inertial navigation system—enabling operations in low IFR conditions down to the very limited visibility standard of RNP-AR 0.1. The H145s also will be fitted with the Vincorion hoist system.
The five-bladed H145 features a useful load increase of 330 pounds and a bearingless main rotor design. Powered by two Safran Arriel 2E engines, the H145 is equipped with full authority digital engine control and the Helionix digital avionics suite, and includes a 4-axis autopilot.
More than 1,600 H145 family helicopters are in service that together, have logged more than seven million flight hours.
Software and hardware maker NDX is introducing an online program designed to enable real-time monitoring of FBO and business aviation ramp safety issues to help reduce ground collisions, hangar rash, and other causes of damage to aircraft and improve overall operational situational awareness.
The Tampa, Florida company is first launching its inspections module, commercially available to business aviation on Jan. 1, 2023. This module uses NDX’s proprietary hardware and software enabling proximity-based record-keeping. Subscribers can perform ATA 103 fuel quality and safety inspections using a handheld device. Following the release of the inspections module, NDX will launch the collision prevention and ground ops modules.
“We have developed an overall safety solution for business aviation enabling FBOs to reduce or eliminate aircraft ground damage and misfuelling with our integrated software safety solution,” said NDX CEO Jordan Hiller. “We are excited to work with Pentastar Aviation as one of our launch partners for the collision prevention module, where we will kick off one of our first full system beta trials in Q1 next year.”
Greg Schmidt, president and CEO of Pentastar Aviation, said that “working with NDX and implementing their easy-to-use proximity technology will keep us at the forefront of the industry by enhancing our ability to provide the highest levels of safety and service excellence.”
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