Comlux on Monday delivered the second of 15 Airbus ACJ TwoTwentys it is completing for private buyers at its Indianapolis completions center. In December, the facility received the third green aircraft from Airbus’ Montreal assembly line, and it is due to get the fourth airframe later this week.

Completion of the second ACJ TwoTwenty has been finished within eight months of the first delivery last year. Comlux chair and CEO Richard Gaona said the third aircraft should be ready for delivery by the end of 2024 under its exclusive completions agreement with Airbus.

This week, Comlux also announced a new partnership with Pratt & Whitney covering maintenance for the ACJ TwoTwenty’s PW1500G geared turbofans. The manufacturer will now provide support packages for ACJ and Comlux customers covering the engines.

The first three TwoTwentys do not feature the auxiliary fuel tanks that support its maximum range of up to 5,650 nm. This feature is still being certified by Transport Canada and is expected to be standard equipment from the fourth aircraft onwards.

Comlux will retrofit the tanks to the earlier aircraft as it prepares to expand throughput in the Indianapolis completions center from three to four jets in 2025 to an eventual six units. The third aircraft is set to be delivered during the third quarter of this year.

In a potential nightmare for civil aviation, it appears air traffic control over the busy Horn of Africa airspace has been politically weaponized. Over the weekend, OpsGroup shared news of at least 10 reports of fake controllers operating on Mogadishu flight information region (FIR) frequencies and issuing instructions contrary to those given by the authentic sector controller. They included bogus climb and descent clearances. The impacted area was confined mostly to the northern part of Mogadishu airspace. According to OpsGroup, the fake instructions emanated from Hargeisa in Somaliland on VHF frequency 132.5 and HF 11300.

Somaliland is an internationally unrecognized state that is considered part of Somalia, but since 1991 it has functioned autonomously and sought independence. It is bordered to the south and west by Ethiopia. In January, Somaliland signed an agreement with Ethiopia that granted Red Sea port rights in exchange for official recognition. Somalia condemned the move and retaliated by selectively blocking aircraft movements in and out of Somaliland with Mogadishu Control, denying entry of this traffic into the Mogadishu FIR. Somaliland countered by asserting airspace control over its claimed territory, announced via an international aviation advisory and accompanying press release issued on February 13.

The ATC transmissions from Hargeisa are designed to mimic official ones from Mogadishu Control and are not identified as separate or distinct from it, according to OpsGroup.

Pilatus Aircraft today reported 10 percent growth in sales for 2023, with revenues climbing to 1.48 billion Swiss Francs ($1.68 billion) and earnings up by 6 percent at 240 million Swiss Francs. Last year, the company delivered 148 aircraft, including 101 examples of its PC-12 single-engine turboprop (up by 26 percent over 2022) and 47 PC-24 twinjets (an increase of 18 percent).

However, new aircraft orders received in 2023 were 7 percent down in value at 1.51 billion Swiss Francs. The value of the Pilatus order book closed the year 3 percent down at 2.33 billion Swiss Francs.

Among the highlights last year for Pilatus was the launch in October of the new version of the PC-24, which will offer increased payload and range. When available, by the end of 2024, the new model will be able to fly up to 2,000 nm, and customers will have multiple new cabin interior options to choose from.

In May, the Swiss company delivered its 2,000th PC-12 to U.S. private aviation group PlaneSense. Pilatus also achieved growth in its government business, logging a Swiss Air Force contract for a further 16 of its PC-21 training aircraft.

Training beyond the minimums is becoming increasingly encouraged and standardized across business aviation. This equates to good news for all facets of the industry, as safety remains the critical axis on which our success revolves. Achieving necessary and effective balance surrounding safe flight narrows down to one thing: pilot training. 

Private aircraft operator ASL Group and Azzera, an organization focused on sustainability solutions, have announced a collaborative initiative for an online sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) credit book-and-claim system, which both companies say will have an impact on reducing carbon footprints.

Using Azzera's Celeste platform, ASL Group will automate the booking of SAF credits for its clients. The company anticipates that this will help the process of offsetting emissions from flights. 

"Our partnership with Azzera is a game-changer in our sustainability initiatives," said Johan Maertens, co-CEO of ASL Group. "It will definitely contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of our operations. This aligns perfectly with our ethos of promoting sustainable practices in aviation."

The companies say that Celeste will allow ASL Group to acquire SAF credits directly, with Azzera overseeing the process to ensure compliance and acquire the necessary certification.

“At the end of each year, Azzera submits all SAF transactions for third-party audit, ensuring accountability and transparency in our sustainability commitments,” added Azzera CEO Puja Mahajan. “Sustainable aviation fuel needs pioneers like ASL Group to accelerate the decarbonization of aviation.”

ASL Group is based in Dublin, Ireland, and operates a fleet of 45 aircraft.

The fatal flight training accident rate improved by nearly 50 percent between 2000 and 2019, according to a study released by the AOPA Air Safety Institute and Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics. The accident rate per 100,000 flight hours dropped from 0.49 in the 2000 to 2004 period to 0.26 for the aggregate years of 2015 to 2019. The total number of fatal accidents over the period from 2000 to 2019 was 287.

The study partially credited the progress to the incorporation of more affordable advanced technologies and better aircraft crashworthiness as driving these reductions. Items cited included modern avionics with features such as angle of attack indicators, flight envelope protection, traffic displays, moving map displays, and terrain overlays as well as occupant safety devices such as shoulder harnesses and airbags.

The leading causes of training accidents ranked in order were loss of control-inflight, midair collisions, and controlled flight into terrain. Loss of control accidents were primarily stall- or spin-related, Vmc rolls in twin-engine aircraft following loss of power in one engine or asymmetric power settings, spatial disorientation, and structural load exceedance. The most fatal flight phase for loss of control was takeoff/climb/go-around, accounting for 48 of the 155 accidents, followed by maneuvering and emergency procedures.

Report data included both solo and dual instructional operations.

The FAA will award nearly $260 million in airport improvement grants this year under the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, consisting of 153 grants spread over 37 states. This includes a variety of improvements aimed at reducing the risk of runway incursions such as taxiway reconfigurations, enlarged runway safety areas, and improved lighting.

Among the projects funded are $2.2 million to Michigan’s Willow Run Airport (KYIP) to construct an 8,617-foot parallel taxiway to eliminate back-taxiing on the runway; $2 million to Wisconsin's Dane County Regional Airport (KMSN) and $1.7 million to California’s San Bernardino International Airport (KSBD) to rehabilitate on-field roadways to allow vehicles to operate without entering aircraft movement areas; and $1.1 million to Alabama's Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (KBHM) to improve the safety area for Runway 6/24.

Other major grants include $45 million for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW) to rehabilitate its 13,400-foot Runway 17R/35L and $18 million to Alaska's Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (PASI) to expand its existing terminal building.

“We saw a record number of passengers fly during the recent holiday season, and we can expect increased demand for air travel to continue,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “These investments from the Biden-Harris Administration are making it possible to modernize our country’s aging airport infrastructure to meet this demand today and ensure safe, efficient travel into the future.”