Piper Aircraft yesterday revealed the latest generation of its M-class single-engine aircraft, the turboprop M700 Fury, which replaces the M600SLS. FAA certification of the M700 is expected by April and validations by Transport Canada, EASA, the UK CAA, and Brazil’s ANAC are set to take place in the second half. Customer deliveries will start in the U.S. immediately following FAA certification and internationally before year-end, according to Piper.

The six-seat M700 shares many features of the M600SLS, including Garmin G3000 avionics with Autoland, but it is powered by a 700-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-52 with a five-blade Hartzell propeller, up 100 shp from the M600’s PT6A-42A, which has a four-blade propeller. Piper also chose Garmin’s PlaneSync 4G LTE cellular datalink technology, which will allow M700 owners to check fuel quantity, aircraft location, oil temperature, battery voltage, and the Metar weather report at the M700’s location and download databases wirelessly and remotely.

The more powerful engine delivers better performance during climb and at high altitude and significant improvements in takeoff and landing distance. Maximum range of the M700 is 1,852 nm, up from 1,658 nm for the M600. Maximum cruise speed for the M700 jumps from the M600’s 274 ktas to 301 ktas.

Base price of the M700 Fury is $4.1 million; typically equipped, it is $4.3 million.

Gogo Business Aviation today announced a 10-year agreement with fractional jet provider NetJets to upgrade the company’s U.S. aircraft to Gogo’s airborne connectivity services. This includes Gogo Avance L5 for air-to-ground 5G connectivity and Gogo Galileo, the company’s low-earth-orbit satellite service. NetJets Europe aircraft will have access to Gogo Galileo.

The two companies have been in partnership for the past 20 years. Gogo said the new deal would provide the entire NetJets fleet with the latest Avance platform. At press time, neither Gogo nor NetJets confirmed the number of aircraft that will be upgraded under this agreement. 

Sergio Aguirre, Gogo’s president and COO, said the new agreement is an opportunity to build upon his company’s longstanding partnership with NetJets. “With more than 450 U.S. [NetJets] aircraft currently equipped with Gogo’s systems, upgrading to Avance L5 will improve performance by three times, and Gogo 5G will improve performance several times that,” he said. “Meanwhile, we are also bringing an even better experience to operators throughout Europe and around the world with Gogo Galileo.”

Gogo said its 5G services are launching in the third quarter and are expected to deliver 25 Mbps on average, with peak speeds in the 75 to 80 Mbps range. According to the company, 7,150 business aircraft are flying with its connectivity systems.

Daher today announced progress in line with its "Take Off 2027" strategic plan, under which the French aerospace group intends to achieve growth across four newly restructured business units. The company, which makes the TBM and Kodiak families of general aviation aircraft, announced a 27 percent improvement in 2023 revenues to reach €1.65 billion ($1.78 billion) but did not disclose profit and loss figures.

For 2024, Daher is targeting an 18 percent boost in revenues, to €1.95 billion. This will be based in part on an increase in aircraft deliveries, which totaled 74 last year, including 56 TBM 910s and 960s and 18 Kodiak 100s and 900s. To improve liquidity, the group has arranged a new €250 million line of credit.

By Jan. 1, 2026, the TBM and Kodiak models will fall under the Daher Aircraft division alongside Daher Industry, which covers manufacturing activities for other airframers such as Gulfstream and Dassault. Last month, the group established the Daher Industrial Services unit, which includes maintenance, repair, and overhaul capability, and Daher Logistics is due to be set up by January 2025.

According to Daher CEO Didier Kayat, Take Off 2027 will focus on improving the group’s financial performance while also “transforming the management culture” as it works to absorb acquisitions that include French company AAA and the former Triumph aerostructures business in Stuart, Florida.

Hartzell Propeller has named Arrow Aviation Services as the company’s first recommended service facility in India. Based in Kolkata, Arrow Aviation Services becomes the only propeller shop on the Indian subcontinent approved to maintain Hartzell products, providing technical support, full propeller overhaul, delivery, product sales, and warranty work.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Arrow Aviation Services into our global network of Recommended Service Facilities, ensuring aircraft owners and operators in India have access to the highest quality service and support available for Hartzell propellers,” said Hartzell Propeller president JJ Frigge. “Achieving this designation required Arrow Aviation to meet Hartzell’s demanding standards for safety and quality and undergo rigorous process audits, which its team passed with flying colors.”

Under its new designation, Arrow Aviation must employ technicians who attend Hartzell Propeller training, maintain Hartzell-approved tools and equipment, and meet special process approvals on an ongoing basis. The requirements often exceed those of the governing airworthiness authorities, said Hartzell.

“It is a great honor to be recognized among this distinguished group of Recommended Service Facilities,” said Arrow Aviation president Samir Gupta. “We value the trust Hartzell Propeller places in our capabilities to deliver unparalleled service and support for their products.”

Sheltair has initiated an upgrade project of more than $2 million on its two FBOs in Florida’s Tampa Bay area. At its Tampa International Airport (KTPA) location, the Florida-based chain recently completed a $26 million hangar expansion, and it has now turned its attention to the interior of the location—a perennial top-tier-rated facility in AIN’s annual FBO survey.

The work there involves the expansion of the entry lobby to provide more guest seating through the relocation of the flight planning area and the smaller conference room. As well, a redesigned customer service desk, back-counter check-in area, and designated mail room were added. It also included new restrooms; an expanded, open floor plan conference room with a wet bar and lounge seating; motorized recliners in the pilot lounge; and updated wall coverings, carpeting, and tile flooring.

Upgrades at the company’s St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (KPIE) location focused on its two-story atrium lobby, which has a central staircase leading to the second-floor offices, including a refurbished conference room. Downstairs improvements saw the renovation of the pilot lounge and flight planning areas, along with the addition of a lobby coffee bar and a customer service manager's office next to the reception area.

Business aircraft charter firm Vista reported a strong performance last year, including a 20 percent growth in subscription hours and member base and 17 percent rise in on-fleet hours globally.

The Malta-based company reported that, in 2023, it grew to 5 percent total market share and expanded its global presence with 50 percent of total flight hours coming from outside of the U.S., following the company's decision to move its global footprint into Africa and the Middle East.

“2023 was another year of successful performance in our business. Despite having to react to deep economic shifts and complex geopolitical uncertainty, we produced double digit growth across all markets—achieved whilst refurbishing and upgrading our fleet ahead of schedule, further improving our service standards and significantly increasing aircraft availability,” said Vista founder and chairman Thomas Flohr.

The company said it completed around 87,000 flights last year, up 80 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels. In addition, Vista reported that it completed 93 aircraft refurbishments, which it said was some 50 percent more than initially planned.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based FBO Banyan Air Service has dedicated a crew at its master technician facility at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (KFXE) to support an increased level of upgrade demand for Gogo Avance system installations.

Gogo has begun migrating its network technology to LTE (long-term evolution) for installation in early 2026. Once Gogo completes the migration, customers with a legacy ATG system (ATG 1000, 2000, 4000, 5000) who do not upgrade to Avance will lose their Gogo inflight connectivity.

Banyan technicians have installed more than 60 Avance L3 and L5 systems since their introduction in 2017. Operators flying with one of Gogo’s legacy ATG systems who upgrade to Avance will see an immediate improvement in performance and another boost once Gogo completes the network transition to LTE, the connectivity provider said. Customers who operate a legacy ATG system and upgrade to Avance can take advantage of Gogo rebates that range from $25,000 to $50,000.

As of September 30, Gogo reported 7,150 business aircraft flying with its broadband ATG systems onboard, 3,784 of which fly with a Gogo Avance L5 or L3 system and 4,395 aircraft with narrowband satellite connectivity installed.

The Senate Commerce Committee is expected to consider a long-term FAA reauthorization bill tomorrow, breaking a logjam that had been in place since June over issues including the 1,500-hour rule and slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. However, the markup is not without controversy as a dispute continues surrounding an effort to raise the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67.

FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker weighed in against such a proposal in a letter to the committee, saying: “As Congress considers policies that affect the pool of pilots that may serve Part 121 commercial operations, we strongly encourage preceding that type of change with appropriate research so that the FAA can measure any risk associated with that policy and define appropriate mitigations.” Whitaker further said it is “crucial” that the agency have an opportunity to conduct research first.

Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) agreed that scientific analysis should come first. “That has not happened. Aviation safety is paramount, and now is not the time to take a shortcut.”

However, potential movement on the reauthorization bill is welcome to aviation interests, and the FAA itself, which is now operating under temporary authority through a stopgap measure passed in December. That measure extended the FAA’s authorization through March 8.