London aviation services provider Harrods Aviation has expanded its footprint at Stansted Airport (EGSS) by purchasing Fayair, a competing and neighboring FBO. This move brings the number of general aviation aircraft handling companies at EGSS to four, according to the airport's services webpage.
The acquisition will expand Harrods's holdings on the field by 130,000 sq ft, including a 33,000-sq-ft hangar that can accommodate aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757. An adjoining customer terminal features a passenger lounge, on-site security screening, prayer room, crew lounge, trio of snooze rooms, gym, and drivers' lounge. Outside is 91,500 sq ft of private ramp parking. This brings Harrods's operational footprint to half a million square feet, including its existing FBO at London Luton Airport.
As the threat of the global pandemic recedes and travel health requirements are dropped, there has been an increase in private jet activity at Stansted, according to the company. Stansted, just northeast of London, offers favorable operating hours and easy road access into the city.
The FAA has determined that a software glitch—specifically a damaged database file—caused the outage of the agency’s notam system yesterday morning, leading to the grounding of all IFR operations not already airborne in the U.S. for about an hour and half. VFR flights were unaffected by the incident and several business aircraft pilots reported on social media they launched VFR during the notam outage and were able to fly at altitudes up to 17,500 feet—just below Class A airspace that is IFR only.
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation has launched an investigation and members of Congress have vowed to do the same as they prepare to deliberate over the next FAA reauthorization bill.
The outage resulted in thousands of airline delays and cancellations across the country just weeks after a massive winter storm led to several days of travel chaos. This was most notable at Southwest Airlines, which on its own canceled more than 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31.
But the impact of the most recent incident proved broader, as the system saw nearly 11,000 delays and almost 3,000 cancellations within, into, and out of the U.S. by the end of yesterday, according to data from flight tracking service FlightAware.
NBAA stressed that long-stranding issues with the U.S. notam system must be addressed, adding that yesterday's outage of the system further highlighted the need for action. Following a glitch in the notam system, the FAA yesterday issued a temporary ground stop, affecting thousands of flights.
The association noted that it has been asking the agency to improve the resiliency of the notam system since 2018 to ensure that backup capabilities are in place. Co-chairing the Aeronautical Information System (AIS) reform coalition, NBAA has been working with a cross-section of the industry—including airlines, airports, and other stakeholders—to push for the introduction of additional systems, redundancies, and upgrades.
The U.S. has the largest and safest air traffic control system, maintained Heidi Williams, NBAA senior director of air traffic services and infrastructure and AIS coalition co-chair. She added, however, that the notam outage served as a reminder that when problems are identified, proven solutions must be developed.
SEA Prime—which manages the private aviation infrastructure at Milan, Italy’s Linate and Malpensa airports under the Milano Prime brand—will now provide continuous supplies of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Linate, making it the first business aviation airport in the country to do so. The company received its first load of ENI Biojet SAF, a blend of conventional jet-A mixed with 20 percent biofuel derived from waste fats and vegetable oils, at the end of 2021 for a special event. ENI has since expanded its biofuel production capacity and will continuously supply the Linate FBO with SAF.
“This new milestone for SEA Prime represents an important step towards our decarbonization targets, together with the other concrete measures implemented, which include the utilization of electric ramp equipment and investing in sustainable infrastructures such as the new hangar at Linate Prime,” said SEA Prime CEO Chiara Dorigotti.
The company also reported that it finished 2022 with more than 32,000 movements at the two gateways, a 20 percent increase compared to the previous year and 33 percent above its pre-Covid 2019 totals.
Southeast Aerospace (SEA) has received a supplemental type certificate (STC) from the FAA for the installation of the Garmin GI 275 on Part 25 aircraft. SEA partnered with Garmin and Peregrine to develop a solution that allows for the cost-effective replacement of mechanical and electronic flight instruments on Part 25 aircraft.
The GI 275 is designed to take advantage of the common 3.125-inch flight instrument size, reducing installation time and preserving the existing aircraft panel. SEA designed and manufactured a 3.125-inch adapter plate to further simplify installation. The adapter plate is available for purchase with the STC.
“It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with Southeast Aerospace to create this STC, which includes the Garmin GI 275 as an electronic standby instrument replacement in a variety of Part 25 aircraft,” said Garmin v-p of aviation sales and marketing Carl Wolf. “The GI 275 redefines the capabilities of a standby flight display and will offer operators a modern and cost-effective replacement solution to avoid the high repair costs and ongoing obsolescence associated with legacy standby systems on these aircraft.”
Last year, Universal Weather and Aviation became the first mission management provider to be accepted into the U.S. Customs & Border Protection Reimbursable Services Program (RSP), which allows third parties to request and pay for after-hours custom clearance. Now the Houston-based company has added another 13 airport locations, bringing the total to 42.
Among the 13 newest additions are San Francisco International (KSFO); New Orleans Louis Armstrong International (KMSY); Boston Logan International (KBOS); Missouri’s Kansas City International (KMCI) and Spirit of St. Louis (KSUS); Phoenix Sky Harbor International (KPHX); Baltimore-Washington International (KBWI); John Glenn Columbus International (KCMH) and Cincinnati International (KCVG) in Ohio; DeKalb-Peachtree (KPDK) and Fulton County (KFTY) in Atlanta; North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham International (KRDU); and Miami Executive Airport (KTMB).
“RSP has been a revelation for our customers, who have a tremendous operational flexibility advantage unmatched in the industry now when working with Universal due to our ability to request additional operational hours on their behalf,” said Laura Everington at Universal’s global regulatory services division. “Simply put, before we had RSP at these airports, extended hours were not an option.”
Sustainability Question of the Week
Sponsored by
True or False: Sustainable aviation fuel used for offsetting CORSIA emissions must follow a CORSIA certification scheme.
EuroSafety International (ESI) will offer an Airbus H125 airframe ground school presentation on Monday, March 6, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at HAI Heli-Expo 2023 at the Atlanta Convention Center. The convention officially opens the following day. ESI provides ground and flight training in 32 helicopter models.
The ESI recurrent class is designed for both pilots who are new to the aircraft and those who require annual refresher training. ESI ground schools use proprietary computer graphics and three-dimensional animations to demonstrate aircraft systems, performance, and normal and emergency procedures. Preferred pricing is available for registrations completed before January 29. The price is $555 for HAI members and $825 for non-members.
Attendees will have the option to schedule reduced-price, in-aircraft training once the ground portion is completed at ESI’s Burbank, California location in the AS350/EC130 or in a customer-owned aircraft.
Portside has acquired SeaGil Software, which will allow the San Francisco-based provider of cloud-based software for Part 91 and Part 135 flight departments to expand its scheduling software. The purchase of SeaGil, headquartered in Georgia, follows Portside’s acquisition of Professional Flight Management.
Portside said the two acquisitions enable it to provide a range of scheduling solutions. PFM and SeaGil’s Bart serve different markets and have their own unique competitive advantages.
SeaGil, which was owned by Bradley Tilford and Kimberly Tilford, introduced the Bart product suite in 1986. Since its launch, that software has supported hundreds of operators, more than 6,000 aircraft, and more than 15,000 crewmembers globally.
SeaGil will continue to operate under its own name following the completion of the acquisition, which will enable Portside to accelerate Bart’s product development. “The team will remain focused on driving the best outcomes for our customers,” said SeaGil CEO Kimberly Tilford.
AIN Webinar: How LEO Can Enhance Bizjet Connectivity
Join us on January 17 to hear from a panel of experts who will discuss the latest technological advancement for broadband connectivity in aviation—low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Gain a deeper understanding of how LEO and a small electronically-steered antenna can yield low-latency, high-speed broadband for virtually any business aircraft anywhere around the globe. You’ll hear directly from those at Gogo, OneWeb, and Hughes Network Systems who are bringing LEO connectivity to business aircraft ranging from turboprops to ultra-long-range jets. Register for this free one-hour webinar.
Air Culinaire Opens Teterboro Kitchen
Private aviation catering specialist Air Culinaire has made many improvements to its locations over the past two years, among them the opening of its new flagship kitchen near New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport. The Universal Weather and Aviation subsidiary recently moved from South Hackensack into a renovated warehouse just a few blocks from the bustling New York City area private aviation gateway. Each day the facility prepares hundreds of meals for aircraft taking off from more than a dozen New York City area airports from northern New Jersey to eastern Long Island.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
.png){kind=small}
