Fractional-jet-share provider Flexjet will open three more private terminals this year, bringing its total to seven in the U.S. The new terminals will be at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Montana, and Scottsdale Airport in Arizona.
“More people than ever are electing to travel by private aircraft,” said Flexjet chief experience officer Megan Wolf. “Expanding our private terminals in top locations ensures a more intimate experience for our [aircraft share] owners. This increase in traffic means the large general aviation FBOs in popular departure and arrival points are more hectic than in the past. Flexjet’s owners-only lounges offer comfort and amenities.”
Opa Locka, the first of the three new terminals to be opened, will provide amenities such as a fully stocked bar and café stations, high-speed Wi-Fi access, modern conference rooms, and dedicated concierges. Opa Locka also will be served by Flexjet’s helicopter service. Using Sikorsky S-76 helicopters, the service will provide transport to Flexjet customers to their final South Florida destinations.
Flexjet’s other private terminals are at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport; Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York; Dallas Love Field; and Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles.
AINsight: How To Protect Owner Privacy in Bizav
Business aircraft owners around the globe constantly risk exposure of their personal information on the ground and in the air. The consequences could result in threats to their safety and security or cause the loss of opportunities for them or their enterprises. For large corporations, even the optics of operating business aircraft may invite unwanted public scrutiny.
In light of these risks, aircraft owners and operators (owners) should, with their best advisors, apply technology tools to thwart breaches of privacy, create legal ownership structures to protect their identity, and implement security and aircraft use plans to mitigate these risks. They should also monitor and adapt to changes in laws that affect access to personal information, such as the FAA’s controversial pivot on December 12 to enhance privacy—at a potentially burdensome cost.
According to data compiled by AIN, U.S.-registered business jets suffered no fatal accidents last year. That is a significant improvement from 2021 when 23 people lost their lives in six (all Part 91) accidents involving N-numbered business jets.
Meanwhile, non-U.S.-registered business jets were involved in three fatal accidents last year, resulting in 14 deaths versus a single fatality from one crash in 2021. These accidents included the June 22 crash of a chartered Venezuela-registered Bombardier Learjet 55 while on approach to Charallave-Machado Zuloaga Airport; the crash on takeoff from Rio Grande Airport on July 1 of an Argentina-registered Learjet 35A; and the crash into the Baltic Sea near Latvia on September 4 of an Austria-registered Cessna Citation II/SP.
In an uptick of accidents involving business turboprops, 37 died in 11 mishaps of N-numbered turboprops last year—up from 23 deaths in 10 accidents in 2021. All but one of the fatal accidents in both comparable periods occurred during Part 91 flights. The nine fatal accidents involving non-U.S.-registered business turboprops in 2022 represented an increase of one from 2021, but the number of fatalities decreased from 40 in 2021 to 26 last year.
Global business aircraft flight activity appears to be trending slightly upward so far this year, with jet and turboprop sectors in the first nine days of the month 3 percent ahead of where they were a year ago and 16 percent ahead of 2019, according to WingX’s latest Global Market Tracker. Business jet activity alone, however, has been flat as softening charter activity has offset the increase in private flights.
In North America, the 66,000 business jet sectors flown in the first nine days of the month represent a 0.3 percent decline from 2022 and an 18 percent increase from the comparable period in 2019. Notably, branded charter is down 18 percent from the first nine days of 2022. However, fractional and private flight activity is up 12 percent from last year.
In Europe, the 9,000 business jet flights in the first nine days of the month represented a 13 percent decline from January a year ago but also a 9 percent increase from 2019. While flights have been down 12 percent in France, the country has been the busiest market in Europe so far, followed by the UK and Switzerland.
Outside of North America and Europe, business jet activity has jumped by 38 percent from early 2022 and by 82 percent from 2019. Brazil has been the busiest market outside North America and Europe, followed by India and Australia.
Textron Aviation has delivered the 3,000th Cessna Caravan, the company announced today. The milestone aircraft—a Grand Caravan EX—was purchased by Azula Conecta, a subsidiary of Brazilian airline Azul, and will be based at Jundiai Airport in Sao Paulo.
Employees and representatives from Azul Conecta attended a ceremony at Textron Aviation’s plant in Independence, Kansas, to mark the delivery. “The Cessna Caravan’s versatility and reliability have made it the most popular aircraft in the utility turboprop category,” said Lannie O’Bannion, senior v-p of sales and flight operations at Textron Aviation.
Introduced by Cessna in 1985, the airplane offers low operating costs and—with a short-takeoff capability in mountainous terrain—is designed for rugged utility use in remote areas. Sales of the Caravan were also propelled by FedEx, whose initial order for 30 of the airplanes later swelled to 300.
“This Grand Caravan EX will proudly fly the Brazilian skies and connect our 158 destinations, many of which are made possible by the aircraft’s utility and flexibility,” said Flavio Costa, chief technical officer of Azul and president of Azul Conecta.
Users of private aircraft heading to the annual World Economic Forum—which starts on Monday in Davos, Switzerland—are being encouraged to use book-and-claim for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) credit if SAF is not available at their departure airports.
The Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel noted that book-and-claim—a process by which a customer pays for SAF and receives the environmental credit even though the fuel may be dispensed and consumed elsewhere in another aircraft—will be available through Basel, Switzerland-based Jet Aviation. Use of book-and-claim increases demand for SAF—which provides lifecycle carbon emissions reductions compared with conventional jet-A—and further incentivizes production.
“Purchasing SAF provides travelers with a way to directly invest in eliminating aviation lifecycle emissions,” said Adrienne Gibbs, policy lead for the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow initiative. “Clean Skies for Tomorrow is excited about the progress made on SAF in recent years and about the purchase options that exist for both business aviation customers and those traveling on airlines.”
The wreckage of the medevac King Air that went missing off Maui on December 15 has been recovered along with the bodies of the pilot and two medical crewmembers. Salvagers discovered the wreckage in approximately 6,420 feet of water, 1,200 feet south of the aircraft’s last ADS-B fix.
Registered as N13GZ, the 22-year-old King Air C90A was being operated by Guardian Life Flight and was en route to a patient pickup at Waimea on the island of Hawaii. In its preliminary report on the accident, the NTSB noted that after departure the turboprop twin climbed per instructions to 13,000 feet and was on course. However, six minutes before the crash, the pilot began to have increasing difficulty complying with ATC course instructions.
According to the NTSB, less than a minute before the crash the pilot reported that he was “off navigation” and requested direct to TAMMI. ATC then instructed him to make a right turn to 170 degrees and maintain an altitude of 8,000 feet. Eleven seconds later, a radio call to ATC believed to be the accident pilot said simply, “Hang on.” It was the last radio call from the aircraft.
The pilot of a Piper PA-44 in the area reported observing N13GZ at 12,000 feet descending to 8,000 feet, turning right, and then making a spiral descent to impact.
The Carolinas Aviation Museum officially changed its name to the Sullenberger Aviation Museum at an announcement yesterday at the STEAM Academy in west Charlotte, North Carolina. The museum was renamed to honor Capt. C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger and the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 for landing in New York’s Hudson River after double engine failure from a bird strike.
The ceremony also included an update to the museum’s capital campaign and its new facility, which will be adjacent to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The museum houses the Airbus A320 that was plucked from the Hudson. The 105,000-sq-ft multi-building campus will include flight simulators, interactive exhibits, and STEM education programs. It is expected to open at the end of this year.
To date, the museum’s capital campaign has raised 94 percent of the $31 million goal. Contributors include $5 million from Charlotte Douglas Airport’s Cannon Fund, a $1.5 million gift from Honeywell, and $1 million from Bank of America to name and sponsor the Miracle on the Hudson exhibit. The bank had nearly two dozen employees on Flight 1549.
Also, Red Ventures CEO Ric Elias—who was aboard 1549—personally contributed $1 million along with $500,000 from Red Ventures company Lonely Planet. “Flight 1549 changed the course of my life and gave me the ultimate gift of a second chance,” said Elias.
Photo of the Week
Morning glory. Sandro Guidetti captured this picture of the Pilatus PC-24 and PC-12 against the backdrop of a brilliant sunrise early December 31 at Biarritz Airport in France. The aircraft stood ready for the New Year. Thanks for sharing, Sandro!
Keep them coming. If you’d like to submit an entry for Photo of the Week, email a high-resolution horizontal image (at least 2000 x 1200 pixels), along with your name, contact information, social media names, and info about it (including brief description, location, etc.) to photos@ainonline.com. Tail numbers can be removed upon request. Those submitting photos give AIN implied consent to publish them in its publications and social media channels.
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