FlightServ, which began operations at New Jersey’s Trenton Mercer Airport (KTTN) in 2017 as one of two FBOs, has opened its permanent facility there. The $30 million, 22-acre complex features a two-story 30,000-sq-ft terminal with passenger and pilot lounges, shower facilities, tenant office space, snooze rooms, a catering kitchen, two 12-seat conference rooms, concierge, cafeteria, and dining area. It represents a major upgrade from the company’s previous 2,000-sq-ft, 1950s-era terminal that was returned to the airport authority for use by the New Jersey State Police.
An adjoining 80,000-sq-ft heated hangar can accommodate the latest ultra-long-range business jets, adding much-needed hangar space to the crowded Northeast market. The Avfuel-branded location offers the fuel provider’s loyalty and contract fuel programs.
“When we established ourselves on the field five years ago, our goal was to serve the region’s aircraft with the caliber of services and amenities they deserved but had yet to see,” said Robbie Hunter, the company’s v-p of operations. “Our first-rate services are now reflected in first-rate accommodations, providing the ultimate Northeast gateway to business and leisure.”
KTTN serves New Jersey’s capital city, as well as northeast Philadelphia.
AINsight: Preowned Bizcraft Pricing Is Anybody’s Guess
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and is back at their desks ready to see what awaits us: more preowned aircraft supply, more pricing headwinds, and more days on the market.
More, more, more—or prehaps less, less, less? It might take us the first couple of months of 2023 to have a clearer picture of the landscape ahead of us.
Except for the typical last-minute closings at the end of the year, there seemed to be less panic and frenzy this year over the last two years. As I have said, possibly due to less supply, possibly due to a bit less demand.
Currently, the majority of our industry does not expect the pricing to go back to pre-pandemic levels. But with what I expect will be more supply in 2023, there should be a return of a more balanced transaction. That includes more price negotiation with residual loss once again prevailing, and a fairer, due-diligence process allowed by the seller.
Business aircraft flight activity slowed globally in December, marking a 5 percent decrease from a year earlier. In addition, activity ebbed by 1.8 percent month-over-month, according to the latest TraqPak report from Argus International.
North America was a driver of the December traffic decline, falling 6.2 percent year-over-year and 2.7 percent from November. Even so, operations in the region were still 12.7 percent higher from pre-pandemic December 2019.
Part 91 activity in North America dipped 7.6 percent in December from a year earlier, while Part 135 operations declined 6.4 percent and fractional by 1.3 percent. As for December operations by aircraft type in the region, midsize jets saw the biggest decrease of 9.1 percent, followed by large-cabin jets, -5.7 percent; light jets, -5.5 percent; and turboprops, -3.7 percent.
Also driving the global decline last month were operations in Europe, which dropped 15.8 percent from a year earlier. As in North America, all jet categories were down, with large-cabins plunging by 36.6 percent year-over-year and midsize jets by 11.5 percent. Light jet operations fell by just one percentage point while turboprop activity was relatively flat, up 0.6 percent.
In the rest of the world, activity jumped by 10.5 percent. Argus expects a small rebound in North America this month, estimated at a 2.3 percent year-over-year increase.
AviationManuals has updated its international operations procedures service to comply with new flight planning code requirements from the FAA that address gaps in codes that are ambiguous regarding specific advanced navigation capabilities.
As an example, the additional codes allow operators to specify if an aircraft is fitted with advanced required navigation performance (RNP) and related capabilities such as radius to fix, time-of-arrival control, and RNP-2 in continental or oceanic airspace. The codes are effective immediately and required for any aircraft using these capabilities in FAA-controlled airspace.
“The regulatory and operational environment in aviation is constantly changing,” said AviationManuals CEO Mark Baier. “It is important for operators to have a clear process for continually monitoring for updates from the FAA and other sources that may affect them to ensure they do not fall behind.”
As part of continuing investments in its catering kitchens, Air Culinaire has completed the move of its major facility in London to a 8,700-sq-ft kitchen just minutes from Luton Airport. The improved facility—more than four times the size of the former location—features modern cooking appliances, energy-efficient equipment and lighting, anti-bacterial flooring and walls, and retractable spray-down systems for cleaning. It also includes pass-through refrigeration portals to maintain temperature compliance.
To celebrate the move, the company has introduced a “London Lifestyle” menu, curated by executive chef Aaron Watson. This menu features more than 50 dishes such as British smoked salmon, eight-hour braised BBQ pork shoulder, tonka bean Eton mess, and crusted seabass. Watson also led the transition to the new facility.
Also in London, Air Culinaire will trade one of the smallest kitchens in its network—located in a WWII-vintage former Royal Air Force flight crew kitchen at Biggin Hill Airport—for the kitchen in The Approach, the restaurant in the soon-to-open The Landing Hotel on the airfield. In addition to providing its normal flight catering, Air Culinaire will also operate the restaurant serving hotel guests.
Business aircraft sales and acquisitions company Jetcraft has achieved carbon-neutral status through a partnership with Azzera, a carbon offsetting and compliance firm. Through the partnership, Jetcraft has removed 3,596 verified tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions—matching 100 percent of its own emissions—through investment in a variety of environmental projects. They include projects for forest conservation in North Carolina and Papua New Guinea, as well as wind power supplies in South Africa.
“It’s important to us and our clients that Jetcraft has a solid response to our environmental challenges,” said Jetcraft president Peter Antonenko. “With Azzera, we’ve gone beyond words and delivered a scheme that achieves total verified carbon neutrality across everything we do. We’re a global business and therefore our efforts must have a global impact, which is why we’re excited to be positively influencing climate projects in as many regions as possible.”
The London-based company’s carbon emissions have been certified and verified by a third-party audit and include International Civil Aviation Organization Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation-eligible offset measures.
Garmin has received FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) approval for the installation of its GI 275 electronic flight instrument in Airbus AStar helicopters, including the AS350BA, B2, B3, and B3E variants.
The GI 275 is a direct replacement for legacy instruments such as the primary attitude indicator, course deviation indicator (CDI), horizontal situation indicator (HSI), or multifunction display (MFD). Sized to fit standard 3.125-inch flight instrument openings, the unit features a touchscreen display and interfaces with the flight instrument via the touchscreen and a dual concentric knob for access to a variety of key functions.
When installed as a primary attitude indicator, the GI 275 can also display optional helicopter synthetic vision technology overlays including a 3D topographic view of terrain, traffic, obstacles, power lines, and airport signposts. Installed as a CDI or HSI, the GI 275 is designed to accept two GPS and two VHF navigation inputs. The GI 275 features an omni-bearing resolver that allows the flight instrument to interface to a variety of legacy navigators without the need for an adapter.
The GI 275 also doubles as a digital indicator and adds MFD-like capabilities such as a moving map, weather, traffic, obstacles, WireAware, SafeTaxi, and five-color terrain shading. Helicopter terrain awareness and warning system is available on the GI 275 and offers forward-looking terrain and obstacle avoidance capability.
NASA’s SOFIA flying telescope, retired in September after 12 years of observing the cosmos from the stratosphere in a modified Boeing 747, is moving to its permanent home at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) made its final flight on December 13, departing from its old headquarters at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Palmdale Regional Airport in California. After taking off, the aircraft’s pilots conducted one last low-altitude flyby of the area “with a wing tilt to acknowledge everyone in the community who has supported and worked on SOFIA,” NASA officials wrote in a blog post. SOFIA landed at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, where it is undergoing final preparations before going on display at the museum.
Pima is one of the world’s largest aerospace museums. It is home to several other retired NASA aircraft, such as the Super Guppy that was used to transport Saturn V rocket parts during the Apollo era. The museum also houses a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker nicknamed the “Weightless Wonder V,” which the agency used to simulate weightlessness by flying in parabolic arcs for astronaut training and science experiments.
Just chilling on the ramp. Bombardier Global Express captain Trevor McGregor recently was in Quebec for the afternoon and, unfortunately, the freezing rain forecast “proved much worse than anticipated.” He added, “Type 1 and Type 4 were applied for the trip home.” We hope you’re spending this afternoon in a warmer clime! And thanks for sharing this photo, Trevor.
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