Bombardier is displaying a full-size cabin mockup of its Challenger 3500 through the end of next month at the private terminal of the Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport in Italy. The Canadian aircraft manufacturer said airport guests can view the interior without an appointment.

“The presence of the Bombardier Challenger 3500 mockup in a frequented travel destination such as Olbia is a testament to our commitment to providing a stress-free and easy access to product viewing,” said Bombardier v-p of international sales Emmanuel Bornand. “This is one of the many ways we make the business aviation experience unique. Every step of the way, we consistently tailor our services and support to meet our clients at their altitude, and that only comes from a genuine understanding of who they are and what they need.

“We are thankful to have this opportunity to showcase the amazing comfort, luxury, and seamless technological features of the best-selling Challenger 3500 in the beautiful Sardinian FBO,” he added.

The Challenger 3500 recently won the ‘’Best of the Best’’ Red Dot Award for Product Design. Bombardier claims the 3,400-nm super-midsize jet has a dispatch reliability rate exceeding 99.8% and the lowest direct operating costs in its class.

Two years after it began, the permanent conversion of Phillips 66's San Francisco Bay-area refinery from handling crude oil to producing renewable fuels is now complete. Known as the Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex, the plant has reached full output capacity of 50,000 barrels of renewable diesel and/or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) a day.

The facility includes new pre-treatment units to process feedstocks such as used cooking oil, fats, and greases. It became operational in March with an output of 30,000 barrels of renewable fuel a day.

Meanwhile, two other major fuel producers—BP and Shell—have sent mixed signals to the sustainable fuel market. UK-based BP reported that, while it has agreed to take full ownership of Bunge Bioenergia—its Brazilian biofuel joint venture and one of the country’s largest biofuel producers—the company is scaling back plans for development of new SAF and renewable diesel biofuels projects at its existing sites, pausing planning for two potential projects while continuing to assess three for progression. BP said the moves are aligned with its drive to simplify its portfolio, with a focus on value and returns.

Shell last week revealed it is pausing construction at its Rotterdam biofuels facility to “address project delivery and ensure future competitiveness given current market conditions.” It noted that low-carbon fuels remain a key part of its strategy to help the company and its customers profitably decarbonize.

Joby Aviation has flown its eVTOL aircraft with a hydrogen-electric propulsion system developed by its German subsidiary H2Fly. The company announced today that in June its demonstrator aircraft flew 523 miles, which is more than five times the range of the aircraft powered by its standard battery-electric powertrain.

According to Joby, the flight demonstrates the potential for regional eVTOL air services connecting cities, rather than simply flying in and around metropolitan areas. The company said it believes this was the first forward flight of a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen.

The pre-production prototype aircraft was fitted with a liquid hydrogen fuel tank and fuel cell system. Joby said the demonstrator, which has already flown more than 25,000 miles with the battery-electric powertrain, landed with 10% of its hydrogen fuel load remaining.

An engineering team from Joby has been working with colleagues at Stuttgart-based H2Fly for several years. In September 2023, H2Fly set a record when it flew the world’s first piloted flight of a conventional liquid hydrogen-electric aircraft using fuel cell technology.

The demonstrator aircraft features a fuel tank designed and built by Joby, which stores up to 40 kilograms of liquid hydrogen, and a smaller number of batteries than the standard eVTOL model. The hydrogen is fed into a fuel cell system developed by H2Fly.

Republican leaders of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee are directing key agency leaders to evaluate how the recent Supreme Court ruling that overturned the so-called Chevron doctrine will affect their rulemaking and court decisions. In place since the mid-1980s, the Chevron doctrine provided federal agencies with deference in legal challenges to their rulemaking and other activities.

“Unsurprisingly, Chevron unleashed decades of successively broader, more costly, and more invasive assertions of agency power over citizens’ lives, liberty, and property, as agencies adopted expansive interpretations of assertedly ambiguous statutes, demanding courts defer to them,” said Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri), the chairman of the committee, and Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), chairman of T&I’s oversight committee, in letters to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

The lawmakers further asserted that the current administration has promulgated “far more major rules, imposing far more costs and paperwork burdens, than either of its recent predecessor administrations.”

They directed the agencies to send “any information” about rules proposed or promulgated, agency adjudications initiated or completed, enforcement actions brought, or interpretive rules proposed or issued since Jan. 20, 2021, when President Biden took office. They further asked for this information by July 23.

With decades of experience in the purchase and acquisition of business jet and turboprop aircraft assets, Duncan Aviation’s Aircraft Sales & Acquisitions Team compiled some of their expertise in a Straight Talk book, which explores important considerations when navigating the pre-owned aircraft marketplace.

According to new research from Private Jet Card Comparisons, sellers of fixed- and capped-rate jet cards with guaranteed availability increased pricing by 1.8% over the first six months of 2024. However, they continued to make using hours easier with fewer peak days, lower daily minimums, and reduced lead time to book charter flights.

“It’s a good news, bad news situation,” said Doug Gollan, president and editor-in-chief of Private Jet Card Comparisons. “After declining from their 2022 highs in 2023, jet card pricing has now stabilized and is inching back up.”

According to the study, the average hourly jet card price at the end of the second quarter was $10,953, 6.8% less than fourth-quarter 2022 but still 30.3% higher than late 2020, when the CARES Act waived the 7.5% federal excise tax.

Hourly jet card rates in the quarter were 23.6% higher than 2019 pre-Covid levels. Daily minimums for light, midsize, and super-midsize continued to decline and are now below 2019 levels, providing a price break for shorter flights. Daily minimums for midsize and super-midsize jets also dropped.

"Short flights to avoid connecting in airline hubs or long drives are a popular reason to use private jets, so the decrease in daily minimums is important for those customers,” Gollan said.

Global business jet departures and flight hours last week were on par with that from a year ago, according to the latest weekly report from JetNet subsidiary WingX. Meanwhile, Part 135 and Part 91K activity climbed by 4%. Year-to-date global jet and turboprop activity is down 2% versus the same period in 2023 but remains 37% above pre-Covid levels.

For the Fourth of July weekend, 19,166 business jet departures were recorded in the U.S., 8% more than the holiday period last year. There were more than 4,600 fractional flights in that span, up by nearly 800 from a year ago. Florida was a hotspot with 4,176 business jet departures, followed by Texas and California.

Across the Atlantic, overall European business jet activity for the week dropped by 3% versus a year ago with the exception of Germany, which was up 6% as the UEFA Euro Tournament reaches a climax. The UK, which hosted major events such as Wimbledon and the UK F1 Grand Prix, also saw a 3% increase year over year.

“Week 27 almost exactly matched Week 27 in 2023, with variable geographic trends, the U.S. seeing a bump up, in contrast to declines in June, and was especially strong in Part 135 and 91K operations,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe, adding that Europe’s slide was mainly in private and corporate activity.

Textron Aviation has moved its parts stockroom in Alaska from Fairbanks to Anchorage to improve the accessibility and efficiency of aircraft parts distribution in the region. Based on customer feedback, the move builds on the company’s previous investment of increased parts availability in Alaska for Cessna, Beechcraft, and Hawker operators, including the new Cessna SkyCourier turboprop twin. The stockroom resides with Northland Aviation’s Anchorage facility, a Textron Aviation-authorized service facility since 1986.

“Aviation in Alaska is essential to the transportation infrastructure,” said Brad White, Textron Aviation's senior v-p for global parts and distribution. “Many of our Alaskan customers rely on our products to access their homes, their communities, and run their businesses. Logistically speaking, Anchorage is the central distribution hub for Alaska. Increasing parts availability and relocating inventory to Anchorage will enable faster delivery times of the critical parts customers need to get back in the air.”

Beechcraft, Cessna, and Hawker customers receive factory-direct support, maintenance, and modifications by Textron Aviation through it’s global network of service and parts centers, mobile service units, and 24-hour AOG support. The company's parts stockroom in Anchorage is part of a global network of seven parts distribution centers and 17 stockrooms. Textron Aviation carries more than 150,000 unique part numbers and employs a team of some 600 technical support professionals.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Trimec Aviation has expanded its maintenance capabilities to include support for the Dassault Falcon 7X and 8X. The MRO company provides scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, avionics installations, engine removal and replacements, battery servicing, paint, and interior refurbishments.

“We continue to invest in our technical team’s training and expertise and are excited to now offer Falcon 7X and 8X maintenance and support to our growing customer community throughout Texas and beyond,” said Trimec Aviation general manager John Holland. “We are looking forward to expanding our Falcon work in addition to our continued focus with Gulfstream and Challenger airframes and various STCs.”

Along with expanding airframe and engine capabilities, Trimec Aviation received a supplemental type certificate earlier this year to retrofit Falcon 2000s and 2000EXs with the Universal Avionics’ InSight flight display system.

Besides the Falcon 7X and 8X, Trimec offers comprehensive MRO service and parts sales for the IAI Astra/Astra SPX and Westwind 1124/1124A; Gulfstream G100, G150, G200/Galaxy, IV, IV-SP, and V; Falcon 50, 2000, and 900; Beechcraft King Air 90 and 300; and Bombardier Challenger 600 series.

AIN’s FBO survey is now open for year-round feedback, but the deadline to vote in the 2025 survey (to be published in April) is February 3. The survey takes only a minute, and you can do it while waiting for passengers, on the shuttle bus to/from the hotel, or any other time that is convenient for you. Participants will be entered to win one of five $50 Amazon gift cards (winner must reside in the U.S.). Log in to rate your experiences at the FBOs you visit.