Sichuan Huahui Business Aviation Services, the FBO operator at China’s Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, has opened its new facility. A partnership between Sichuan Airport Group Aviation Ground Services and Sino Jet, the Chengdu FBO will integrate traditional long-haul business aviation operations with the emerging low-altitude sector. The country’s low-altitude economy is expected to reach a value of RMB 2 trillion ($275 billion) by 2030.

The 5,500-sq-m (59,000-sq-ft) facility not only offers comprehensive services for private jets and their clients—including upscale dining and art exhibitions—but also serves as a hub for eVTOL and other low-altitude regional aircraft. This allows passengers to seamlessly transition between the two modes, the companies said.

According to Sichuan Huahui Business Aviation Services, which has positioned itself as a pioneer in the “business aviation and low-altitude economy” model, identifying the potential of the eVTOL/advanced air mobility sector will allow it to offer seamless connections for door-to-door travel options. It added that this would “inject new vitality into urban transportation in the Southwest region and beyond, presenting new solutions to increasingly severe urban traffic congestion issues.”

Columbia Helicopters (CHI) is joining forces with Piasecki Aircraft to upgrade tandem rotor heavy-lift rotorcraft for a variety of civil and military applications. Under a partnership announced today, the companies will upgrade existing Model 107-II helicopters to deliver greater fuel efficiency, power, and reliability as the new Columbia CHI-107-III.

Modifications will include the installation of upgraded General Electric CT-58 turboshafts with 25% more power than the existing T-58 engines. It will also involve fitting a new glass cockpit and an improved autopilot, as well as a new rotor system with lower maintenance requirements, a health monitoring system, and a new fuel system for extended range. The partners have not yet confirmed the details of the improved performance figures.

As the owner of the former Boeing type and production certificates for the helicopter, Columbia will have overall responsibility for the project. The modifications will be made and then tested at Piasecki’s 219,000-sq-ft facility in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, which was formerly Sikorsky’s production line for the S-76 and S-92 helicopters. Oregon-based CHI will also now have access to the Piasecki facility, which it calls the Heliplex, to provide support to customers on the U.S. East Coast.

Online air charter marketplace Flyjets has launched Flyjets+, which includes features such as “bid offer” and “fly empty” that allows users to create empty legs, which the company says will increase charter aircraft utilization. The build for the application was finished last year and it is currently live for customers, Flyjets said.

“What we do is we say, ‘Okay, an airplane would be priced at X if it was outright pricing, given it would fly to and from Teterboro to Opa Locka, Opa Locka back to Teterboro—we can split that between two parties on opposing routes, that price is going to be 40% below for each party,” explained Flyjets CEO Jessica Fisher.

The company also unveiled the "fly green" calculator. “It basically enables anyone to calculate offsets automatically whether they're on the site or off the site. So whether you're booking through the app or you just want to find out, ‘Hey, I'm going from point A to B in this airplane or I'm taking a flying lesson for X number of hours in this airplane—what is my cost going to be to offset my trip?’” she said. 

Further, Flyjets is hoping to eventually include sustainable aviation fuel redemptions in the app, according to Fisher.

Aircare International will open its latest flight crew emergency training facility on July 15 in Las Vegas. Similar to the training provider’s other five locations throughout the country, this center—located just off the southeast corner of Harry Reid International Airport (KLAS) in the recently-opened CAE flight training complex—will offer full-motion cabin simulators, live firefighting exercises, hypoxia simulation, and water survival skills.

Aircare’s FACTS training curriculum combines online self-study modules, interactive classroom discussions, and intensive, hands-on practical exercises to encourage knowledge retention and emergency response skills. At the Las Vegas facility, one-day pilot courses will be available weekly, while open-enrollment flight attendant courses will be offered one or two times a month, along with other on-demand training options.

“Business aviation activity continues to increase in the Las Vegas area, making it an ideal location for a full-time training center,” said Brian Hayvaz, v-p of operations for Aircare FACTS training. “The new facility will offer flexible and comprehensive training solutions in a convenient location.”

As a young captain for a small five-airplane wet lease airline, Nicholas Dmoch thought his leadership style was “soft and laissez-faire,” he recalled. But shortly after leaving to join a large business aviation fleet operator, a lead flight attendant at the airline did Dmoch a big favor: she gave him a far more accurate assessment of his leadership style, and that sparked the idea for what became his new service, RateMyCRM.

“She said I came across as authoritarian,” he said. “Even in that small company, no one told me [that]. No one did.” So he decided to create a feedback mechanism for flight crew to rate each other—by invitation only—and he called it RateMyCRM.

A problem with crew resource management (CRM) is that the training is usually lumped in with simulator training. “The situation is artificial,” he said, “and people show their best behavior. When flying on the line with someone, there are so many opportunities for observations because people behave in a more normal way.”

What Dmoch has found during his career is that people want feedback and benefit from receiving it, but that it also is rarely given. RateMyCRM is designed not to allow feedback from anyone except from those who are invited to provide feedback. There is no fee for the person providing the feedback.

Leonardo has selected Tokyo-based Aero Facility as a distributor for the AW09 helicopter being developed by its Kopter subsidiary in Mollis, Switzerland. Aero Facility ordered six AW09s in March 2023 and, as a distributor will be responsible for all commercial applications for the AW09 in Japan. 

Aero Facility has been building heliports and helidecks for 30 years, supplying ancillary equipment, and selling and maintaining helicopters and airplanes. There are about 160 helicopters operating in Japan conducting law enforcement, emergency medical service, search and rescue, firefighting, disaster relief, VIP/corporate transport, electronic newsgathering, and maritime utility operations. 

The composite-fuselage, eight-passenger AW09 brings new capabilities into the light single-engine rotorcraft category, including rear-loading through clamshell doors, low-vibration rotor system, and shrouded tailrotor. It also features touchscreen Garmin G3000H avionics and is powered by a 1,000-shp Safran Arriel 2K engine.

Maximum range is 432 nm and endurance more than five hours. With a cruise speed of 140 knots, the AW09 will have a maximum takeoff weight of 6,284 pounds and be able to lift an external load of 3,300 pounds.

AEG Fuels continues to grow its global AEG Connect network of branded FBOs, with the addition of four companies with five locations on three continents.

The new entries include Aviation Etcetera, a service provider at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport (CYUL). “We are thrilled to welcome Aviation Etcetera to the AEG Connect Network as our first location in Canada,” explained Marc Ramthun, the fuel provider’s v-p for general aviation. 

Million Air at Vancouver International Airport (CYVR) quickly became the second Canadian member of the AEG-sponsored group, undergoing the audit to ensure it met the standards for exceptional service.

Further south, Helicol at Bogotá, Colombia’s El Dorado International Airport (SKBO) also joined the network. In addition to FBO operations, it provides maintenance and flight training and operates a charter fleet of aircraft and helicopters.

Global Trek Aviation—which has FBOs at Belfast International Airport (EGAA) in Northern Ireland and Cardiff International Airport (EGFF) in Wales—is the group’s first UK member. The company employs the NATA Safety 1^st line service training program, and both locations are IS-BAH Stage 1 registered.

The AEG Network officially launched in late 2022. These latest additions bring it to 19 locations worldwide.