Textron Aviation Special Missions is introducing a Cessna Citation Longitude variant designed for maritime patrol activities. Under the design, the Citation Longitude MPA has an eight-hour loiter capability and a 3,500-nm maximum range.
It also features a transmissive belly radome for maritime radars, beyond-line-of-sight fairing, electro-optical/infrared sensor lift, and optional night vision goggle-compatible lighting. That makes it capable of conducting surveillance missions over land and water, as well as conducting search and rescue, border patrol, and fishery monitoring, according to the Wichita-based aircraft manufacturer.
“The Cessna Citation Longitude provides an excellent value for special-mission operations due to its acquisition cost and operation cost combined with excellent speed, range, and payload capacity,” said Textron Aviation v-p of special missions sales Bob Gibbs. “Textron Aviation has developed and had certified factory provisions for various mission equipment supporting maritime patrol and surveillance missions, maximizing value for operations worldwide.”
The 2022 base price for a Longitude is $29.96 million. Additional costs for the Longitude MPA are based on customer requirements.
Month-to-date worldwide business aircraft activity saw a 13 percent improvement from pre-pandemic 2019, but logged a 0.4 percent decline from the same period last year, according to aviation industry data tracker WingX Advance.
In the North American market, business aircraft flew 5 percent fewer sectors so far this month compared to last July, but is up 6 percent versus July 2019. The U.S. business jet market is still flying above 2019 levels, though Part 135 and 91K activity was off 7 percent from the same period last year, continuing a trend over the past month. Private flight department flight hour activity indicates owners flying more than ever, and corporate flight departments this month have registered a little more activity than in July 2019.
Europe is currently seeing peak business jet demand with the start of the summer holidays. Overall, the region has seen 13 percent more flights year-over-year thus far this month.
“The less-than-rosy economic outlook is clearly starting to erode the previously unstinting growth in business jet demand in the key U.S. market,” said Wing X managing director Richard Koe, adding that Texas, California, and Florida are all seeing sizeable year-on-year declines in charter activity. “Europe is behind the U.S. curve on the Covid rebound and also in peak summer season, so we’ll probably not see that decline until September.”
Charter and fractional provider Volato is increasing its pay and enhancing its benefits package for pilots as a way to counter “a shrinking talent pool,” the HondaJet operator announced this week.
Pilots at Volato will be offered a starting salary of $150,000 and $170,000 at two years. They also will be offered a benefits package that includes 100 percent coverage for health, dental, and vision. Additionally, pilot and crew schedules are eight days on and six days off. Volato also hopes the lure of flying HondaJets with Garmin integrated avionics suites will be appealing to new pilots.
Volato was founded in September 2021 as a fractional provider of HondaJets. In December, the company launched a pay-by-the-hour charter program in which a portion of the charter fees is returned to the company’s aircraft shareowners. Volato started with a single HondaJet Elite S, along with an initial order for 10 more of the light twinjets. In January, Volato placed a second order for 15 more HondaJets.
The company operates from bases in Atlanta; Baltimore; Carlsbad, California; Houston; and St. Augustine and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Following the Canadian government’s announcement last week that the proposed luxury tax on certain vehicles—including essentially all new general aviation aircraft purchases—will be enacted on September 1, the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) warned the new law will have "serious implications for business aviation in particular."
The tax applies to new cars and aircraft with a retail sales price exceeding $100,000 and to boats exceeding $250,000. The tax would be calculated at the lesser of 20 percent of the value above these retail price thresholds or 10 percent of the vehicle's full value. These regulations would provide that the tax is applied to "written sales agreements" entered into after Jan. 1, 2022.
The government intends to release draft regulations in the near term that would clarify transitional provisions and that would relieve the tax on sales of certain aircraft for export. "This refinement would mitigate certain cash flow issues raised by Canadian manufacturers and exporters of aircraft,” the government's announcement said.
"Issues remain and, crucially, we have lost faith in the constructive dialogue with government on decisions of vital importance to our members,” CBAA lamented. “We urge this government to return to the table and, at the very least, consult with our sector on reasonable timelines for tax policy changes that should not be punitive but indeed supportive for all Canadians."
EmbraerX, a subsidiary of the Brazilian airframer dedicated to bringing new technologies and innovation to market, is opening an office at the Aerospace Innovation Hub of the technical university TU Delft Campus in the Netherlands. Under an agreement, the office will be operational by the end of the year, building on an ongoing collaboration between Embraer and the Netherlands aviation community.
Daniel Moczydlower, CEO of EmbraerX, said the company’s physical presence at this hub will help it explore technologies for new business. “Being here, we will be able to develop joint educational, research, and innovation projects that will create a vision for a greener future to mobility,” he noted.
The office occupied by EmbraerX at the Aerospace Innovation Hub will enable it to tap into the “TU Delft entrepreneurial ecosystem,” including startups, test facilities, and spin-offs, as well as foster collaborations between professionals and researchers of both organizations, the company added.
“The Aerospace Innovation Hub aims to accelerate innovation in aerospace by facilitating the interaction between science and industry. Having EmbraerX present in the hub will add value to the vibrant ecosystem,” said Femke Verdegaal, director of the Aerospace Innovation Hub.
European business aircraft charter and management firm Elit’Avia introduced a new jet card program that offers carbon-neutral charter flights. To ensure the carbon neutrality of its service, Elit’Avia calculates the carbon-dioxide emissions produced by each flight and offsets that amount by purchasing carbon credits and making investments in environmental projects around the world.
The company said its new Elit’Avia Green Card is the ideal solution for environmentally conscious clients who fly between 25 and 100 hours per year and don't want long-term contracts or membership fees. Instead, the program offers fixed hourly rates and fully refundable flight hours that never expire. Headquartered in Malta, Elit’Avia operates in Europe, northern Afric,a and the Middle East, and it manages a mixed fleet of 25 business and cargo aircraft.
“The Elit’Avia Green Card responds directly to the needs and values of today’s private aviation charter client,” said Elit’Avia CEO Michel Coulomb. “All flights are certified carbon-neutral, which is now a baseline requirement for a growing number of travelers. Plus, the convenience, transparency, and cost-efficiency of the jet card model are well established.”
“Our clients want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And thanks to our industry expertise, we can facilitate that process,” Coulomb added. “Not only is this doing the right thing for the environment, it’s good for business because it has become a competitive advantage.”
Government and industry leaders agree that achieving sustainability goals of net zero by 2050 is vital for aviation and that it would not be able to get there without widespread adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Speaking during a forum—Accelerating Sustainable Aviation and Targeting True Zero—earlier this week at the 2022 Farnborough Airshow, Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East called a focus on sustainable aviation “an absolute necessity and a commercial imperative,” but added it also represents an opportunity.
Jim Hileman, chief scientific advisor for environment and energy for the FAA, noted that while 2050 “seems like a long time from now, it's not.” Building new infrastructure for decarbonization is a long undertaking. A more likely route will be to leverage today’s infrastructure and refining capabilities with SAF. “We have tremendous capability of producing biomass. We also have tremendous capability of using biofuels,” he said. “If we want to get to net zero, that is the answer.”
International Air Transport Association chief Willie Walsh echoed sentiments about a need to accelerate ambitions on sustainability and stressed that international airlines are committed to achieving goals and to a “large degree” will achieve that through SAF. Walsh also emphasized a need to incentivize SAF production.
Bristow Helicopters has been awarded a $1.9 billion, 10-year contract for the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation (UKSAR2G) program by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), an executive agency of the Department for Transport. The contract combines the existing two separate aviation contracts for airplanes and helicopters and will include the use of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
As part of the new contract, Bristow will continue to operate from their current 10 bases and will launch two new seasonal summer bases in Fort William and Carlisle that will operate 12 hours a day from April to September. All other bases will continue to be operational 24 hours a day.
Bristow will work in partnership with 2Excel Aviation and Nova Systems to deliver the contract for the MCA on behalf of Her Majesty's Coastguard. The partners will operate 18 helicopters, six King Airs, and one Schiebel Camcopter S-100 UAS. Bristow also will provide a new search and rescue helicopter simulation training facility at Solent Airport, next to the Coastguard training facility, that will house a synthetic rescue hoist and helicopter suspended over a large training pool.
The TAI A129-based ATAK attack helicopter has been taking part in the daily flying display this week at the Farnborough Airshow, showing off its aerobatic capabilities. It was developed for the Turkish armed forces using Turkish-developed avionics, airframe modifications, and weapon systems.
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