Bombardier today opened its new innovation and design center in Montreal, a strategic facility focused on advancing the cabin experience for business aviation customers. The space will enable rapid development and testing of design innovations independent of aircraft program timelines.

“This is a dedicated space that allows us to focus on customer-centric innovations that will allow us to move rapidly, fail fast, iterate, and bring true, exceptional innovations to our key customers faster than we’ve ever done before,” Bombardier v-p of aircraft innovation Sean Johnson told AIN. Johnson added that he hopes the facility will build upon the industry’s renewed focus on design and completions work.

“This center really allows us to do this off the critical path of a major aircraft program where we can innovate on features and experiences rapidly and then deploy them to all our existing fleets—not just wait for a new, clean-sheet airplane,” he said. “There’s no doubt that, especially in business aircraft, if you want to get it right, the best thing you can do is design around the cabin at the same time you’re developing the aircraft.”

The center will house full-scale mockups and prototypes, allowing Bombardier teams to experiment, iterate, and validate concepts. Located near Bombardier’s manufacturing facilities in the Montreal area, the center aims to allow seamless collaboration between industrial designers, engineers, and upholsterers.

Textron Aviation will showcase its largest-ever static display at this year’s EAA AirVenture from July 21 to 27 at Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The exhibit will also be the largest of any OEM at the 2025 show, according to the company, with at least 16 aircraft including Pipistrel, Lycoming, Bell, and McCauley displays.

Among the featured aircraft is a Cessna Grand Caravan EX with a special paint scheme marking the type’s 40th anniversary. The Cessna SkyCourier freighter variant will be having its Oshkosh debut, alongside other models in the company’s piston, turboprop, and light jet lineups.

The aircraft roster includes the Cessna Skyhawk, Turbo Stationair HD, Turbo Skylane, Skylane, Grand Caravan EX, Beechcraft Denali, Beechcraft King Air 360, Citation M2 Gen2, and mockups of the Citation CJ3 Gen3 and CJ4 Gen3 cockpits.

In addition to the Caravan’s birthday, Textron is celebrating 70 years of the Cessna 172 Skyhawk this year.

Passage of the massive budget reconciliation bill last week has cleared the way for ramped-up spending on air traffic control modernization, the immediate return of full bonus depreciation, increased research and development expensing, and other business-friendly provisions. President Donald Trump signed the package into law on Friday after it narrowly passed the House the previous day.

Congress ultimately settled on a $12.52 billion package to move forward with ambitious plans to upgrade, reorganize, and add new air traffic control facilities over the next several years. The funding covers a gamut of ATC projects from telecommunications upgrades and a new air route traffic control center to runway safety measures, air traffic control staffing and training, and additional weather observation systems.

Beyond the ATC funding, aviation interests had been following numerous other measures in the bill, including the return of bonus depreciation. The bill permits taxpayers to immediately expense 100% of qualified property purchases, including new and preowned business aircraft, effective Jan. 20, 2025. In addition, the bill allows for immediate expensing of research and development costs in the year incurred and provides a two-year extension of the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit, incentivizing production of sustainable aviation fuel to 2031, but reduces the value of the credit.

A two-day strike by some French air traffic controllers on Thursday and Friday has caused the cancellation of at least 40% of flights to and from the country’s airports. France’s DGAC aviation safety agency ordered a reduction in movements at Paris-area airports, including the business aviation hub at Le Bourget (LFPB), and traffic has also been severely disrupted in Nice, Lyon, Marseille, and Montpellier.

Only 270 of around 1,400 French controllers joined the work stoppage. According to the UNSA-ICNA and USAC-CGT trade unions, the action has been taken to protest against what they say are unacceptable working conditions and understaffing. France’s transport minister Philippe Tabarot condemned the strike, which has disrupted the start of the country’s summer vacation season, as well as causing wider problems for airlines operating in other parts of Europe.

According to the ground-handling team at ExecuJet's FBO at LFPB, there were no movements at the facility on either strike day, with 22 customer flights canceled. The company said operations resumed on Saturday.

Signature Aviation confirmed that French authorities instructed that all nonscheduled “public air transport” flights using aircraft with less than 19 seats or with an mtow less than 22,000 pounds should not operate in the Paris terminal maneuvering area. A notam issued as the strike action started also instructed operators to cancel all private flights.

Gogo Galileo HDX revolutionizes business aviation connectivity with global, high-speed broadband powered by Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO constellation. Offering seamless, low-latency internet—even over polar routes—this compact antenna enhances passenger experience and operational efficiency, delivering always-on, multi-orbit, multi-band connectivity for jets worldwide.

Business aviation sustainability solutions provider 4Air reached a milestone with 10 million gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) recorded on its Assure SAF registry. Launched earlier this year, Assure serves as an inventory and registry system for both business and commercial aviation, providing end-to-end traceability from the SAF producer to the supplier or airline, through the FBO, and ultimately to the end user.

This traceability is particularly crucial for book-and-claim, where a customer will pay for and receive SAF’s environmental attributes but the actual fuel is dispensed at an airport where SAF is physically present.

According to 4Air, it can provide a detailed history for even the smallest amount of SAF, as well as preventing double claims on environmental benefits. As a data clearinghouse, it will enable “a true understanding of SAF usage and its impact.”

“The Assure SAF registry is more than just a tracking tool; it is a foundational element for the future of sustainable aviation,” said 4Air COO Nancy Bsales. “By providing a secure, transparent, and verifiable system, we are building the infrastructure necessary to scale SAF production across the industry.”

She added that Assure—which was designed to assist with tracking requirements for both voluntary and regulatory reporting—addresses the critical need for accountability and trust, paving the way for wider adoption of SAF.

Flexjet has selected “Carolina,” an aircraft interior design created by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University freshman Woojae Sohn and his father, Youngmin Sohn, as the winner of its Project LXi—Design the Ultimate Private Jet Interior contest. The Sohns won a $100,000 prize for their design, which will be installed in one of Flexjet’s Gulfstream G650s and added to the company's LXi Cabin Collection.

More than 150 entries were submitted following the contest’s launch in October. A Flexjet panel narrowed down the entries to 12, after which the public voted to select six semi-finalists. Flexjet designers then created detailed renderings of those finalists before sourcing materials to help guide the final decision by Flexjet chairman Kenn Ricci.

Sohn, an aviation business major and member of the Air Force ROTC, collaborated with his father, a design director. The pair spent weekends shaping the design, drawing inspiration from family vacations in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

The Carolina interior features brown, tan, and cream tones, with a grove of trees etched into the bulkhead veneer. Ricci noted the originality of the tufting proposed for the couch and ottoman and the table’s wood grain.

Flexjet will involve the Sohns in the completion process. A formal award ceremony is planned, and the pair will be invited to tour Flexjet’s global headquarters in Cleveland. The Carolina interior is expected to join the Flexjet fleet in 2026.

Rotorcraft training company Coptersafety has signed an agreement with Reiser Simulation and Training to acquire two full-flight simulators (FFS) for its Helsinki training center. This includes what the companies describe as one of the first commercially available level-D devices for the Airbus Helicopters H175.

Featuring the latest Helionix avionics suite, the H175 simulator will be configured for high-demand mission profiles. The second device will replicate the H145D3. These simulators will expand Coptersafety’s capacity to support helicopter missions such as offshore transport, search-and-rescue, hoisting, and helicopter emergency medical services.

Coptersafety and Reiser said both simulators will be certified to EASA and FAA level-D standards, with additional validations expected from the UK CAA, Transport Canada, and the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation. The devices will be qualified for use with night-vision goggles and reflect the latest in full-flight simulator technology, including high-fidelity avionics modeling and mission flexibility.

“Adding this H175 full-flight simulator with Helionix Avionics to our portfolio is a pioneering leap,” said Reiser Simulation and Training CEO Philipp Prestel. “It will enable a new level of pilot training in offshore and SAR missions.”

The two European simulation providers previously collaborated on Coptersafety’s existing Leonardo AW169 and H125 simulator fleet. Reiser will build the simulators at its facility in Germany, with delivery scheduled to support future growth in Coptersafety’s international training programs.

Rapidly growing FBO chain Vantage Aviation has consolidated its position at South Carolina’s Donaldson Field Airport (KGYH) with the purchase of AvServe, a service provider there for the past 20 years. In March, Vantage acquired Donaldson Jet Center, and its latest move renders it the sole FBO operator at the Greenville airport.

AvServe occupied a nearly 8-acre leasehold at KGYH with a 2,000-sq-ft terminal, nearly 7,000 sq ft of office space, a fuel farm, and 35,250 sq ft of hangar space that can accommodate aircraft up to a super-midsize business jet. It brings Vantage’s hangar space at the airport to 65,250 sq ft.

According to the company, the two facilities will continue to operate independently for now, with Donaldson Jet Center serving as the primary general aviation FBO, while the other will focus on cargo operations. For Vantage—which launched last year—this represents its third FBO purchase in the Greenville area.

“We didn’t come to Greenville to maintain the status quo; we came to invest and grow alongside this business-minded and forward-looking community,” Vantage CEO Ryan Maxfield told AIN. “This market is ready for more modernized aviation infrastructure, services focused on the customer experience, and on-airport investment to better align with the continued growth of the region.”

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