Gulfstream has delivered its 300th super-midsize G280. The company handed over its first of the twinjets in 2012, and its in-service fleet has tallied more than 575,000 flight hours and nearly 358,000 landings since.

The type—the smallest in Gulfstream’s product range—has earned an NBAA dispatch reliability rate of 99.98% thus far and has achieved 87 city-pair speed records. With multiple seating options, the G280 can carry up to 10 passengers, and its Honeywell HTF7250G engines give it a range of 3,600 nm at a long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.80.

Gulfstream continues to invest in the G280 platform, developing new features that enhance passenger comfort and increase safety while improving crew efficiency. The jet is also certified to the FAA’s stringent Stage 5 noise standards.

The milestone G280 was delivered from the General Dynamics subsidiary’s completions facility in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Achieving this delivery milestone reinforces the continued strong demand for the G280,” said Mark Burns, the Savannah-based airframer’s president. “Known for its unique combination of speed, performance, and cabin flexibility, the G280 remains top of the super-midsize class and continues to set the industry standard.”

While preowned business jet transactions rose by more than 36% year over year, aircraft are remaining on the market longer, according to the latest statistics from JetNet. In a recent webinar, the industry data analyst noted that the preowned sector is often an early indicator of market trends.

Preowned transactions were up in every category, but the average time to sell increased by 85 days compared to 2024, as pricing continues to soften, particularly in the midsize category. Overall, values decreased by 6.1%, with mid-cabin jets seeing the steepest drop at nearly 20%. Light jets saw a 5% decrease in price, while large-cabin jets climbed 16%.

To JetNet, that indicates buyers may be more cautious about purchasing aircraft outright, and perhaps shifting to fractional ownership in response to evolving market conditions.

In the interim results of its latest quarterly JetNet iQ survey, more than half the respondents indicated that the market hasn’t reached its lowest point, a factor that survey creator Rolland Vincent of Rolland Vincent Associates attributes to concerns over economic growth, supply chain performance, and capricious tariff shifts.

He predicts deliveries of 820 new business jets this year, an 8% increase over 2024. “The backlog is solid, production slots are sold, and the U.S. market remains dominant, but uncertainty is quickly turning into unpredictability.”

Inertial Labs, a Viavi Solutions subsidiary, has launched a visual-aided inertial navigation system (VINS) designed to maintain aircraft positioning accuracy when GPS signals are unavailable or compromised. The VINS technology addresses growing concerns over GPS jamming and spoofing incidents, which the Department of Transportation reports are increasing across North America and Western Europe.

The system enables uncrewed aerial vehicles to execute extended-range missions in GNSS-challenged environments by combining visual positioning software from Maxar Raptor with onboard camera feeds. VINS compares real-time imagery captured through day or infrared cameras against satellite-derived Precision3D maps, using perspective and point principles to determine absolute positioning.

Performance specifications demonstrate the system’s capability in GPS-denied conditions, maintaining horizontal positioning within 35 meters and vertical accuracy within 5 meters. Velocity tracking remains within 0.9 meters per second of actual values, while heading accuracy stays within 1 degree and pitch/roll measurements within 0.1 degrees.

When GPS signals are available, VINS achieves enhanced precision, with horizontal positioning accurate to 1 meter, vertical positioning under 2 meters, and velocity tracking within 0.03 meters per second. Heading accuracy improves to 0.1 degrees with pitch/roll measurements within 0.03 degrees.

The modular system incorporates processing units, sensor modules, GNSS or CRPA antennas, plus air-data computers and digital wind speed sensors, for compatibility with both fixed-wing and multi-rotor platforms.

The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation has issued the first qualification to EASA standards for Brunner Elektronik’s mixed-reality Novasim MR DA42 FNPT (flight and navigation procedures) II flight simulator. Lufthansa Aviation Training will use the simulator in its pilot training program.

Replicating the diesel-powered Diamond DA42, the Novasim MR DA42 includes a motion base. Instead of a large visual display, pilots view the outside world using a Varjo XR-4 mixed-reality headset, which has pass-through viewing so the pilot can see and interact with real cockpit avionics and controls. An advantage of this type of simulator is that the pilot can see in any direction; the field of view isn’t limited by screens positioned outside traditional simulators. The Novasim MR DA42’s imagery is provided by FlightSafety International’s Vital 1150 image generator, replicating the same quality as a level-D simulator.

“This is a milestone not only for Varjo and Brunner, but for the future of pilot training in civil aviation,” said Tristan Cotter, global head of defense and aerospace at Varjo. “With this certification, mixed reality is no longer a forward-looking concept; it’s a verified, scalable, and cost-effective solution ready to meet the operational demands of the industry today.” 

“We are proud to lead the way in redefining aviation training by achieving the first-ever EASA qualification for a mixed-reality simulator,” said Brunner CEO Roger Klingler.

Bombardier added a speed record to the rapidly growing Global 7500 stash while travelling from Montréal to Paris for the airshow this week. The ultra-long-range business jet departed from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International and landed at Paris-Le Bourget Airport 5 hours, 30 minutes later after reaching a top speed of more than 1,000 kph.

The record is among the more than 100 that Bombardier’s flagship has set, many of which have come in the past couple of years. A few weeks ago, the aircraft reclaimed its speed record from Paris to Montréal, completing the mission in less than six hours. It also has set a record for the longest missions flown by a purpose-built business jet with an 8,225-nm journey from Sydney to Detroit.

“Bombardier takes great pride in completing meaningful speed records, like this latest one, during regular day-to-day operations with passengers, baggage, and cargo, setting it apart from peers,” said company president and CEO Éric Martel. These come as Bombardier prepares to enter service with the even speedier Global 8000, which can fly at Mach 0.94 and travel 8,000 nm versus the 7500’s top speed of Mach 0.925 and 7,700-nm range.

This week at the Paris Air Show, Bombardier’s presence is anchored by its defense business, a growing area for the company that is poised to reach up to $1.5 billion in annual revenues by the end of the decade.

Helicopter distributor Rotortrade has opened a new subsidiary, Rotortrade do Brasil, in São Paulo to expand services in the Latin American market. The company recently completed the sale of a 2020 Airbus H125 to Brazilian aerospace and defense company Aeromot.

Services offered by Rotortrade do Brasil include helicopter sales and acquisitions, technical advisory and inspections, after-sales support coordination, and financing and leasing. The company will focus on corporate, VIP, and offshore markets, offering preowned Airbus H125, H145, and H160 models as well as the Leonardo AW109 and AW139. Rotortrade do Brasil will operate under Rotortrade LATAM, its regional office in Mexico, and will be managed by sales manager Gabriel Durif.

“Our local presence will allow us to better understand operators’ needs and offer faster, more customized solutions,” he said. “Brazil is not only a key market for us—it’s also a country where relationships and reactivity make a real difference. Being here, on the ground, is essential to deliver the level of service we stand for at Rotortrade.”

“Opening Rotortrade do Brasil is a clear reflection of our strategy,” said CEO Philippe Lubrano. “We invest where the market is growing, and we do so with the intention to stay. Brazil deserves dedicated support, and our new local entity will help us deliver quicker, closer, and more customized service to our partners across the country.”

CAE will install a Pilatus PC-24 full-flight simulator at its training center in Lake Nona, Florida, complementing the PC-24 simulator that will be added to CAE Vienna in Austria. According to the company, both simulators will be up and running in the first half of 2026.

“With this investment in the PC-24 platform, we’re expanding our global footprint to deliver advanced training on cutting-edge simulators in the United States and Europe,” CAE said.

In the second half of this year, the company also plans to deploy a flight training device for the PC-12 Pro. The turboprop single, announced in March, is the first aircraft to be equipped and certified with Garmin’s G3000 Prime avionics suite.

Located near Orlando International Airport, the Simcom training center in Lake Nona opened in late 2023 with five of CAE’s full-motion simulators. CAE owns a majority share of Simcom, which operates two additional training centers in Orlando and one in Scottsdale, Arizona.

CAE’s business aviation training center in Vienna already offers a Gulfstream G550 full-flight simulator. This year, the facility expects to add full-flight simulators for the Bombardier Global 7500, Embraer Phenom 100/300, and Bombardier Challenger 3500.

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