Fractional jet provider Flexjet is launching a private helicopter division that will integrate Sikorsky S-76 operator Associated Aircraft Group (AAG), which was acquired last year by Flexjet parent Directional Aviation unit OneSky Flight. Service will begin with 12 helicopters finished in the Flexjet livery and interior and “scale up from there as necessary,” according to the company.
Flexjet helicopter operations will be seasonally located in the Northeastern states and in Florida throughout the year, connecting airports and city centers and short-haul regional destinations such as conventions, music festivals, and other sports and entertainment events. Flexjet also said it would provide complimentary helicopter hours to its Gulfstream G650 fractional owners and sell add-on fractional, lease, and charter access to the medium-twin S-76s.
The new division will deliver on-demand regional transportation and last-mile transport for Flexjet aircraft owners traveling from airports to their final destinations. Flexjet called the service “a unique door-to-door travel solution not available through any other provider in the U.S.,” and said it expects the helicopter division to grow in the U.S. and Europe over the next five years as the worldwide demand for point-to-point vertical aviation increases.
Flexjet v-p Eli Flint will lead the new division and will be joined by a staff of nearly 50 former AAG sales managers, mechanics, operations team members, and pilots.
The preowned business jet market loosened a tiny bit in May with the number of aircraft for sale up 2 percent from April. However, the market remains much tighter than a year ago, with the number of preowned business jets for sale in May down by 51 percent, equating to a 2.4 percent available inventory, according to market analyst Jefferies, citing Amstat figures.
Looking at younger business jets, those less than seven years since production, the available inventory dropped 53 percent year-over-year, while pricing increased 16 percent. In total, 590 preowned business jets were available for sale in May, compared with 580 in April and 1,198 last May.
Jefferies noted that while the decline is broad-based across the market, midsize jets have led the decline in the availability for sale, down 57 percent. Large-cabin jet inventories were down 50 percent from a year ago, while 46 percent fewer light jets were available.
Just four Dassault business jets were for sale last month—a 75 percent drop from a year ago. Bombardier business jet availability plummeted 60 percent, to 36 units. Embraer followed with a 57 percent decline in available preowned business jets, with 21 for sale, and Gulfstream jets saw a 49 percent year-over-year contraction, to 31 units. There were 70 Cessna Citations for sale, marking a 45 percent year-over-year decline.
Sports car manufacturer Porsche will help Eve bring its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft to what is expected to be a mass market for urban air mobility (UAM). Under an agreement announced this week, the German group’s Porsche Consulting division will help Eve develop a supply chain for high-volume rates of production, as well as a strategy for global manufacturing and logistics for the vehicle that is expected to be certified in 2025.
Eve—which, following its recent initial public offering, is still majority-owned by Embraer—is one of several eVTOL pioneers turning to the automotive sector for help. For instance, Joby is backed by Japan’s Toyota and Archer Aviation has backing from the Stellantis group (formerly Fiat Chrysler).
The master services agreement between Porsche and Eve covers studies in industrial operations, logistics, supply-chain management, and part distribution. Even though Embraer has a global supply-chain and product-support network, Eve said it requires “an unprecedented approach optimized for efficiency, productivity, and safety.”
The companies will look at how the production of eVTOL aircraft could be scaled up and use a distributed production network to meet demand anticipated in cities around the world. Embraer has previously co-marketed its Phenom 300 light jet with Porsche cars. The Porsche Design Studio has been involved in work on interior styling for several private jets.
Want more? You can find a longer version of this article at FutureFlight.aero, a news and information resource developed by AIN to provide objective coverage and analysis of cutting-edge aviation technology.
Following a request by AOPA, the Bahamanian government has delayed indefinitely a new online customs clearance requirement that the association said presented “technical issues" for pilots. The new protocol was scheduled to go into effect on May 30, but AOPA president Mark Baker asked the Office of the Director-General for The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investment, and Aviation to delay the program at least until the end of March 2023.
“This pause will allow the necessary time to obtain feedback from impacted stakeholders to make any necessary improvements to the Click2Clear initiative, provide education and training on any new customs process, and to implement the initiative during a lower air traffic period,” Baker said.
While the program appears to have been in existence since 2018 for cargo operations, AOPA noted it wasn’t aware of information on the program on the government website. “Although Click2Clear might be appropriate for other users…I have been informed by others suggesting that it is very tedious, cumbersome, and unintuitive,” he said, adding pilots should have the opportunity to vet the program to avoid confusion.
In response, Paul Monroe, acting comptroller of Bahama Customs, agreed to delay the program “pending further discussion by customs, government officials, and programmers to address reasonable concerns expressed by stakeholders,” AOPA said.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled yesterday that CHC’s acquisition of Babcock International’s offshore oil-and-gas aviation business last year is anti-competitive and has ordered CHC to divest it. CHC and Babcock finalized the acquisition in September, but Babcock’s operations were being held separately and operated independently while CHC sought merger approval from competition authorities in the UK and Australia.
The CMA ruled the acquisition was anti-competitive because “the parties were two of just four suppliers of oil and gas offshore helicopter services in the UK and provided an important competitive constraint on each other. The loss of this constraint would significantly reduce rivalry between an already limited number of suppliers. As a result, the CMA has found that the merger would lead to significant competition concerns in the UK’s oil and gas offshore helicopter services market.” The other two providers that the CMA alluded to are the Bristow Group and NHV.
Babcock sold its offshore business, formerly known as Bond Helicopters, to CHC in part because it was a perennial money-loser. The CMA acknowledged operator “challenges” but said it made the ruling to “ensure that four effective competitors remain in the market.”
“Competition is vital to avoid higher prices or poorer quality, problems that ultimately increase costs to UK consumers,” said Kip Meek, chair of the CMA’s inquiry group.
VistaJet, which has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2025, has published a whitepaper examining the aviation sector’s environmental impact and ways the industry can minimize its carbon footprint. Recommendations in the whitepaper, “A 2022 Action Handbook for Change in Business Aviation,” include increasing the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF); auditing and reporting greenhouse gas emissions to demonstrate transparency and progress; and complementing greenhouse gas reduction efforts with investments in climate action projects adhering to the highest standards.
“The business aviation sector finds itself at a critical juncture,” said Thomas Flohr, VistaJet founder and chairman. “Businesses are rightfully being held accountable for their environmental impact. Together as an industry, we can reshape the way we conduct business while providing an unparalleled level of service to our customers.”
The whitepaper also provides an update on VistaJet’s progress toward its 2025 carbon-neutrality goal, an accounting the Malta-based charter membership program detailed last April. According to the data, VistaJet has now maximized fleet optimization efforts, improving fuel consumption by 8 percent; added 10 new Bombardier Global 7500s, the first business jet to have a third-party verified Environmental Product Declaration; and has achieved a 90 percent reduction in consumption of single-use items. The whitepaper also notes more than 85 percent of VistaJet’s customers have adopted voluntary carbon-offsetting plans.
Australia-based industrial engineering solutions firm Worley has received a contract from Alfanar Energy to provide front-end engineering and design services for a renewable energy project in Northeastern England. Known as Lighthouse Green Fuels, the proposed facility in Teesside is expected to be operational in 2027 as part of the scheduled introduction of the city’s Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy carbon cluster.
It is expected to repurpose and process one million tonnes of residual solid waste such as municipal trash or solid recovered fuel—a product made from residual waste left behind once all commodities and contaminants have been removed—into more than 3,000 barrels a day of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and green naphtha.
“The UK has an opportunity to be at the forefront of the SAF sector, with its access to suitable feedstocks and planned carbon capture infrastructure,” said Noaman Aladhami, Alfanar’s UK country manager. “We chose Worley because of its commitment to supporting sustainable projects and significant experience with delivering complex megaprojects.”
Helicopter operator Bristow Group reported a net loss of $15.8 million for the 2022 fiscal year ended March 31 on operating revenues of $1.1 billion. This compares with a net loss of $56.1 million on operating revenues of $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2021.
Operating revenues from oil and gas services were $20.3 million lower in the fiscal year 2022 due to lower utilization in Africa and Europe, which was partially offset by the full-year benefit of the merger with Era Group and higher utilization in the Americas, the company said. Government services operating revenues were $20.7 million higher mainly as a result of to the strengthening of the British pound sterling relative to the U.S. dollar, the benefit of the merger, and higher utilization; while revenues from fixed-wing services were $11.6 million higher primarily due to higher utilization. Revenues from other services were $12 million lower primarily due to the end of oil and gas services in Australia and lower parts sales.
Expenses were $21.7 million higher during the 2022 fiscal year due to higher fuel expenses, repairs and maintenance, and insurance costs.
Bristow is continuing its strategy of attempting to offset lower energy services revenues with increased government contracts beyond the U.S. and the UK to new jurisdictions including the Netherlands, the Dutch Caribbean, and the Falkland Islands, according to Chris Bradshaw, president and CEO.
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