Stellar Aviation Group unveiled its newest FBO with a grand opening at Nevada’s Reno-Tahoe International Airport (KRNO) last week. The $14 million facility features a 5,000-sq-ft terminal with pilot lounge and snooze room, large and small conference rooms, catering kitchen, bistro area, and onsite car rental.

The first phase of development also includes four acres of ramp and 37,000 sq ft of hangar space capable of sheltering the latest ultra-long-range business jets, with tenant offices, and a 50-person meeting space. In the fourth quarter, the company expects to begin construction on the next phase, which will include a 30,000-sq-ft hangar and 8,000 sq ft of additional offices.

Stellar has operated at KRNO since 2020 when it won a request for proposal to operate the second FBO on the field from a temporary location. Construction of the new facility was delayed due to the pandemic, but work finally began on the site early last year.

This latest addition brings the Stellar FBO chain to four locations, joining facilities at Nevada's Carson City Airport (KCXP); Florida’s Palm Beach County Park Airport (KLNA); and Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (KSPI) in Springfield, Illinois. At the latter two, it is the sole aviation services provider on the field.

Jet Linx continued its tradition of pausing all flight operations for its annual Safety Summit.  Convening the 8th annual edition of the event today, Jet Linx brought together 550 team members for a deep probe into a range of safety topics. Also celebrating its quarter-century milestone, Jet Linx themed this year’s summit “25 Years of Safety.”

The private jet management and jet card company first hosted the event with a voluntary fleet grounding in 2017. This year’s event features a keynote from Amy Grubb, a digital transformation advisor for the FBI, who is well-known within business aviation safety circles for her background in leadership development, organizational culture, and change management. In addition to multiple roles at the FBI, Grubb chaired the Bombardier Safety Standdown Advisory Council.

"The Safety Summit provides a powerful platform for our team to collaboratively explore new horizons in safety, share best practices, and reinforce our shared responsibility to safeguard our clients, team members, and aircraft,” said Jet Linx president and CEO Brent Wouters. "With Amy Grubb's expertise in organizational psychology and change management, we are excited to gain valuable insights that will further strengthen our safety-centric culture."

Along with Grubb, the summit includes an annual safety performance review, case studies on emerging safety challenges, and internal safety awards.

Private aircraft owners, operators, and pilots now face fines of up to £10,000 ($12,700) if they fail to provide the UK Border Force with advance passenger information (API) online before departing to or from the country. Previously, API data could be submitted by email, fax, or other manual methods.

According to the government, the change will help the Border Force to more effectively deploy personnel to address security concerns about travelers. The agency said it is now committed to screening 100 percent of all general aviation flights it is notified about.

In March, the UK’s former chief inspector of border security published allegations that the Border Force had consistently failed to screen business aircraft arriving at London City Airport. In January, the government reduced the number of general aviation airfields approved to receive international flights by 84%. 

On Monday, Farnborough Airport announced it spent £3 million on a security upgrade that includes a pair of the latest C3 baggage screening systems that allow passengers to avoid having to remove laptop computers and other electronic devices, as well as up to two liters in liquids, from their carry-on bags. Last week, London City Airport’s Private Jet Centre announced it also invested in the same technology and expects to have it operational before July.

Rolls-Royce is further strengthening its business aviation services infrastructure in Europe by adding Airline Support Baltic to its global network of authorized service centers (ASC). The engine manufacturer's ASCs represent an essential element of its services portfolio and add to existing capabilities for its expanding CorporateCare customer base.

The latest addition of Airline Support Baltic in Riga, Latvia, to the ASC network will support the Rolls‑Royce AE3007A engine fleet, which powers Embraer Legacy 600s and 650s.

“Over the coming years we are seeing a significant growth of the installed Rolls-Royce-powered business aviation fleet and its flying hours,” said Robert Werner, the company’s v-p of business aircraft availability. “By collaborating with the world’s most experienced maintenance providers, we ensure we are ready for this increase and continue to deliver industry-leading service levels for our CorporateCare and CorporateCare Enhanced customers.”

Rolls-Royce has more than 85 ASCs in place with maintenance providers, claiming it offers business aviation customers the largest global service network in the industry. The company also operates several spare parts and lease engine storage locations worldwide.

According to Rolls-Royce, CorporateCare customers benefit from faster response times and reduced maintenance time with simplified, streamlined administration wherever they fly.

Highly automated flight guidance systems improve safety and reduce workload; however, they require a high level of understanding and different pilot competencies. When the automation becomes unable to safely operate in a complex environment or simply disconnects, pilots must rely on foundational stick-and-rudder skills that must be sustained. FlightSafety’s instruction emphasizes both technology and fundamental flight skill training.

Aircraft refueler provider Rampmaster has delivered the first fully electrified 5,000-gallon jet tanker in the U.S. to Signature Aviation at Eagle County Regional Airport (KEGE) in Vail, Colorado. Last year, a converted refueler went into service at France’s Toulon Hyères Airport (LFTH).

Rampmaster manufactures its equipment with a modular design, and its E-lectric Vehicle Refueler replaces the truck’s standard diesel engine with an electric motor. The aircraft refueler features a Lithium battery-powered hydraulic pump. With a full DC charge in less than two hours, the system—which provides an optimum battery operating temperature of 76 degrees Fahrenheit—supports eight hours of continuous pumping.

Signature is the world’s largest FBO chain, and its KEGE facility was its first to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in 2022. Among the factors allowing that was the adoption of solar power, the initiation of a continuous sustainable aviation fuel supply chain to the location, and fleet and facility upgrades that established a 15 percent decrease in fossil fuel emissions.

“The introduction of the aviation industry’s first zero-emissions electric jet refueler is another transformative step towards our net-zero goals using our innovation testbed at Signature Vail,” said company COO Brad Williams. “Our collaboration with Rampmaster exemplifies how we’re working with our partners and guests to research, invest, and bring to market innovative technologies to help create a more sustainable future in aviation.”

Satcom Direct has announced that Avcon Jet is the launch customer for its Plane Simple fuselage-mounted Ku-band electronically-steered antenna (ESA). The duplex and multichannel flat-panel antenna will connect Avcon Jet’s aircraft with the Eutelsat OneWeb low-earth-orbit satellite constellation.

The network delivers terrestrial levels of connectivity, with up to 195 Mbps download and 36 Mbps upload speeds. “Multiple” aircraft in the fleet will be outfitted as part of a wider fleet upgrade, according to the companies.

Avcon Jet, which operates and manages a fleet of more than 100 aircraft around the world, is also installing other antennas from Satcom Direct’s Plane Simple family. They comprise two tail-mounted units: a Ka-band antenna that connects with existing and new-generation Viasat satellites, and a Ku-band unit that works with Intelsat's business aviation-dedicated FlexExec airtime.

“The agreement with Avcon Jet heralds a new era for fleet connectivity,” said SD president Chris Moore. “We are committed to meeting the needs of aircraft operators seeking genuine global coverage and are excited that, with Avcon Jet, we can demonstrate the advantages of working with the multi-faceted Plane Simple portfolio of antenna systems to fulfill the demand for high-speed connectivity.”

As well as providing high-performance reliable connectivity, the platform-agnostic Plane Simple family’s open architecture design reduces obsolescence and enables a pathway for simple, rapid upgrades to cope with evolutions in the connectivity landscape.

During a 4C inspection at Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln, Nebraska headquarters, the owners of a Falcon 50 decided to have the airplane painted and the interior and avionics updated. The jet showed corrosion and other age-related issues that needed attention in addition to the “massive” 4C inspection, which included landing gear overhaul, restoration of flight controls, and a detailed inspection of the entire aircraft that required removal of the cabin interior.

It turned out the airplane’s interior was in good shape, so the existing seats and headliner didn’t require a rehab or replacement. The owners did, however, elect to replace carpeting and countertops—and reupholster the lower sidewalls and divan. In addition, Duncan technicians went to work to make the cabinets look like new, courtesy of a complete hydrographic finish. They also installed a Gogo Avance L5 air-to-ground connectivity system.

It took more than 231 Duncan team members to revitalize the Falcon 50. “That only captures the efforts put in by people directly working on this project and doesn’t represent the efforts put forth by our supporting teams like the line team, facilities, and parts runners who keep the planes moving and the facility safe and clean for these projects to even happen,” said project manager Jennifer Morrill. “Regardless, this project was a team effort and could not have been possible without the entire team at Duncan Aviation.”

Geneva-based Titan Aviation Fuels International has expanded its European sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) distribution network with the addition of five new locations in Spain. Customers flying from Madrid, Barcelona, Palma, Málaga, and Seville airports will have the ability to upload SAF produced by Spanish fuel producer Cepsa.

“We are seeing more demand for sustainable aviation fuel from our customers, but supply remains a challenge in Europe, making it difficult to source,” said Titan Aviation Fuels International CEO Daniel Coetzer, whose team handles all territories outside the U.S. “However, we have recently increased our supply in Spain and continue to seek out new SAF suppliers.”

To help its European customers mitigate their carbon emissions, the company encourages them to uplift SAF. And for those who wish to fly more sustainably but cannot source the actual fuel, Titan offers its own carbon offset program.

Since its launch in 2022, Titan Aviation Fuels International—which handles all of Titan’s territories outside the U.S.—has developed a roster of business aviation operators and aircraft owner clients worldwide for its real-time fuel planning, digital quoting, pre-ordering, competitive pricing, and 24/7 customer service team. The company also provides expert assistance with VAT and MOT calculations.

“We keep things simple for our customers so they can focus on operating their aircraft rather than the practical and fiscal complexities of uplifting fuel internationally,” said Coetzer.

AIN sister publication Business Jet Traveler has launched its 14th annual Readers’ Choice survey. The poll solicits private aircraft fliers’ opinions about and experiences with flying privately and asks them to rate charter, jet card, and fractional-share providers, membership clubs, aircraft manufacturers and models, and more. All respondents will receive a prepublication copy of the results, be entered into a drawing for a $500 Amazon gift card (gift cards apply to U.S. survey respondents only), and have a donation made on their behalf to Corporate Angel Network. Take this year's survey or view results of the previous Business Jet Traveler reader surveys.