Preowned business aircraft inventory in the older super-midsize and large-cabin jet categories has continued to rise, according to industry pricing guide Vref. In its just-released second-quarter market trend report, the company noted that for aircraft such as the Bombardier Global Express and Challenger 601, 604, and 605; Dassault Falcon 50; and Gulfstream IV, inventory has reached its highest point since 2019, with all of these models showing more than 9 percent availability.
It added that these totals do not include off-market listings that could easily push totals past 15 percent. Among the factors for this increase are technical obsolescence, higher maintenance costs, and limited financing options.
While those aircraft lead in inventory, the quarterly update indicated that nearly every business jet or turboprop model has seen some erosion in pricing and demand. As has been observed elsewhere, the certification later this year of the Gulfstream G700 is expected to increase the number of available G550s and G650s on the market, further increasing pricing pressure.
Vref president Jason Zilberbrand explained the market has changed over the past 18 months: “Price reductions have replaced premiums buyers previously were willing to pay as sellers struggle to find buyers for their aircraft. This marks a correction point in the market where the seemingly boundless upward trajectory of values has been met with buyer reluctance.”
The NTSB has begun investigating yesterday's crash of a Cessna Citation V that had drawn the attention of national security agencies when it flew through secured airspace with a nonresponsive pilot. All four aboard the aircraft, N611VG, were killed when it spiraled to the ground at 3:25 p.m. local time near Staunton, Virginia. The 1990-built aircraft had been registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne, Florida, and the owner, John Rumpel, told The New York Times and Washington Post that his daughter, two-year-old granddaughter, her nanny, and a pilot were aboard.
According to flight tracking data, the aircraft departed Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee at 1:13 p.m. EDT on a flight to New York's Islip-Long Island MacArthur Airport. Flight tracks show the aircraft flying just past the destination but then making a 180-degree turn over Long Island and heading south.
The aircraft remained on a straight path for another 50 minutes, crossing over restricted airspace in Washington, D.C., and prompting security agencies to scramble an F-16. The fighter pilot unsuccessfully attempted to establish communications with the pilot until the aircraft entered a rapid descending right spiral from 34,000 feet, followed by another spiral at 20,000 feet, Air Safety Network (ASN) reported, citing ADS-B data. ASN added that the last ADS-B return showed an average rate of descent of 28,864 fpm.
European Union transport commissioner Adina Vālean has said her department does not intend to introduce new measures restricting operations by business jets as part of steps to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint. The commissioner made the comments Thursday after a meeting of EU member state transport ministers in which officials from Belgium and Ireland both indicated they would favor tougher environmental regulations for private flights, backing similar policies advocated by the governments of Austria, France, and the Netherlands.
During the meeting last week in Luxembourg, transport ministers from the EU’s 27 member states discussed issues including the environmental impact of private jet flights. “This form of air travel has an excessive per capita carbon footprint and is therefore rightfully subject to criticism,” the Austrian, Dutch, and French ministers said in a joint written statement. “In view of this, recent calls for action such as establishing bans on private jet travel are understandable and need to be addressed appropriately.”
Austria’s climate protection minister, Leonore Gewessler, described private aviation as a “hobby for the super-rich” and called on targeted taxes on flights. This was echoed by French transport minister Clement Beaune, who demanded “a more sober approach” to taxing different modes of transportation.
The Helicopter Association International (HAI) is urging its members to voice strong opposition to draft air tour management plans (ATMPs) that would eliminate helitours altogether in South Dakota over both the Mount Rushmore National Monument and Badlands National Park and severely limit them at two locations in Hawaii: the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island and the Haleakalā National Park on Maui. Members are urged to comment before the June 20 deadline.
HAI maintains that the FAA and the National Park Service prepared the ATMPs without regard to the economic impact of the decision and in a manner that was biased against helitours in general.
While the goal of the ATMPs is to eliminate air tours in these locations, HAI suggests that operators would shift flight patterns to fly adjacent to the boundaries of these sites, increasing noise over residential areas, thereby “resulting in significant community impact. Those impacts include significant safety concerns that were not addressed in the preparation of the plan.”
HAI added that “the National Parks should be available for all visitors to see. Limiting flights over the park unfairly limits access to the elderly, very young, disabled, and others. [It] is discriminating to those who might not have the time, resources, or physical ability to see the park any other way.”
The UK has issued a proposal that would mandate jet fuel suppliers to blend sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into aircraft fuel starting in 2025. It would set a 10 percent SAF blend requirement by 2030. A target mix for 2025 has not yet been set.
Less than a year ago, the UK launched the Jet Zero Strategy, setting out how the country will deliver on its commitment to reach net-zero aviation emissions by 2050. The SAF mandate is the latest of several measures underway in the strategy program. This strategy assumes a 50 percent SAF uptake by criteria; how carbon certificates will be issued, traded, and used for compliance; interactions with other domestic and international emissions policymakers; and how the mandate will be enacted. “We have already invested in early-stage development of eight UK SAF plants,” the proposal notes.
The proposal seeks comments on SAF targets set for 2030 and beyond; eligible fuels; and how sustainability will be administered and enforced. Comments are due by June 22.
“Now, more than ever, the [aviation] sector is recognizing that sustainability has to be at the core of its business, as it begins to transform for a net-zero world,” the proposal says. “Progress on decarbonizing is continuing at pace with aviation sector emissions expected to have peaked in 2019.”
As progress continues on a proposed plan to add 27 hangars and associated ramp and vehicle parking areas at Lawrence G. Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts, opposition to the expansion is focusing on perceived environmental concerns, namely carbon emissions.
Opponents of the project include several Massachusetts legislators led by state Sen. Michael Barrett (D). In a recent letter to Massport, the state agency that owns Hanscom, Barrett claims that “private jet travel is by far the most polluting form of air travel. If and when these 27 hangars fill up with private jets, any gestures the developers make to green their buildings will be almost meaningless.”
However, those contentions are refuted by the fact that the hangars are expected to be occupied by a variety of small and large piston and turbine general aviation aircraft. What’s more, “the business aviation sector is known for its long-standing record on emissions reduction,” said NBAA.
The proposal is currently in the state’s environmental process that is expected to run into next year. “Once that environmental process is completed, the developer will have to go through approval proceedings for any necessary other states, town, and FAA permits/approval,” a Massport official said. “There would be public comment periods and public meetings…as well.”
A spokesman for the developer told AIN that construction is not anticipated to start until 2025 at the earliest.
Long Island MacArthur Airport (KISP)-based Executive Fliteways Inc. (EFI) has acquired ExcelAire Services, combining both charter and aircraft management providers that are located at the same airport. The move adds 60 employees and boosts the EFI-managed fleet to 20 aircraft, and plans call for the former ExcelAire aircraft to be transitioned to EFI’s charter certificate.
The acquisition includes ExcelAire’s Part 145 repair station, which EFI said will help it lower downtime and control costs for owners of its managed aircraft. EFI did not have a Part 145 repair station previously, so the move adds to the company's capabilities. The combined fleet includes six large-cabin Gulfstreams, two Falcons, five Embraers, a Hawker 800XP, Gulfstream G280, four Learjet 60s, and a Pilatus PC-12. EFI’s growth plans dovetail with its signing of a long-term lease for 80,000 sq ft of hangar and office space at the Hawthorne Global FBO KISP.
"We are delighted to welcome ExcelAire clients and employees to the EFI family,” said EFI president James Prinzivalli. “This acquisition aligns perfectly with our growth strategy and expands a wide range of options for our clientele. Together, we are poised to meet the evolving demand for private jet travel and elevate the experience.”
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