Global business jet activity in the first week of June had a “mild cooling” from the previous week, but operations were still up 10 percent over that same period in 2021 and 20 percent above 2019 levels, data analyst WingX Advance reported today. This comes on the heels of 12 consecutive record-breaking months, WingX added.
North America logged nearly 50,000 business jet flights during this week, marking a 21 percent jump from the same period in 2019 and 12 percent from last year. Over the last four weeks, Part 135 and 91K traffic were up 5 percent over 2021. Meanwhile, in the first week of June corporate flight departments were 3 percent busier than in 2019, but private flight departments were up 30 percent, according to WingX. The demand hotspot, the firm said, has been medium-short trips, which have been up 38 percent from 2019.
The rebound in Europe was much stronger, with activity in the region since May 1 up 31 percent from the same period in 2021 and by 18 percent from 2019. Mediterranean countries—Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Greece—all have seen at least a 30 percent jump in operations this year compared with 2019. Operations are up 24 percent since the beginning of May in the UK, although WingX said the Jubilee period does not seem to have generated a spike in flights.
Elsewhere, the week was 19 percent busier than last year.
Tier 1 Engineering conducted the first flight of an all-electric Robinson R44 using the MagniX electric propulsion unit (EPU). The three-minute flight took place June 4 at the Los Alamitos Army Airfield in Southern California. Tier 1 integrated its battery system and the MagniX EPU on the helicopter, which is being developed for Lung Biotechnology PBC, a biotech company that is focused on alleviating the shortage of transplantable human organs.
"This historic flight, of an all-electric helicopter with a certifiable electric engine, was an important step towards obtaining aircraft certification. We are excited to expand the flight tests to greater distances and demonstrate safe, reliable all-electric flight,” said Tier 1 president Glen Dromgoole. Tier 1 is working with the Los Angeles FAA Aircraft Certification Office (ACO) on the “e-R44” project to obtain a supplemental type certificate (STC) for the conversion program. Lung Biotechnology PBC plans to acquire a fleet of the aircraft to fly transplant organs.
Tier 1 first flew an all-electric R44 in 2016 using a 1,100-pound lithium-polymer battery pack and twin electric motors from Rinehart Motion Systems. Other all-electric helicopters flew as early as 2010 with Sikorsky's Firefly project.
Dassault Aviation-owned ExecuJet MRO Services Middle East has been approved by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to perform line and base maintenance on “classic” Falcon 2000s registered in India. The Dubai-based location already has DGCA approvals for the Falcon 7X, 8X, 900C/EX/EASy, and 2000EASy.
India has around 10 Falcon 2000s powered by CFE738 engines and equipped with Collins Pro Line 4 avionics. They comprise half of Dassault business jets registered in the country.
As India-registered aircraft carry business and tourism visitors in large numbers to Dubai, a short flight from India, “the approval enables ExecuJet to better support all Indian Falcon customers operating within the region,” said ExecuJet Middle East regional v-p Nick Weber.
Meanwhile, ExecuJet Middle East is readying to move from Dubai International to Al Maktoum International Airport, where the company is opening a new 15,000-sq-m (163,000-sq-ft) business aviation MRO facility in the third quarter. That facility will be able to simultaneously accommodate up to 24 business jets.
CrewBlast continues to experience record growth in its app-based contract business aircraft flight crew staffing service, with its database of aircraft pilots and crew expanding by more than 136 percent over the last two months alone. The company is now operating globally and has seen more traction in filling staffing needs in multiple countries.
“We’re thrilled to see how well our technology is working not only here at home in the U.S., but around the world, too,” said CrewBlast president Timothy Griffin. “As our database of pilots and flight attendants grows, so does our customer base.”
The CrewBlast app, which was launched late last year, allows aircraft operators to quickly and seamlessly find urgently needed business aircraft crews. “Recently, a personal emergency left a private aircraft one pilot short in the middle of an overseas trip to Cyprus. The aircraft operator used the CrewBlast app and was able to quickly locate a nearby pilot who was able to fill in for the remainder of the trip, resulting in zero downtime,” the company said.
Meanwhile, the company continues to release industry data on its website, including prevailing staffing rates and top aircraft type requests, which last month were the Global Express XRS and 6000, as well as Gulfstream G550.
The GlobalAir Airport Resource Center (ARC) has been updated to make it easier to use. With fuel prices, FBO and airport business information, aviation weather, and FAA airport data, the ARC’s new interface helps dispatchers and pilots work more efficiently.
FBOs are now easier to find on the site with its new targeted-mapping feature, which shows precise FBO locations at airports. Another new feature is a tab with information on local places of interest. “In our research, we heard from a lot of pilots who wanted the ability to find nearby attractions they could visit during the periods they might be waiting to fly a client,” said GlobalAir CFO Elise Carrithers.
GlobalAir users can submit comments on FBOs, and FBOs can respond to the comments. Last year, the company added SAF pricing for FBOs that want to report information on sustainable fuel. Now GlobalAir’s interactive tool that lists the 10 lowest FBO fuel prices in the U.S. also includes SAF prices.
Other features that have been updated include the flight-time calculator; the airports tab with nearby restaurant, hotel, and golf course information; the airport business directory; and the FBO fuel locator map for comparing prices in a specified nautical-mile radius around an airport.
Clay Lacy Aviation has added six large-cabin jets to its charter and management fleet. A Dassault Falcon 900EX EASy and Bombardier Global 5000 will be available in the New York market, while a Gulfstream G650ER will be based at San Jose International Airport in California.
The remaining three business jets—a Gulfstream G550 and two Embraer Legacy 600s—will be based in the Southern California area where Clay Lacy operates FBOs at Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) and John Wayne Airport (KSNA) and Part 145 repair stations at KVNY, San Diego. The company also plans to open an FBO at Connecticut’s Waterbury-Oxford Airport (KOXC) next year.
“With additional aircraft to choose from, Clay Lacy is supplying greater charter availability to meet the private travel needs of its customers,” said Elizabeth Nagy, Clay Lacy’s v-p of owner and charter services. “Whether people need to travel across the country or overseas, they will have more options to experience Clay Lacy’s charter jet service.”
Private airports group Corporacion America Airports is working with rival eVTOL aircraft developers Eve and Vertical Aerospace on plans to develop a network of vertiports in Latin America and Europe. The company said it has been working on conceptual designs for eVTOL air taxi operating bases since 2021 and believes some of these could be located at its chain of 53 airports in countries including Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, and Brazil.
Under its collaboration with Vertical Aerospace, which is developing the four-passenger VX4 eVTOL, it is also working with several of Vertical's customers, including leasing group Avolon, Brazilian airline Gol, and transport company Grupo Comporte. This work is focused on identifying vertiport sites in Brazil, where Gol and Grupo Comporte plan to operate 250 of the all-electric aircraft on routes of around 100 miles from 2025.
The partnership with Eve spans Latin America and Europe. It will start with an assessment of the readiness of the existing ground infrastructure for eVTOL air taxi services and studies into the regulatory environment. Eve recently conducted urban air mobility trial operations using helicopters flown by one of its prospective customers, Helisul Aviation, and used these to prepare a proposed concept of operations.
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.
ACR Electronics' ResQLink 410 and ResQLink View personal locator beacons (PLBs) with Return Link Service (RLS) have been approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for use of the RLS feature in the U.S. The beacons have also received Cospas-Sarsat approval.
RLS provides two-way confirmation to the ResQLink PLB that a distress signal has been received by search-and-rescue (SAR) responders. The ResQLink 410 shows the response via a confirmation light, while the ResQLink View delivers the message on the unit’s display. An advantage of the ResQLink devices is that no subscription is needed; but because they are 406-MHz devices, registration with a country’s national authority is required.
The ResQLink PLBs work on both the GPS and Galileo satellite networks and the three Cospas-Sarsat satellite systems, according to ACR, including the new Meosar network. “Using the next-gen network, anyone activating a ResQLink PLB can expect their beacon to be located within 100 meters (328 feet), 95 percent of the time, within five minutes of the distress signal,” the company said.
Both PLBs are equipped with infrared and ultra-bright strobe lights to aid SAR crew using night-vision goggles. The devices have built-in buoyancy, an operating life of more than 24 hours, and multiple mounting options.
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