Pilatus Aircraft today announced the 2025 version of the PC-12 turboprop single—the PC-12 Pro—with a Garmin G3000 Prime avionics suite. These avionics replace the Honeywell Apex system in previous-model PC-12 NGXs and add 100 pounds of more payload to the PC-12 Pro. Garmin’s emergency autoland system and GFC 700 autopilot with automatic engagement of the autothrottle are included in the PC-12 Pro's avionics suite. Even with the autopilot disengaged, flight envelope protections engage automatically. 

G3000 Prime in the PC-12 Pro features three 14-inch touchscreen primary display units and touchscreen secondary display units, along with a GI 275 standby instrument. A new yoke that looks like it was adapted from the PC-24 twinjet adds a checklist advance switch.

Pilatus has been working on the Pro version for three years, according to André Zimmermann, the company's v-p of business aviation. Other Pro features include special paint schemes, high-end cabin features, fresh cabinet designs and materials, and more interior storage capacity. 

The $6.8 million PC-12 Pro is already FAA and EASA certified.

New or threatened tariffs announced by the Trump Administration and other countries may cost you more than you realize when buying and financing business aircraft. Alarmed by these tariffs, global aircraft manufacturers, aircraft associations, and others are expressing concern about a hard landing in the business aviation market amid complex tax and multinational treaty and agreement issues.

The Trump Administration has imposed, modified, and/or delayed the imposition of tariffs on specific countries to achieve certain foreign policy and economic goals. To stop massive shipments of fentanyl into the U.S., the Administration has imposed a 20% tariff on Chinese goods to make them more expensive to buy and less competitive in the U.S.

It has also sanctioned 25% and 50% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, respectively. For now, the White House has paused the 50% tariff on Canada. Also taking aim at all other countries, steel and aluminum have become subject to tariffs—in theory, to boost the competing industries in the U.S.

It is impossible to understate the complexity of tariffs. Adding to the legal and customs quagmire, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) provides a very complicated certification process as to the country of origin of products, which seems to allow duty-free imports of aircraft until this exemption ends, possibly as soon as April 2.

Piaggio Aerospace recently delivered a new-production P.180 Avanti Evo to a U.S. customer after fitting it with the Astronics Max-Viz 2300 enhanced vision system (EVS). Now being operated by a Missouri-based entrepreneur, the aircraft has an eight-passenger cabin configuration and is decorated in grey and blue livery developed with the customer’s input.

A Max-Viz 2300 EVS was fitted to the Avanti Evo under a service bulletin based on an optional type design change for the twin pusherprop, which has a Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics suite. It can also be fitted to Avanti II models, which are equipped with Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. Installation of the EVS does not include a head-up display; EVS information is displayed on the primary flight display.

The EVS combines an infrared camera with merged long-wave infrared and black-and-white sensors. It improves visibility for pilots at night and in flying conditions compromised by smoke, haze, smog, fog, snow, and rain.

Meanwhile, Piaggio has 11 other Avanti Evos on the production line at its Villanova d’Albenga factory. The Italian company is in the process of being acquired by Turkish aerospace and defense group Baykar.

Diamond Aircraft is absorbing eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter after its Chinese owner Wanfeng agreed to acquire the company’s assets from a court-appointed insolvency administrator. Volocopter today issued a statement saying it is being integrated with Austria-based Diamond Aircraft Industries but will continue to operate from its headquarters in Bruchsal, Germany.

According to a Chinese stock market statement, automotive and aviation group Wanfeng is paying €10 million ($11 million) to buy Volocopter’s assets and intellectual property while taking on its contractual and employment obligations. The statement valued assets at €42 million, including prototypes of the two-seat VoloCity eVTOL model, for which the company is targeting EASA type certification this year.

Up to 185 Volocopter employees will be retained under the new ownership. When the company started its insolvency process on December 26, almost 500 people were on the payroll.

Diamond and Wanfeng have indicated that they will invest several hundreds of millions of dollars in Volocopter, including the value of assets and staff salaries. The process of restarting the workforce could take some time, because almost all employees had to take garden leave from March 1 under German insolvency laws.

CAE has been growing rapidly in market share on the strength of agreements such as with Flexjet, as well as through its acquisition of a majority share of Orlando, Florida-based flight training company Simcom, according to analyst Jefferies.

In November, CAE announced it was increasing its ownership stake in Simcom, while Flexjet retained a minority stake. As part of the transaction, CAE and Simcom extended their respective business aviation training services agreement with Flexjet and its affiliates, pushing out the remaining exclusivity period collectively to 15 years.

Jefferies, which recently met with CAE, Simcom, and Flexjet officials in Orlando, noted that the majority stake in Simcom—which had been the third largest business aviation provider—gave CAE a 40% market share.

Simcom has been ramping up through its new facility at Lake Nona in Florida. which opened in July 2023. The location has six operational full-flight simulators, with space for six more, and six flight training devices. 

Adding Simcom is part of a concerted effort by CAE to expand its business aviation global footprint, which now encompasses 15 facilities with at least 110 simulators. Also driving its growth is attempting to broaden its customer base organically, in addition to taking care of its legacy customers, Jefferies noted.

Air Culinaire Worldwide has launched a new order management portal designed to simplify in-flight catering logistics. The platform offers a user experience similar to food delivery applications but is tailored for business aviation.

“This is the first and only end-to-end order management solution for in-flight catering,” said John Lee, CEO of Air Culinaire Worldwide. “The ease of use, customization, and capabilities of this system will transform how flight departments handle their in-flight catering orders. For the first time, users have complete visibility of their catering operations—from order tracking and simplified invoicing to extensive regional menu browsing and streamlined checkout—in one intuitive interface.”

Features include real-time order tracking, access to invoices, and the ability to order from a network of more than 1,200 locations. It also has menus from 23 company-operated kitchens, as well as offerings from third-party caterers. Future updates are expected to integrate the platform with business aviation software, allowing flight departments to connect catering orders with their flight management tools.

“With 23 owned and operated kitchens and the industry’s largest network of vetted third-party caterers, we’ve built unmatched global coverage. This digital platform is the next step in our innovation journey,” Lee added. “We’re already developing integrations with leading flight management systems, expanding our eco-friendly packaging initiatives, and strengthening our farm-to-flight program that brings fresh, local ingredients to every kitchen in our network.”

PHI Aviation has begun offshore helicopter operations for Shell on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast with an Airbus H160, the company announced Tuesday at Verticon. This represents the first H160 to conduct commercial offshore transportation missions, according to Airbus Helicopters, which partnered with PHI and Shell on a route-proving program for the helicopter model. 

Commercial operations with PHI’s H160 off the Louisiana coast began on March 6 after 300 hours of route-proving flights. “This is the culmination of five-plus years of work and an even longer partnership between PHI, Shell, and Airbus,” said PHI Group CEO Scott McCarty.

“The extensive, first-of-its-kind route-proving program allowed our teams to work closely with Shell and Airbus to fully evaluate and optimize the H160’s capabilities, train personnel, and ensure certification and indoctrination into PHI’s operational and safety systems.”

PHI now employs 12 pilots with H160 type ratings, as well as 12 mechanics qualified to work on H160 airframes and powerplants.

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