Sweeping new proposals for Saudi general aviation herald official government sanction that would increase airports, aircraft operators, and MROs for the sector, which includes business aviation. The roadmap—"Saudi Arabia: A New Global Hub for General Aviation"—anticipates tourism growing 2.5 times by 2030 and an overall SAR$365 billion ($97 billion) to be spent on tourism and aviation.

Six dedicated general aviation airports are on the drawing board: Neom, Amaala, Jeddah, Makkah, Dammam, and Riyadh. Ultra-long-range jets will drive reach and flexibility in private and corporate air travel.

Under the roadmap, three FBO companies will be in operation within six years. By 2030, 24 business jet flights per 10,000 inhabitants are expected, up from five in 2021. Investment opportunities for financial institutions, leasing firms, and specialty insurance providers will also blossom, according to the document.

The general aviation roadmap launched by Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) is expected to enhance the sector's economic impact by contributing around SAR$7.8 billion to GDP and generating more than 35,000 jobs by 2030.

Over the past 6.5 years, ever since an anti-corruption drive was launched against prominent Saudi businessmen in 2017, knowledgeable industry voices have said it would take time for a new direction for Saudi business aviation to emerge. They now believe that finally seems to be happening.

Following last week’s major purchase of the Sky Valet chain and its 17 FBOs that will be incorporated into its ExecuJet brand, Luxaviation further strategically strengthened its global position by completing the full acquisition of Paragon Aviation Group, which manages the Paragon Network of independent FBOs.

Founded in 2011, the network is a group of vetted FBOs and international handling agents that provide an upscale experience for general aviation travelers across the world. Its members enjoy increased business through group networking efforts while providing extended benefits to based customers. Before joining the network, each FBO undergoes an extensive audit of their facility and FBO services to ensure their quality.

“I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished at Paragon Aviation Group,” said Paragon co-founder and president Megan Barnes, adding that she will remain with the company as a board member. “The acquisition by Luxaviation Group marks an exciting new chapter for the company, ensuring continued growth and innovation.”

ExecuJet joined the Paragon network in 2017 and at that time acquired a majority share in the managing company. Counting the ExecuJet and Sky Valet FBOs and their affiliates, along with the other Paragon members, this latest move brings the network to more than 140 locations worldwide.

Vertical Aviation International is urging members to write to the New York State legislature to oppose two recently introduced bills that call for closing the West 30th Street Heliport. “This attempt to shutter the heliport is the most serious threat to this essential facility in more than 20 years,” the association said.

The bills—A.20224 and S.9408—would amend the Hudson River Park Act to prohibit “any facility for motorized aircraft, including a heliport” and remove language that previously allowed operation of the heliport and its facilities, including the only fuel service at a city heliport.

“VAI strongly believes that closing the only 24/7 heliport with refueling capabilities in the region would lead to dramatic economic impacts for New York City and New York State, including job losses. Additional negative effects of closing the heliport include increased congestion on local roads, less access for emergency and healthcare services, and threats to the coming introduction of technologically advanced, greener vertical-flight aircraft.”

While the bills don’t define “motorized aircraft,” Josh Rousseau, VAI Northeastern U.S. regional representative, explained that the definition isn’t necessarily pertinent. “It gets at the facility. If it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t matter what kind of aircraft [are prohibited]. It means the facility disappeared. Once a facility like the West 30th Heliport disappears, it’s not coming back.”

SMFL LCI, the joint venture of LCI and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing, has placed a firm order for 14 Airbus helicopters, along with options for seven more. The orders are for a mix of light-twin H145s, medium-twin H160s, and super-medium H175s.

According to LCI, “The order marks the next phase of the pioneering Flight Path partnership between LCI and Airbus Helicopters, which aims to address the long-term capacity and financing requirements of the industry in a responsible manner.” Under the partnership, the companies committed to delivery of at least seven new-production Airbus helicopters by 2025.

Deliveries will take place through 2028, and the helicopters will be used for emergency medical services, search-and-rescue, and offshore oil and gas and wind energy services.

“The helicopter marketplace is facing a number of key capacity decisions as it looks to match supply with underlying demand requirements,” said LCI CEO Jaspal Jandu. “This order for up to 21 latest-generation helicopters reflects our combined determination to deliver solutions for operators and end users in a lasting, efficient, and pragmatic way.”

Your aircraft's engines power more than your flights. They fuel the value of your aircraft, too. That's why maintaining your engines using Engine Assurance Program's (EAP) hourly engine maintenance program helps retain the value of your aircraft. EAP also has amassed a large pool of rental engines, maintains a multi-million-dollar inventory of spare parts and has assembled a highly-skilled technical team including AOG support.

Blade Air Mobility announced two partnerships that will open up new travel routes for its customers.

The first, with Ocean Casino Resort, will fly guests by helicopter directly between Manhattan and Ocean’s dedicated rooftop helipad in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on weekends this summer. Seats for these flights run $695 each way. The flights will kick off beginning on Saturday and continue every Saturday and Sunday through Labor Day Weekend. An Ocean team member will greet guests upon arrival with dedicated concierge service during their stay and a complimentary suite upgrade.

“This is a natural extension for Blade to complement its leisure and airport routes in the Northeast,” said Blade chief marketing officer Roisin Branch. “We have seen a meaningful increase in charter requests from Manhattan to Atlantic City and are excited to make the flights accessible to a broader audience over the summer.”

Another partnership—with Emirates—will allow customers to travel between Dubai and Monaco on a single ticket seamlessly connecting Emirates flights at Nice International Airport to a Blade helicopter that will fly them to Monaco. Blade provides continuous helicopter flights between Nice and Monaco all year.

Airbus’ UpNext innovation advancement subsidiary has begun testing technologies designed to support automatic aircraft taxiing and pilot assistance. The technologies are part of UpNext’s three-year Optimate research project, which combines advanced automation, computer vision, data fusion, and machine learning to improve aircraft navigation systems, human-machine interfacing, and flight safety in general.

The research involves developing and testing automatic taxiing using more accurate and reliable position calculations and assessing the potential of quantum sensing to improve position availability and navigation systems. Further, the research is investigating the capabilities of a collaborative map and virtual flight assistant to support pilot decisions and interactions with air traffic control and operations centers.

UpNext is validating the architecture and algorithms on an electric truck testbed that replicates the functions of a cockpit and can roll down airport runways like an aircraft. The testbed is recreating an Airbus A350 flight deck with advanced automation technologies such as LIDAR and external cameras, combined with GPS technologies, satcom, and 5G. Following these tests, UpNext will demonstrate the virtual system for a fully automated gate-to-gate mission on an A350.

The International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) will be exhibiting next week at the 2024 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Sixty-two percent of our dealers are actively buying and selling business aircraft throughout Europe, and EBACE 2024 in Geneva is a great venue to continue and build on that level of activity," said IADA chairman Phil Winters. “We are in Geneva to not only support our members as they represent their clients and meet new ones, but also to share IADA’s global advocacy for trust, transparency, and accountability.”

Winters is also vice president of aircraft sales and charter management for Greenwich AeroGroup and Western Aircraft.

Twenty-five IADA-accredited dealers and 26 IADA-verified products and services members will be participating at EBACE, either with their own exhibits or co-exhibiting with IADA at its booth.

Israel-based aviation vision and light control solution company Gauzy will showcase its cabin ambiance, shade control, and plug-and-play solutions at the upcoming Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX). The show—to be held May 28 to 30 in Hamburg, Germany—is touting the event as a place where "airlines, designers, engineers, specifiers, and manufacturers come together to share, collaborate, and find practical and innovative solutions."

Gauzy will be demonstrating several of its products, including mechanical shades, transparent display technology, and dimmable glass windows that are designed to allow precise control of light through centralized systems and at passenger seats.

The company, which has two decades of experience in the lighting space, aims to “remain at the forefront of innovation in natural light control and personalized experiences.”

Tell us about the product support you receive from business aviation OEMs. The 2024 AIN Product Support Survey is now open, ready for selected readers to rate aircraft, engine, and avionics support. AIN readers who have been picked to participate in this year’s Product Support Survey should have received their password and link to the online survey by e-mail. The survey needs to be completed by midnight on June 3.