High achievement, breakthrough technology, diversity, and advances in sustainability took center stage in the inspiring keynote opener of EBACE 2023 yesterday morning featuring motorsports legends Toto and Susie Wolff and entrepreneur and solar power innovator Raphaël Domjan.
After EBAA chairman Juergen Wiese welcomed attendees to “Europe's greatest and largest and most exciting business aviation gathering,” Giovanni Russo, COO of Geneva Airport, a partner in the annual EBAA gathering, reported that business aviation comprises 20 percent of the airport’s traffic. The airport is aiming to be net-zero carbon emissions by 2037, he said, recounting investments in sustainability the airport has made that will make that possible.
Honda Aircraft announced Tuesday that the HondaJet Elite II received type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The Elite II is being shown this week at EBACE for the first time.
The Elite II on the EBACE static display was flown from the company's manufacturing headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, which was made easier thanks to the aircraft's 1,547-nm range (NBAA IFR with four passengers). The flights to and from EBACE are using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) book-and-claim credits “to promote the deployment of SAF and support the industry's commitment to carbon neutrality,” according to Honda Aircraft.
For the first time since Bombardier initiated its Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) aircraft program in 2021, the airframer has one of the examples on display at an airshow. In its EBACE 2023 static display this week, the Canadian OEM is showing off a 2012 vintage Challenger 605 that has been factory-refurbished through the program.
While some third-party companies have offered remanufactured aircraft programs in the past, Bombardier is the first manufacturer to do so. “What we have done is created a brand new category of preowned aircraft,” said Paul Sislian, executive v-p for aftermarket services and strategy. “The way we have done that is by offering a full turnkey solution that offers complete peace of mind to our customers.”
Business aviation has long been the target of environmental protestors who say private jet travel is an unnecessary luxury that produces a significant amount of harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But the business aviation industry is actually leading the pack when it comes to decarbonization, according to a group of business jet OEM executives who gathered at an EBACE media luncheon on Monday for a panel discussion on sustainability.
In the push to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the broader aviation industry is working collaboratively to wean off of fossil fuel in favor of using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). But given that SAF is more expensive than regular jet fuel and is not available in most parts of the world, adopting the use of SAF at scale is proving to be a colossal challenge. This is especially so for the airline industry, which accounts for about 2.5 percent of global carbon-dioxide emissions.
Gulfstream Aerospace is now expecting certification of the G700 near the end of this year, president Mark Burns said at an EBACE 2023 media briefing on Monday that covered the U.S. airframer’s in-development programs, which also include the follow-on G800 and the G400. The company more recently expected the G700, introduced at NBAA-BACE in 2019, to get FAA approval in the third quarter, but Burns said pandemic-related issues, including staffing shortages at the regulatory agency, are causing the process to take “much longer than anticipated.”
Nonetheless, the G700 recently completed several certification test points during field performance and flying qualities trials. Meanwhile, the G700 has amassed more than 25 city-pair speed records on a world tour of two outfitted production aircraft last year and continuing customer visits worldwide. That includes one just set on the flight to EBACE, arriving in Geneva from Mumbai, India, in 8 hours 34 minutes at an average speed of Mach 0.90.
The digital flip-through issue of AIN’s award-winning EBACE Convention News is now available online. It’s a great way to quickly scan the news from EBACE 2023, whether you’re in Geneva attending the show or watching from afar.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
