Blade Air Mobility is working to create the largest helicopter passenger service in Europe. Through its European subsidiaries, Blade has agreed to acquire the commercial passenger transport activities of European helicopter operators Monacair SAM, Héli Sécurité, and another as-of-yet unnamed helicopter operator in the south of France for $50 million. The transaction is expected to close this summer.
These carriers collectively carried 125,000 passengers in 2019 and had aggregate revenues of $32.2 million. Their 2022 revenues through April 2022 are 30 percent ahead of the same period in 2019.
Under the agreement, Blade will become the exclusive customer of the carriers and purchase their commercial activities. The carriers will continue to own and operate their fleets only for Blade’s scheduled by-the-seat and charter service in the south of France, Monaco, Switzerland, and Italy while together working with Blade toward the transition to eVTOL aircraft in the region. Blade will also develop branded passenger terminals at more than 10 airports and vertiports in France, Monaco, and Switzerland utilized by these air carriers.
Blade service will begin in advance of the Monaco Grand Prix on May 29 with seven-minute flights between Nice, France, and Monte Carlo, Monaco, available for purchase on the Blade app for $220 per seat.
After being published for some 25 years, the Aviation Safety Network (ASN) is replacing its weekly email accident digest with a new monthly digest. Earlier this year, the ASN became fully integrated into the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), and “this gives us the opportunity to offer more and better accident data services,” said the FSF.
The monthly accident digest will continue to offer details of airliner, corporate jet, and turboprop accidents, and significant incidents around the world that have been added to ASN's online database. Information will also include links to newly released final accident reports. Notifications of all fatal aircraft accidents can also be found on Twitter.
Flight Safety Foundation members can receive a customizable daily accident digest email to become available later this year.
The ASN database, which started documenting aviation accidents in 1902, can be accessed online. In addition to turbine aircraft, online data includes accidents and incidents for virtually all non-turbine helicopters, airplanes, balloons, ultralights, and drones. Data includes the date of the accident, type of aircraft involved, registration number, location of the accident, type of accident, segment of flight, known activity, and a description of the mishap with links to source materials.
Leonardo has established a helicopter service center at the Paris-Le Bourget Airport. The 21,500-sq-ft facility—which includes a maintenance and repair hangar as well as office space—began operations in mid-April and, in coordination with Leonardo’s Belgium logistics hub, will support the Leonardo fleet in France and Central Europe.
Initially, the service center will support AW109, AW169, and AW139 models with the AW189 added at a future date. With over 35 percent of Leonardo’s VIP/executive fleet of 900 helicopters operating in Europe—the world’s largest commercial helicopter market—the new facility will support Leonardo’s growing number of VIP/executive helicopters as well as the new Agusta VIP brand with a dedicated space. Leonardo currently holds 45 percent of the world’s twin-engine VIP/executive market including private, charter, and VVIP/government transport services.
The company said the new center, “demonstrates Leonardo’s long-term commitment in the region and aligns to Leonardo’s focus on stronger support services and proximity. Enhanced services will help maximize the helicopter fleet’s mission effectiveness and safety for the benefit of operators, crews, and the served communities.”
Leonardo helicopters are supported by more than 90 service centers worldwide in more than 40 countries.
London Oxford Airport is investing in new facilities to absorb strong growth in business aviation traffic. Among its expansion plans are a new hangar and additional space for aircraft maintenance and repairs.
The new Hangar 16 is needed, says the privately-owned airport, because the 63,000-sq-ft Hangar 15, which opened in October 2021, is almost full. The UK airport is keen to expand capacity for aircraft so that the growth in business aviation activity does not compromise Oxford’s high volume of flight training movements.
The new maintenance building is being constructed to the specifications of an undisclosed aircraft manufacturer, which will lease it. It will cover 14 acres and is expected to open around mid-2024.
Oxford is also spending around $7.8 million to move and extend its northern taxiway. The goal is to increase capacity on busy days when the airport can see as many as 400 movements. Training aircraft will be able to do run-ups on the former crosswind runway and it will no longer be necessary to backtrack to exit the main runway when the southern end (RWY 01) is in use.
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) unveiled a new engine exchange program, fresh videos for operators and maintainers of its PT6E-67XP turboprop engine, and a major new customer for its carbon offset program at EBACE 2022.
The company has expanded its portfolio of P&WC Smart MRO offerings for its business jet engines to include a flat-rate “zero time since overhaul” (0-TSO) engine exchange for PW615F-A engines on the Cessna Citation Mustang. P&WC's exchange option allows customers to avoid having to rent an engine and the corresponding removal and installation. Installing the 0-TSO exchange engine reduces downtime in the shop to just a “few days,” according to P&WC.
P&WC also announced the launch of a new video operating and maintenance series for its PT6E-67XP turboprop engine that powers the Pilatus PC-12 NGX. The videos cover the use of intuitive engine controls and the use of the Data Collection and Transmission Unit (DCTU), which wirelessly transmits full-flight engine data shortly after landing and shutdown to a P&WC services team.
Additionally, P&WC reported a new customer of its Carbon Offset Service (COS), which is part of P&WC's Eagle Services Plan (ESP) and Fleet Management Plan (FMP). European fractional operator JetFly—which operates a fleet of 40 PC-12s, as well as 10 PC-24s—recently enrolled its entire fleet of P&WC PT6 engines that are already on ESP into COS.
Jet Aviation has obtained an air operator certificate (AOC) for San Marino and has launched a new flight operation. The move announced at EBACE, expands the company’s air charter operation which currently encompasses some 300 aircraft operated out of 10 control centers worldwide including Burbank, California.; Chicago; Teterboro, New Jersey; Valletta, Malta; Cologne, Germany; Zurich; Dubai; Hong Kong; Singapore; and now San Marino. Each of its AOCs is staffed with full-time employees including safety and compliance officers.
Separately, Jet Aviation announced it has signed an agreement with Shell Aviation to begin providing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Singapore at its FBO at Seletar Airport.
“Singapore is a key business hub in Asia-Pacific, and this agreement demonstrates our commitment to supporting sustainable efforts in the region,” explained Joe Reckling, the global service provider’s v-p of APAC regional operations. “We are excited to work with Shell to bring sustainable choices to our customers and together help SAF become the standard fuel used in the business aviation sector.”
Jet Aviation has had experience with renewable fuel as it was the first supplier to offer SAF at Los Angeles-area Van Nuys Airport starting in 2019, and last year began permanent stocking of the fuel at its Amsterdam Schiphol Airport location.
Astronautics Corporation of America has sold its electromechanical product line of legacy aircraft instruments to Extant Aerospace, a specialist in supporting out-of-production, legacy components including avionics and electromechanical products.
The Astronautics products that Extant will manufacture and support include electromechanical horizontal situation indicators, attitude director indicators, and bearing distance heading indicators. The product line will transition to Extant through the third quarter of this year, but customers should continue working with Astronautics sales operations team members during the “early stages of the transition,” according to Astronautics.
“Customers are always at the forefront of Astronautics’ decision making,” said Astronautics CEO Ronald Zelazo. “The decision to sell this product line, which created numerous long-standing customer relationships and was foundational to Astronautics’ early success, was carefully considered. We firmly believe that Extant, with its advanced technical, material, and customer service resources, will support our customers with high-quality, aftermarket avionics solutions that will keep their aircraft maintained and operational.”
Astronautics manufactures avionics such as the RoadRunner EFI, which replaces legacy electromechanical instruments with modern glass cockpit displays, as well as the AeroSync connectivity product line.
AIN Product Support Survey Now Open
Tell us about the product support you receive from business aviation OEMs. The 2022 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.
GE Aviation has extended its agreement with MRO and service provider Aero-Dienst to support the CF34 turbofan engine that powers the Bombardier Challenger 600 series as part of the OEM's authorized service center network. The German company became one of the first authorized service providers in GE’s European business/general aviation network in 2011.
Aero-Dienst performs maintenance on around 600 Challenger 600s every year and offers AOG and mobile repair team services. It also performs engine work, including removal and reinstallation of components as part of the GE OnPoint program. The company maintains a stock of original GE spare parts at its main base at Nuremberg, Germany, to ensure rapid assistance for European Challenger operators.
Along with the Nuremberg base, Aero-Dienst operates a component shop in Landsberg and has recently opened a new maintenance facility at Oberpfaffenhofen. In Austria, the company has line stations in Vienna and Klagenfurt. Other aircraft types supported include the Global, Falcon, Hawker, and Learjet. Engine expertise includes the Pratt & Whitney PW300 family, Rolls-Royce BR710, and Honeywell TFE731 and HTF7000, while line maintenance for Honeywell and Sundstrand APUs is part of the portfolio.
Mandates a borescopefluorescent penetrant inspection procedure per Pratt & Whitney Canada Service Bulletin (SB) JT15D-72-7655 to inspect the back face of the impeller at the next hotsection inspection until the impeller, P/N 3020365, is replaced at the next scheduled engineoverhaul. Prompted by a recent in-service event of an uncontained failure in a JT15D-1A during a takeoffroll. A subsequent investigation by Pratt & Whitney Canada determined that a crack originated from machiningmarks on the back face of the impeller and propagated until the impeller fractured. There isevidence that the event engine had been previously inspected in accordance with P&WC SB 7590—mandated by AD CF-2003-17—but it appears that the machining marks were not detected.
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 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
