Comlux delivered the first completed ACJ TwoTwenty—the newest member of the Airbus Corporate Jets family—to launch customer Five Hotels and Resorts, the Swiss VIP aircraft services specialist announced yesterday. Airbus Corporate Jets partnered with Comlux in 2020 to bring the executive variant of the Airbus 220 single-aisle airliner to the business aviation market. Comlux is designing and installing the interiors on the first 16 of the TwoTwenty; at least 10 have been ordered to date.
The cabin, which was completed in 14 months, has been EASA certified, and the completion rate is expected to accelerate going forward. Comlux offers a variety of preconfigured interior elements, allowing customers to create a personalized luxury interior, while keeping costs and delivery time down. Though the interior is some 50 percent larger than that of an ultra-long-range business jet, the company said the ACJ’s purchase price and hangar footprint are the same.
Featuring a primary suite with a king-sized bed and spa-like shower, Dubai-based Five will use the new jet to expand its hospitality empire into the sky, with its “Fly FIVE” service, “establishing the next level in private aviation,” said CEO Aloki Batra.
Comlux chairman and CEO Richard Gaona called the project “the first of many amazing ACJ TwoTwenty cabins we will develop,” while Airbus Corporate Jets president Benoit Defforge hailed the platform’s “unbeatable operational efficiency, unmatched comfort, and technology.”
Gulfstream has named UK-based yacht brokerage and management company Edmiston as its authorized sales representative for the UK and Channel Islands. Edmiston will be responsible for assisting Gulfstream’s customers and potential customers throughout the region.
"Edmiston is well respected in their industry and was an excellent partner choice given their strong customer relationships and shared focus on sustainability,” explained Scott Neal, the airframer’s senior v-p of worldwide sales. “Michael Swift, Gulfstream’s division vice president of sales for EMEA [and the Indian subcontinent], and I look forward to working with Edmiston CEO Jamie Edmiston and his team to leverage their local expertise as we continue to expand our presence and grow our share in these key markets."
Edmiston has offices at the Edmiston London Heliport and at Farnborough Airport. Gulfstream extended its footprint in the UK in 2020 when it opened a LEED-certified 225,000-sq-ft service center at Farnborough. The facility was designed with sustainability features such as rainwater harvesting, radiant hangar heat, intelligent lighting controls, and heat recovery systems. The Savannah, Georgia-based airframer was the first OEM to conduct a flight with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), as well as the first to fly a business jet across the Atlantic on SAF.
Business aircraft MRO Jet East launched its Structures Response Team as a way to further meet its customers’ needs for a comprehensive range of mobile AOG repair services for all sizes of aircraft. The services offered through the team include sheet metal and composite repairs, as well as non-destructive testing (NDT) and paint services—providing customer convenience during the most inconvenient circumstances, such as a bird strike, lightning strike, or hangar incident. Technicians can be deployed in less than 24 hours and are prepared for immediate dispatch.
“We understand that our customers rely on their aircraft to conduct their business, and we take that responsibility very seriously,” said Jet East's COO of MRO Services, Shawn George. “Jet East is proud to offer comprehensive repair services with the ability to support the entire repair after initial assessment. This includes working with engineering, NDT, repair, and paint,” he continued. “The advantage of the Jet East Structures Response Team is that we do not specialize in just one discipline but are able to support all aspects of the required repair.”
The service expands Jet East’s full-service capabilities, including a 24/7 AOG maintenance team of 115 technicians offering nationwide coverage with around-the-clock dispatch.
With the European Union’s requirements for ramp inspections of aircraft now evolving, the NBAA recently joined other groups and regulators in a RAMP Industry Forum organized by EASA. Participants looked at best practices and how new requirements for Safety Assessments of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) could impact daily operations.
The SAFA requirements apply to both commercial and general aviation aircraft, and of roughly 10,000 inspections a year conducted in EU member states, only around 5 to 7 percent are in the latter category. The forum focused on new aspects of the process such as alcohol testing for flight crew, inspections of fasteners and bonding wires, and the storage of lithium-ion batteries.
Regulators have been working to establish safe limits for how many missing fasteners on exterior panels can be tolerated before a flight has to be canceled. “We recommend anyone flying to a participating member state conduct a thorough preflight [check] to ensure all screws, rivets, and fasteners are in place on exterior panels,” advised NBAA flight operations and regulations director Brian Koester.
Overall, he said, the inspection process is improving, with EASA showing a willingness to allow specific standards for general aviation aircraft. The latest SAFA inspection guidance has now been incorporated into an updated RAMP Inspection Manual.
Hey, you've got yourself an aircraft, congrats! But do you know all the nitty-gritty details your repair station needs before going in for your first maintenance event? It's like your first visit to a new doctor – except the repair facility is filling out dozens of pages of information on the aircraft's health history – not you.
Duncan Aviation recently remodeled its Honeywell HTF7000 engine shop, effectively quadrupling the dedicated engine maintenance services space at its Lincoln, Nebraska facility. The company also expanded the facility’s management team by naming Shawn Schmitz as its HTF7000 program manager.
“We have always been able to successfully perform all aspects of the HTF7000 engine maintenance process since receiving the minor authorization,” said Duncan's manager of engine overhaul services, Scott Stoki. “We are now making the best use of our time and space by supporting the entire process in one location and not having to move certain critical parts through other areas of the company.”
The move brought all engine services and back shop capabilities into one place, including a dedicated on-site nondestructive testing lab, a flow and balance room, a large engine cleanroom with an overhead crane, a large-capacity media blaster, a state-of-the-art paint booth, and a mixing room.
Stoki said of Schmitz's appointment, “Shawn has years of hands-on experience tearing the HTF7000 engine down as far as possible in the field and then putting it back together again. This experience gives him the tribal knowledge to pass his expertise on to his team and to serve customers better.”
GlobalSelect, the sole FBO at Houston-area Sugar Land Regional Airport (KSGR), has opened a 38,600-sq-ft hangar that brings the airport-operated facility to more than 82,000 sq ft of aircraft storage space. The $6.3 million project was the result of an FAA edict to remove an existing 40,000-sq-ft hangar as part of the $30 million relocation of 8,000-foot Taxiway A.
The replacement was designed with exterior features such as stucco-treated metal panels and a stone façade to integrate with the nearby 20,000-sq-ft FBO terminal. Its east-facing wall includes a series of 24-foot-tall arched windows so drivers on State Highway 6 can view the aircraft while stopped at the intersection. The interior is lit by energy-efficient, high-bay LED lights, while the five doors at the hangar opening can be opened independently or all at the same time to provide the line crew flexibility when moving aircraft. In addition, 70 new valet parking spaces are secured behind an access gate.
“We could have built another gray metal hangar like so many others, but asked ourselves, ‘Why not be relentless trailblazers and create something spectacular?’” said Elizabeth Rosenbaum, director of aviation at KSGR. “This hangar is one of the many very recently completed projects that demonstrate our embrace of positive change.”
Thomas Global Systems announced that its TFD-4100 drop-in CRT-to-LCD display solution has been selected by a “prominent” Bombardier Challenger 604 fleet operator as part of its Collins Pro Line 4 avionics upgrade.
“The selection of our TFD-4100 solution by a respected operator of Challenger 604s highlights the significant reliability and life cycle cost benefits offered by the latest in drop-in LCDs while addressing critical CRT display obsolescence,” said Thomas Global president and COO David Barns. “We are pleased to be rapidly growing the family of aircraft equipped with our proven display solutions.”
The TFD-4100 was developed as a plug-and-play solution and provides a practical and efficient upgrade path for legacy Challengers, Falcons, Gulfstreams, and Saab 2000-series aircraft operators who still have the obsolete Collins EFD-4077 CRT displays in their aircraft. In a related announcement, Thomas Global said Saab 2000 turboprop operator Jetstream Aviation Capital also selected the TFD-4100 for its fleet avionics upgrade.
According to Thomas Global Systems, the TFD-4100 joins the TFD-7076/-77, TFD-8601, and EFI-650 as part of its growing family of drop-in CRT-to-LCD upgrade solutions for commercial, military, and business aircraft.
The White House officially declined to comment this morning on rumors that it planned to nominate Obama administration FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker as the next FAA Administrator. The move would follow the withdrawal of Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington from consideration for the post last month and the announced departure of Acting Administrator Billy Nolen this summer.
Whitaker is the COO of Supernal, the air mobility division of Korean automaker Hyundai. An attorney and private pilot, he spent 20 years in the aviation industry, first with TWA in New York and Washington, where he served as assistant general counsel, then for 15 years with United Airlines, where he was senior v-p responsible for alliances and international and regulatory affairs. He left United to become the group chief executive officer of InterGlobe Enterprises, the holding company for IndiGo, and joined Supernal in 2021.
Previously at the FAA, Whitaker was responsible for initiatives including the NextGen air traffic control modernization program. In an interview with National Public Radio this past January, Whitaker said privatizing air traffic control was a “possible solution” to the agency’s ongoing need for stable funding. He also praised Nolen’s job performance and noted that the FAA was “in a time of transition.”
“You need investment, not just to keep the current system running, but to accommodate new technologies, like flying air taxis,” Whitaker said.
Model(s): BR700-71715A1-30 and BR700-715B1-30/C1-30
Published: April 28, 2023
Effective: May 5, 2023
Supersedes but retains requirements of AD 2022-0252, which mandated repetitive fluorescent-penetrant inspections of the front flange scallops of certain LP compressor booster rotors. After a new risk assessment, the updated AD extends the inspection interval to 5,000 engine flight cycles if all affected parts pass the FPI.
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