NetJets broke ground yesterday on a maintenance and customer facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, one of the top destinations for the company’s fractional aircraft shareowners. The “exclusive-use” facility—expected to open in first-quarter 2024—will include a private boarding lounge and ramp space, as well as serve as one of the company’s more than 10 maintenance hubs that support NetJets’s fleet of more than 850 business jets.
At 42,000 sq ft, the facility includes 30,000 sq ft of hangar space and 12,000 sq ft for offices and a passenger terminal. Along with the facility, NetJets expects to create more than 200 jobs in Scottsdale.
“Our ongoing investment in expanding our real estate portfolio will continue to improve our industry-leading service, owner experience, and maintenance abilities,” said NetJets administrative services executive v-p Brad Ferrell. “We are excited to introduce our first from-the-ground-up NetJets Maintenance Service Hub site as a part of this larger investment in dedicated facilities across the globe.”
As part of its maintenance operations, NetJets invests more than $63 million annually in aircraft spare parts, including the 753,000 it has on hand.
A recent report from Market Research Future predicts the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market will be worth $60 billion by 2030. According to the report, liquid biofuels—through their energy content and lower life cycle carbon benefits—are currently the most advanced substitute for conventional petroleum-based fuels, considering the aviation industry’s focus on reducing its carbon emissions. The report also cites that the growing environmental awareness in the 21st century will make the sustainable fuel sector an evergreen one.
Through 2030, the authors see the North American market as “one of the strong sales centers for sustainable aviation fuel due to the sharp increase in legislation and activities that assist the process of decarbonizing aviation emissions.” They added, “The U.S. aircraft authorities are anticipated to hold a sizable value share in the aviation biofuel market because of the nation’s rapidly expanding aviation industry.”
The study noted one of the key limiting factors is “the poor or negligible availability of raw materials, which will affect the manufacturers' prevalent ability to produce and manufacture an adequate number to meet the expanding wants of the target audiences around the world.”
Additionally, the report stated that China and India will soon develop the supply-chain infrastructure that will enable them to amass the feedstocks needed to produce SAF.
Finding an open shop slot for a pre-purchase inspection is the biggest roadblock to closing preowned business aircraft deals by year-end, according to Hagerty Jet Group. The preowned Gulfstream specialist said many potential buyers in the U.S. are rushing to take advantage of 100 percent bonus depreciation before it drops to 80 percent in 2023.
Inspection facilities in the U.S. remain busy, with the average lead time to get into an OEM facility being six to eight weeks, the business jet broker said. However, it noted that European MROs might have availability because they are not performing maintenance on sanctioned Russian aircraft.
Meanwhile, Hagerty Jet said recent interest rate hikes may push more U.S. aircraft buyers on the fence as the cost of financing escalates. It added that the strong U.S. dollar will likely deter foreign buyers from entering the market and could create more foreign supply thanks to those willing to sell.
Regarding foreign supply, the company said the first Russian-owned business aircraft are coming for sale, “but buyers are hesitant to be the first ones to learn how to navigate these difficult transactions where the aircraft are often unairworthy and not supported by suppliers.”
The dual flameout of a 2015 Airbus H145 helicopter last November was caused by ice-clogged inlet barrier filters (IBFs), according to Norway’s Accident Investigation Board (AIBN). The Norsk Luftambulanse flight was conducting a search-and-rescue mission in the Kongsvikdalen valley in Lofoten during localized snowy conditions when the left engine abruptly shut down in flight. The pilots successfully executed an immediate emergency landing.
Once on the ground, the right engine also shut down. None of the six aircraft occupants were injured and the helicopter was later airlifted to a maintenance facility. A post-incident investigation found damage to compressor blades in both engines’ axial compressors, and Norsk subsequently removed the IBFs from its fleet.
The AIBN noted that the incident helicopter spent substantial time in hover and on the ground with engines running while awaiting the arrival of the party being rescued and concluded that ice probably built up in the IBF system during this time. It noted that post-incident flight tests conducted by Airbus concluded that “under certain weather conditions, significant amounts of ice can build up in the IBF system and this ice can enter the engine unhindered.
Shortly after the incident, Airbus published Safety Information Notice 3515-71-Rev1 that prohibits flights in snowy weather or in temperatures below 5 degrees C when moisture is visible for helicopters with IBFs installed.
Delivering Reliable Connectivity at the Speed of Flight
With the ability to simultaneously monitor the performance of tens of thousands of air-to-ground connections, Gogo Business Aviation’s new Business Operations Center (formerly the Network Operations Center) is at the core of a more than 30-year commitment to delivering the best in-flight connectivity experience possible.
Lufthansa Technik today handed over a second Airbus A350 VIP widebody jet to the German Armed Forces for “long-haul political-parliamentary flight operations.” Named the Konrad Adenauer after the former German federal chancellor, the VIP A350 is the company’s first completion of the type with a “full government cabin,” including seating, washrooms, and a galley for delegations traveling with the aircraft.
The aircraft was received factory fresh from Airbus in late March 2021. A third German government VIP A350 has been received by Lufthansa Technik’s completions center for special aircraft services in Hamburg for a full cabin modification. The center also will soon receive the government’s first VIP A350 for conversion from a transitional cabin to a government one.
“The aircraft christened today is not the first Airbus A350 handed over by us to the German Armed Forces, yet it bears all the insignia of a new flagship with the registration number 10+01 and the history-steeped name Konrad Adenauer,” said Lufthansa Technik CEO Soeren Stark. “This great honor is also reflected in the new government cabin we installed, which sets new standards with state-of-the-art technology and high functionality as well as cost efficiency.”
Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) has awarded €3.1 million in development funding to a consortium of five companies that are working to establish technology for a new methanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel (M2SAF) production pathway.
The five companies that make up the M2SAF consortium—BASF, Thyssenkrupp, OMV, DLR, and ASG—span the entire value chain and have joined forces to create a process that will allow the production of drop-in sustainable aviation fuel using methanol sustainably produced from carbon dioxide and green hydrogen. Plans call for the integration of the system into existing production facilities.
“We are pleased to see the bundled know-how and the initiative of the renowned industrial companies in the M2SAF consortium, companies who want to jointly drive innovation and technologies to effectively support the decarbonization of air transport and thereby the climate goals of our federal government,” said BMDV state secretary Oliver Luksic. “The fact that the development project plans to use existing industrial facilities promises a quick realization of the M2SAF project, along with scalability of production to industrial levels.”
Alto Aviation’s cabin digital audio system and Cadence switch panels have been installed on 100 Bombardier Global Express business jets to date. The Sterling, Massachusetts company announced reaching this milestone earlier this week.
The digital audio system upgrade by Alto provides customized sound for each sitting area aboard the ultra-long-range jet, as well as digital surround sound and immersive acoustics. Its Cadence cabin control upgrades replace legacy controls from Baker/Honeywell, Audio International, and Lufthansa Technik. Those upgrades include Bluetooth audio, USB/HDMI ports, and tailored functionality, which also can be controlled through Alto’s cabin control app.
Alto’s upgrades are installed by a variety of authorized dealers, including AMAC, Bombardier, Duncan Aviation, Flying Colours, GEF Aviation, Pro Star, StandardAero, and West Star Aviation. “We continue our strong commitment to delivering great sound and cabin control solutions specifically designed for the Bombardier Global Express with simplicity and performance in mind,” said Alto v-p of sales and marketing Kevin Hayes.
Drivania Chauffeurs has integrated with private and business aviation booking platform FlightBridge, providing the ability to offer instant confirmations with upfront all-inclusive ground transportation prices for more than 600 destinations globally. The executive ground transportation provider said the integration will provide several benefits, including a one-step booking process.
Instant confirmations with passenger and flight details and upfront final prices will be uploaded into clients’ FlightBridge accounts. In addition, the integration enables special conditions such as negotiated rates, commissions, and payment methods. Further, Drivania said FBOs will be able to keep their local provider while benefitting from the Drivania technology tools.
“Drivania has always been a high-touch service with a focus on high-tech to give our customers the absolute best experience,” said Frank Davidson, senior v-p of sales for Drivania Chauffeurs. “We’re excited about this integration with a powerful platform such as FlightBridge that will help operators easily and instantly confirm ground transport on domestic and international missions.”
Drivania has provided ground transportation services to the general aviation community for more than 21 years, including through a joint-venture partnership with Universal Weather and Aviation. “We’re thrilled to be able to streamline the ground transport booking experience through our integration with Drivania,” added FlightBridge CEO Dudley King.
Requires a collective control system rigging check, and any corrective actions if clearance parameters are outside of tolerance, within 10 flight hours or 30 days after the November 23 effective date, whichever occurs first. Prompted by Bell identifying a potential fouling condition between the collective lever and the swashplate outer ring when conducting an installation test for a new design. A rotating swashplate outer ring fouling on the non-rotating collective lever may impact the main rotor flight control mechanism, potentially leading to loss of control of the helicopter.
Requires inspection for correct clearance between fuel probes and forward fuel tank structure and any necessary corrective actions. Prompted by a finding that the forward fuel tank could have an "unaccepted clearance condition" between fuel probes 1 and 3 and the fuel tank structure.
Requires revising the rotorcraft flight manual, installing placards, and—depending on the model—modifying the jettisoning system for the emergency flotation system. Prompted by reports of the cockpit doors failing to open after ditching with inflated floats on certain helicopters equipped with an emergency flotation system.
Requires an inspection for corrosion in certain areas of the wing skin fairings; additional inspections, if necessary; resealing the fairings with new fillet seal; and any applicable corrective actions. Prompted by reports that wing flap fairing debonding and corrosion were discovered at certain areas of the lower skin on both wings.
Requires repetitive inspections of the tail rotor driveshaft and, depending on findings, replacement. Prompted by reported occurrences of debonded adapters on the segmented tail rotor driveshaft.
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