Business aviation services provider Amber Aviation has closed on a Series B funding round that will enable the Shenzen, China-based company to offer shared lease, jet card, and membership programs. Thanks to the new investment by fractional-share provider NetJets, Fung Investment, and Macau-based Liu’s Group, as well as existing investor Hony Capital, Amber will receive up to 20 preowned Bombardier and Gulfstream large-cabin jets from NetJets’ existing fleet. Deliveries will begin in April 2022 and continue over the next two years.
“With NetJets’ assistance we can quickly build up the available fleet of aircraft so that we can be ready once international borders fully reopen,” said Amber president Chang Qiusheng. He added that with the support of NetJets and the other investors, Amber can boost business aircraft utilization in the region.
“By bridging the gap with our shared lease, jet card, and membership programs, Amber Aviation will help grow the number of business aviation users in Asia, which will benefit the whole industry,” Qiusheng said.
The aircraft transferred by NetJets will be operated under Amber’s air operator certificate. “This partnership with Amber Aviation offers NetJets a unique opportunity to provide long-term service in the Asian market to our owners,” said NetJets chairman and CEO Adam Johnson.
Embraer Services & Support announced a couple of maintenance program improvements to its Legacy and Lineage business aircraft this week at the Dubai Airshow. On the Legacy 600 and 650, Embraer has removed the requirement for an intermediate stop for low-utilization customers, meaning the inspection package of tasks to be performed every six months, known internally as LU6, has been extended to an annual inspection, or LU12 package.
On its large-cabin Lineage 1000, Embraer no longer requires removal of the forward auxiliary fuel tanks during the 48-month check. Instead, it will be required on the 96-month check. That, Embraer said, will increase aircraft availability and reduce maintenance costs.
Both maintenance program adjustments were made following an analysis review and optimization process applied to fleet field data that is collected through Embraer’s service center network. “It also reinforces Embraer’s commitment to providing continuous maintenance program improvement, to both the customers and operators as an after-sales support,” the Brazilian airframer said.
Currently, there are 157 Legacy 600s, 108 Legacy 650s, and 26 Lineage 1000s in the active fleet.
JetClub has entered into a memorandum of understanding with global FBO operator Jetex to explore serving the Middle East as its next market, the companies announced this week. JetClub is the European sister brand launched earlier this year to North Carolina-based Jet It, a fractional provider that exclusively flies Honda Aircraft HA-420 HondaJets.
“After successfully starting operations in Europe, we are exploring the Middle East market as our next strategic opportunity,” said JetClub Group founder and CEO Vishal Hiremath. “Our agreement with Jetex allows us to explore the market, gain feedback from clients, and expand our service offering, ensuring our clients have the best possible experience around the world. Our goal is to allow our clients in the United States, Europe, or Asia to be able to have access to a worldwide fleet.”
JetClub and Jet It currently operate a fleet of 14 HondaJets. Under the Jet It and JetClub model, members purchase a share of a HondaJet in exchange for using the aircraft for a certain number of days, not hours.
“Both JetClub and Jetex are leaders in innovation as they offer a new way for more consumers to access private aviation and enjoy its benefits,” said Jetex founder and CEO Adel Mardini. “We are confident of the value Jetex can add to JetClub’s discerning fractional aircraft owners and passengers.”
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has named five Jet Aviation sites in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Switzerland as designated maintenance facilities (DMF) for line maintenance and mobile repair services, bringing the turbine engine OEM’s number of DMFs serving helicopters, regional, general, and business aircraft to 22 worldwide.
Each of the new Jet Aviation DMFs carries authorizations for maintenance on different P&WC variants. The company's Singapore facility can work on several PT6A variants, PW308A/C, PW307A/D, JT15D-5/5R, PW305B, PW617F-E, and PW535E; Cairns, Australia: PW120, PW121/A, PW127E, PW123B/C/D/E, PW150A, PW118A/B, several PT6A variants, and JT15D-4/-5A/D5; Hong Kong: PW308C and PW307A; Manila: several PT6A variants, JT15D-5A, JT15D-D, PW207D, and PW207D1/D2; and Basel: PW305A, PW307A, PW307D, and PW308C.
Introduced in 2017, P&WC’s DMFs are in areas of the greatest demand and provide OEM-approved tools and parts and direct support from the company’s technical professionals, according to P&WC v-p of customer service Satheeshkumar Kumarasingam. “Our DMF network is a critical element of our strategy to provide our customers with local and personalized line maintenance and mobile repair services,” he said.
In all, P&WC has more than 50 owned and designated facilities, two customer-first centers for technical and logistic support, more than 10 owned and designated parts distribution centers, and more than 100 field support representatives and mobile repair teams.
Gogo SmartShield Can Protect Your Inflight Connectivity Investment
In early October, Gogo Business Aviation announced a new premium membership program called SmartShield that offers exclusive protections and benefits for anyone with a Gogo inflight connectivity system.
The FAA is delegating fewer responsibilities to manufacturers, reexamining human factors assumptions, and working with international partners on pilot training requirements as it strives to learn lessons from the Boeing Max crashes, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said yesterday during remarks prepared for an Aero Club of Washington gathering.
Dickson provided an overview of the agency’s activities as it navigated through the pandemic, as well as the aftermath of the Max crashes. “Every day for weeks and months, it seemed, we faced challenges and an ever-changing operational environment—and wondered whether we would be able to operate at all.” He added that the lessons from the Max crashes provided “opportunities to strengthen not only the aircraft certification process but also our safety oversight and culture.”
In addition to addressing delegation, human factors, and pilot training—all prevailing themes examined after the Max crashes—Dickson reiterated that the FAA is promoting the expanded use of safety management systems to foster the ability to identify root causes of safety issues.
He noted that these efforts are progressing despite the pandemic. “The Max and certification reform efforts would have been major undertakings during normal times. But they were made even more challenging because of the pandemic,” Dickson said, adding that Covid “challenged every part of the system.”
Boise, Idaho-based FBO and Part 145 provider Western Aircraft has been awarded approval to provide maintenance on Mexican-registered aircraft from the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil). The approval covers business aircraft manufactured by Gulfstream, Dassault, Textron Aviation (Hawker, Cessna, and King Air models), Pilatus, Embraer, and Piper.
“We are excited to expand our capabilities to work on Mexican-registered aircraft,” said Western Aircraft director of sales and marketing Kerry Heiss. “Having spoken with numerous Mexican operators, we know they value working with capable MRO facilities. In addition, our avionics, interior, and structures departments complement our maintenance work for a broad array of jet and turboprop aircraft.”
Mexican approval follows the Greenwich AeroGroup company’s recent addition of a 53,000-sq-ft hangar, the first phase of a $17 million expansion that includes the construction of a 40,000-sq-ft building to house Western’s avionics and interior shops, as well as administrative offices.
The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging interim final regulations implementing the No Surprises Act, which passed late last year as part of a federal omnibus stimulus package and was due to take effect on January 1. It provides a variety of consumer medical protections, including a prohibition on “surprise” billing for out-of-network and emergency medical services.
While AAMS said it supports the goals of the act, it maintains the interim regulations are skewed to favor medical insurers to the disadvantage of air ambulance providers, which in many cases already provide air medical transport for reimbursement rates below costs.
“The fair and transparent process that we all supported [in the act] is not the process being implemented,” charged AAMS president and CEO Cameron Curtis. “Instead, we are faced with a scenario in which a patient is in an emergency is transported by a helicopter...and that patient’s insurer gets to unilaterally determine the amount they pay. This will have disastrous consequences for access to emergency air ambulance services.”
AAMS believes that a fair process in which all factors—including the type of aircraft, the quality of the services provided, and the acuity of the patient, among others—are considered can ensure the sustainability of air medical services and the larger healthcare system.
AeroGulf Services and LorEau Aviation Group have entered a partnership in which LorEau will provide a wide range of Part 145 repair services, allowing AeroGulf to offer MRO capabilities for fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Originally established as a commercial helicopter operator in Dubai, AeroGulf has since expanded to offer a variety of aviation services including external cargo, filming, and emergency medical services. It also continues to provide aerial work for companies and governments in the Middle East region.
Founded this year, LorEau operates a facility in Dubai World Central that specializes in nondestructive testing, wheels, brakes, and batteries.
“It is our firm belief that AeroGulf’s history and unquestionable quality of service combined with the LorEau Aviation Group’s capability will provide a world-class solution to our collective customer base,” said LorEau Aviation president Ronnie McCrae.
Requires a one-time inspection of the rods and levers of the rotors flight control and removal of any detected foreign object. Prompted by an occurrence wherea protective sheath was found installed around afixedflight control rod. Thatprotection should have been removed during the helicopter final assembly.
Requires a one-time inspection of the tail gearbox fittings for crackand, depending on findings, replacement. Prompted by alargecrack detected on the inner forward-right side of the tail gearbox during a scheduled inspection.
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