The Asia-Pacific region is getting its own private aviation trade show with the launch of a Singapore-based event to be held for the first time from March 4 to 6, 2025. Experia Events announced plans for its Business Aviation Asia Forum and Expo (BAAFEx) this week, confirming it will be held in the Changi Exhibition Centre, where the company already hosts the Singapore Airshow.

Notably, the biennial BAAFEx event will be staged in alternative years to the Singapore Airshow, which is next due to convene in early February 2026. The Changi site, which immediately adjoins Singapore’s main airport, has space for an extensive static display of aircraft right next to the exhibit halls.

According to Leck Chet Lam, managing director of Experia Events, all the major business aircraft manufacturers have shown interest in exhibiting at BAAFEx. He told AIN that companies including aircraft management and charter group TAG Aviation, satellite communications provider Viasat, and risk management specialist MedAire have committed to participating in the first show.

Experia said it expects the new show to channel growing demand for business aircraft and their associated services in Asia-Pacific. According to Leck, the strongest demand is now coming from Southeast Asia, Japan, and India.

Next week, the business aviation community will gather in Las Vegas for the industry's largest event—NBAA-BACE. As usual, I’m very excited to connect with colleagues and friends. It is always a highlight of my year!

With more than 40 educational sessions and countless opportunities for networking and learning, this year's convention is shaping up to be a must-attend event for anyone serious about their professional growth. And as someone who has spent nearly 25 years helping aviation leaders build teams, I’m thrilled to see that workforce sessions are taking center stage.

Of the 40 sessions scheduled at BACE, at least 10 are dedicated workforce sessions. These cover everything from professional development and career-building strategies to culture-building techniques and compensation trends.

As we all know, the business aviation industry is built on the passion, skills, and dedication of its people. That’s why these sessions matter so much. It’s about coming together to share solutions for attracting and retaining talent, and creating healthy workplace environments to ensure that we have the skills and leadership to meet the future demands of our industry.

If you’re planning on attending NBAA-BACE, I encourage you to prioritize several of the following workforce sessions. Many of them offer Certified Aviation Manager (CAM) credits, which is a bonus for those working toward their NBAA CAM certificate.

Rolls-Royce has completed the flight-test campaign for the Pearl 10X turbofan it is developing for the in-development Dassault Falcon 10X business jet. Over the past six months, the powerplant has been evaluated on the engine maker’s Boeing 747 testbed aircraft, logging around 36,000 nm during the course of more than 25 flights conducted in the U.S.

During the tests, the engine was operated at a maximum altitude of 45,000 feet, with the testbed achieving a maximum speed of Mach 0.90. According to Rolls-Royce, the test campaign achieved all of its objectives and gave the company confidence in the maturity of the program as it continues to work with Dassault on the 10X program.

"On behalf of Rolls-Royce, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our incredible global engineering and experimental test teams for their outstanding dedication and expertise in successfully completing the Pearl 10X flying testbed campaign,” said Rolls-Royce Deutschland senior v-p Philipp Zeller. “This achievement is a testament to your commitment, innovation, and global collaboration and I am immensely proud of everything we have accomplished together."

Sheltair broke ground this week on an expansion of its FBO at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL) in Florida. The $16 million project—slated for completion by the end of 2025—will add more than 65,000 sq ft of hangar space capable of sheltering ultra-long-range business jets and office space.

Since 2003, the family-owned company has added more than 182,000 sq ft of improvements at KORL, including a new terminal in 2019. This latest addition will bring the facility to nearly 430,000 sq ft of hangars and offices.

Hangar 18—at 32,956 sq ft—will be designed to serve as an MRO facility, while 32,504-sq-ft Hangar 19 will add to the facility's community aircraft storage tally.

“We are truly grateful for the support we have received from the [Greater Orlando Aviation Authority] board and staff throughout this process and the 21-year tenure that we have enjoyed at the Orlando Executive Airport,” said Tony Sherbert, the Florida-based service provider’s senior v-p of real estate. “In addition to supporting jobs and driving economic activity for this city, this will position Sheltair and [KORL] to meet the evolving needs of the aviation community in Central Florida and maintain [KORL’s] status as a premier destination for aircraft owners and operators.”

To demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, Pilatus Aircraft is partnering with Austria-based cabin materials manufacturer F/List on the display next week at NBAA-BACE of a PC-24 cabin mockup designed with environmentally friendly materials.

The mockup will mark the debut of F/List’s plant-based oil wood veneer finish, which minimizes the release of harmful volatile organic compounds into the environment while enhancing the appearance of the wood. It is engineered for durability and scratch resistance, requiring minimal maintenance.

The eco-friendly demonstrator will allow the Swiss airframer to introduce showgoers to the next generation of sustainable interior materials available to outfit its jet interiors. Its furnishings highlight a variety of F/List products including wood veneers, engineered Linfinium countertop derived from plant oil and marble fragments, F/Lab Aenigma bulkhead created from recycled stone dust, synthetic “Whisper” leather lower side panel, and Fresco Décor upper side panel.

“We are excited to showcase how the F/LAB materials harmonize to bring sustainability, style, and sophistication into the cabin,” stated F/List CEO Katharina List-Nagl. “The PC-24…mockup exemplifies the original thinking, manufacturing excellence, and innovative spirit of both companies at a time when sustainability is more important than ever.”

Pilatus noted that most of the fabrics it uses in its interiors are recyclable, made from special fibers rendering them easy to clean.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) made a nearly $3 billion investment in the future of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) this week with guaranteed loans to two major producers.

As part of the Biden Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the DOE’s loan program office issued a commitment for a finance package worth more than $1.4 billion to Calumet subsidiary Montana Renewables, which in the span of less than two years has become one of the largest SAF producers in the U.S. The loan would support the expansion of the company’s Great Falls, Montana facility from an output of 140 million gallons per year of biofuels (mainly renewable diesel) to 315 million gallons a year of mostly SAF.

That increased output alone would equal 10% of the SAF Grand Challenge 2030 goal of 3 billion gallons of SAF production annually.

The second announced loan from the DOE is to Gevo Net-Zero-1 to finance the first commercial-scale corn starch-to-jet fuel plant in Lake Preston, South Dakota. The $1.46 billion loan guarantee will enable the construction of the facility, which will use locally grown, low-cost, low-carbon field corn as a feedstock. The plant is anticipated to create 60 million gallons of SAF a year and, as a byproduct, would generate 1.3 billion pounds of high-protein animal feed and 30 million pounds of corn oil.

In a nod to the recent passing of veteran aerospace communications stalwart Bill Reavis, NBAA has dedicated the Media Headquarters at NBAA-BACE 2024 to his legacy. Reavis, who left his mark for his almost dogmatic representation of Honeywell Aerospace over his nearly 25-year career with the company, died March 14 from cancer.

In honoring him, NBAA called Reavis “an aviation communications leader revered as both a friend and foremost subject matter expert by those in his many personal and professional circles.”

While with Honeywell and its predecessor companies Bendix/King and AlliedSignal Aerospace, he was involved with press relations, crisis communications, and the promotion and launch of new technologies such as EGPWS. He is often credited with putting the auxiliary power unit “on the map” through his promotion of the technology that otherwise would have received little attention.

“Reavis displayed a natural ability to simplify the often-complicated technical concepts behind aviation technologies,” NBAA added in its announcement. Plans call for the media headquarters to incorporate special signage that highlights his inspiring life story, NBAA said.