Vista Global Holdings reported record growth for its VistaJet International and XO charter brands for the first nine months, particularly in the third quarter. Sales in the U.S.—the group’s strongest and fastest-growing region—were up 185 percent over the same period in 2021 and, in the third quarter alone, contributed 64 percent of the total hours sold. New client members in the third quarter accounted for 70 percent of U.S. hours sold, a record in this segment for Vista.
“The U.S. is an incredibly dynamic market, and we are seeing huge growth in the region as members and new clients turn to Vista’s trusted brands and extensive global fleet for a superior end-to-end flying experience,” said Vista founder and chairman Thomas Flohr.
Dubai-based Vista singled out its acquisition of Ohio-based Jet Edge in the first half of the year as a factor in adding clients, infrastructure, and scale to support activity in North America. Meanwhile, the recent introduction of its VJ25 membership, offering 25 to 50 hours of access to the VistaJet fleet, and streamlined XO membership “demonstrates the simplification and client-centric focus of the group’s membership offerings,” the company said.
The Jet Edge acquisition brings the Vista fleet to more than 350 aircraft, half of them based throughout the U.S., including its flagship Bombardier Global 7500, Global 5000, Gulfstream G450, Challenger 605, Challenger 350, and Cessna Citation X and XLS jets.
Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding to test Alder Fuels’ Greencrude sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Greencrude uses sustainable biomass, including regenerative grasses, forest residues, and agricultural waste products, and can be converted into a drop-in fuel using existing bio and petroleum refinery infrastructure. It yields a greenhouse gas reduction of more than 80 percent compared with straight jet-A fuel.
“Through our partnership with Alder Fuels, we are taking the next steps on our journey to net zero [emissions] and are committed supporters of the UN [United Nations] race to zero goal of 10 percent SAF use across aviation by 2030,” said Frank Moesta, Rolls-Royce senior v-p strategy and future programs, business aviation.
The testing will generate data used by ASTM International for the development of a 100 percent SAF specification. Rolls-Royce has previously committed that all of its Trent and business aviation engines will be 100 percent SAF compatible by 2023. They are already certified to operate on a 50 percent SAF blend.
Alder is backed by Honeywell UOP, United Ventures, AvFuel, Boeing, Directional Aviation, the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of Energy, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Evia Aero has committed to ordering 25 all-electric Alice commuter airplanes from electric aircraft developer Eviation, the companies announced Wednesday at NBAA-BACE 2022. The new German regional airline signed a letter of intent with Eviation just three weeks after the Washington state-based electric aircraft developer kicked off Alice’s flight testing campaign with a successful first flight in Moses Lake, Washington, on September 27.
Evia Aero, which is focused on developing a sustainable airline for the business traveler market, plans to use the nine-passenger electric aircraft as its primary vessel for point-to-point travel within Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, and the Netherlands.
Eviation said it expects Alice to enter service in 2027. When it enters service, the battery-powered airplane is expected to have a range of about 250 nm. However, Eviation CEO Gregory Davis told AIN that the company aims to achieve a longer range of 440 nm once the available battery technology matures.
“Together with Eviation, a pioneer of electric flight, we will introduce a fleet of zero-emission aircraft that will transform the way we experience regional travel in Europe,” said Florian Kruse, founder and CEO of Evia Aero. “We are deeply committed to holistically transforming the aviation industry by implementing a complete cycle of local energy generation, storage, and flight operations.”
Gogo Business Aviation has completed the construction of its nationwide 5G air-to-ground connectivity network, the company announced at NBAA-BACE 2022. The company’s 5G network now covers the 48 contiguous U.S. states and will begin expanding into Canada next year, according to Gogo. It is expected to launch the service in the U.S. by year-end.
“Our team was tenacious and overcame a host of issues including Covid-19, weather, the supply chain, and geopolitical concerns, to build a new network of 150 towers nationwide—and they did it in less than 12 months,” said Gogo president and COO Sergio Aguirre. “It’s remarkable what our network deployment and field operations teams have accomplished.”
Gogo’s Avance platform allows customers to “future-proof” their in-flight connectivity systems, providing easy upgrade paths to the provider’s 5G network, as well as its future global low-Earth orbit satellite-based product. When it becomes available, Gogo said the service is expected to deliver download speeds of about 25 Mbps on average, with peak speeds of up to 80 Mbps.
In the meantime, Gogo customers wishing to upgrade to the 5G network can install Gogo’s Avance L5 system with full 5G provisions, including the belly-mounted MB13 5G antennas, and operate with 4G service until the X3 line replaceable unit becomes available.
Jet Aviation, which operates 30 FBOs worldwide, is making improvements at several locations, the company announced this week at NBAA-BACE 2022. The General Dynamics subsidiary has broken ground on a new 40,000-sq-ft hangar at its Bozeman, Montana facility, which when completed in the third quarter of 2023 will be able to accommodate ultra-long-range cabin business jets.
At Houston William P. Hobby Airport, the company has embarked on a project that will rebuild a 30,000-sq-ft hangar, renovate 6,000 sq ft of the FBO terminal’s lobby, and upgrade 4,500 sq ft of office space. This work is expected to continue into the first quarter of next year.
And in Scottsdale, Arizona, Jet Aviation is constructing an 18,000-sq-ft hangar, which, when completed in the middle of 2023 will bring the location to 48,000 sq ft of total aircraft storage space. The facility at Scottsdale Airport opened in 2020. Combined, the three improvements represent approximately $25 million in investment by Jet Aviation.
“We want to be where our customers are, and it’s evident that Scottsdale, Bozeman, and Houston are important and strategic locations on our map,” said David Best, the company’s senior v-p of regional operations and its Americas general manager.
A little more than a year after unveiling its “like-new” Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) aircraft program, Bombardier is encouraged by the positive results, finding that participating jets are selling some 50 percent faster than others not in the program.
Bombardier announced the Certified Pre-Owned aircraft program in July 2021 under which the Montreal-headquartered business jet maker would acquire select Learjet, Challenger, or Global jets from trade-in or the market and inspect, update, and renovate them inside and out before reselling them. CPO aircraft come with a one-year manufacturer’s warranty and operational support.
Chris Milligan, v-p of preowned aircraft and flight operations, explained that the company’s services network had been conducting 120 to 140 pre-buy inspections a year and over the course of time watched a process that was “a little bit difficult and cumbersome” between buyers, sellers, and brokers. The network also saw what happened after the buyer acquired the aircraft, sometimes having to wait months for updates to be accomplished, Milligan said.
“We thought that we could create a totally new experience for a buyer.” With CPO, he added, “Our focus is whenever you buy it, you're flying away and putting it in service. It's a turnkey solution for the owner backed by the OEM and knowing that it's been completely reviewed.”
Boeing is providing its ForeFlight integrated flight planning and electronic flight bag (EFB) app to PlaneSense for its fleet of 50 aircraft. ForeFlight’s integrated suite includes Dispatch, the Mobile EFB app, Jeppesen charts and navigation, and ForeFlight Runway Analysis for takeoff and landing performance calculations.
“ForeFlight has been a valuable tool in our arsenal for the last several years and has been revolutionary in maximizing safety, efficiency, and utility across our fleet,” said George Antoniadis, president and CEO of PlaneSense.
The app’s integrated flight planning and mobile EFB solutions feature collaborative flight planning capabilities that produced optimized and “cleared-as-filed” routes. “PlaneSense's involvement as a development partner in the ongoing evolution and advancement of these products has been instrumental in offering the market a comprehensive, integrated solution that is tailor-made for business aviation,” said Tim Schuetze CEO of ForeFlight.
President Joe Biden signed the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act into law this week. The bipartisan legislation establishes an interagency working group to engage the federal government to further advanced air mobility (AAM).
“We are hopeful that [the act] will spur federal government departments and agencies to work collaboratively and aggressively towards the development of a national strategy for the integration of advanced air mobility vehicles into the National Airspace System,” said Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. He called the working group “a critical enabler” that is required to “strengthen the future of aviation.”
The act authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to establish an interagency working group within 120 days of enactment. Its mission includes reviewing and making recommendations for the federal role in AAM beyond aircraft certification and operations and focusing on economic, workforce, security, and infrastructure recommendations. It is also tasked with ;reviewing the views of various stakeholders, including aircraft operators and manufacturers; airports; labor groups; state, local, and tribal officials; consumer groups; and first responders.
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