In recognition of its adoption of renewable electricity, Signature Aviation has received a 2024 Green Power Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The global aviation services provider was honored yesterday at the Renewable Energy Markets Conference in Denver for its outstanding clean energy initiatives.

Green power is defined as electricity generated by renewable resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, low-impact hydro, biogas, and eligible biomass. Signature currently uses more than 97 million kilowatt-hours of green power company-wide for the year, enough to meet 100% of its overall electricity demand.

The award—which has been presented every year by the agency for more than two decades to companies that have embraced green power and advanced the nation’s renewable power market—also recognized Signature’s tiered green power development strategy, including onsite solar energy generation, its investment in renewable energy, and electrification initiatives, as well as its industry engagement and leadership.

“We are honored to be recognized by the [EPA] for our achievements in helping bring about a clean energy future,” said CEO Tony Lefebvre. “As an organization committed to shaping the future by meeting 100% of our electricity needs through green power procurement, we have seen firsthand that clean energy is an affordable, accessible choice that can reduce the risks brought about by climate change.”

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has approved ExecuJet MRO Services Middle East to perform heavy maintenance checks on Embraer ERJ-135/145s, including Legacy 600 and 650 business jets, registered in South Africa. SACAA approval was granted through the validation of ExecuJet’s EASA heavy maintenance certification.

Based at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, ExecuJet MRO operates from a 15,344-sq-m (165,160-sq-ft) MRO facility. The approval covers checks up to the 192-month check. The first two clients’ airplanes are undergoing 96- and 144-month checks on Legacy 600s, and ExecuJet MRO has shipped one of the airplane’s landing gear to the U.S. for overhaul.

ExecuJet MRO Services Middle East holds 18 MRO civil aviation approvals, and it is an Embraer authorized service center and Rolls-Royce-authorized service center for BR710 engines and the Legacy 600/650’s AE3007A engines.

“As business and trade between the Middle East and Africa continue to grow, we anticipate more opportunities to serve operators from the neighboring African region,” said Nick Weber, ExecuJet MRO Services regional v-p for the Middle East.

Business aviation financier Global Jet Capital (GJC) continues to expand its business base, closing on its eighth asset-backed security—BJETS 2024-2—that raised another $617 million. The latest securitization brings the total assets securitized at GJC to about $5.8 billion and bonds issued to $4.8 billion.

BJETS 2024-2 securitizes 29 aircraft loans and leases with corporations and global business leaders from 18 different industries covering 12 different business aircraft models. Aircraft involved are primarily midsize and large-cabin jet models.

“We are pleased with the success of our latest issuance, which underscores the strength of the BJETS securitization program and the strong performance of our previous ABS transactions,” said GJC CEO Vivek Kaushal. “As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of our founding, our growing investor base reflects the capabilities of our platform.”

The BJETS 2024-2 offering—which attracted 37 unique investors including eight new ones—involved a $490.4 million Class A tranche of notes, $79.4 million Class B, and $47.3 million Class C. Global Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency assigned BJETS 2024-2 ratings of A/A, BBB+/BBB, and BB/BB on the Class A, B, and C tranches, respectively.

Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems’ new Denver, Colorado MRO location has become so busy that the company will shift to a seven-days-a-week work schedule starting in October.

The South Carolina-based maintenance provider announced this past March that it was taking over operations at Centennial Airport (KAPA) from Mayo Aviation and soon realized that the demand for its services outstripped its current capacity, leading it to add more technicians and expand operations through the weekend to reduce downtime.

“Whether for personal or business needs, our customers can now rely on Stevens’ technicians to deliver that high-quality work seven days a week ensuring timely return of their aircraft,” said Keith Semenas, the facility’s general manager.

Driving the increase, the company noted, were critical medical and governmental flight operations, as well as charter and corporate operators in the Rocky Mountain region in need of quality MRO services. The location specializes in maintenance and avionics for business jets and turboprops including Cessna Citations, Hawkers, Learjets, and King Airs.

Aside from KAPA, Stevens operates a network of MRO locations in Nashville, Atlanta, and Greenville, North Carolina, and has a 24/7 mobile AOG division.

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Two dozen U.S. House of Representatives members have joined a newly formed Aviation Safety Caucus that is first turning to highlight a bill that would tighten security requirements for “ticketed charter flights” operating under FAA Part 135 and DOT Part 380. Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-New York), who introduced the Safer Skies Act in August to bring security for public charters in line with those of scheduled airlines, kicked off the caucus last week in an event flanked by leaders of several pilot and flight attendant unions—many of which are pushing to fundamentally change the use of Part 380.

“This caucus is dedicated to strengthening aviation safety and security by collaborating on real legislative solutions—the safety of our skies is not a partisan issue,” Langworthy said in announcing the caucus. “Our first priority is ensuring that we close existing security gaps with the Safer Skies Act, building on the hard-won reforms enacted after 9/11, and we will continue to work to protect the millions of Americans who rely on our aviation system every day."

“Gaming the system to get a competitive leg up by putting all of us at risk can’t fly! We applaud Representative Langworthy for taking action to stop outrageous attempts to skirt safety and security requirements that were put in place following September 11th. Never again,” added Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

SkyNRG, a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) developer, has partnered with Skellefteå Kraft, one of Sweden’s largest renewable energy producers. Under the name Project SkyKraft, the two companies will pursue the development of a SAF plant near Skellefteå Harbor using renewable energy and CO2 (eSAF).

With access to 100% renewable electricity supplied by Skellefteå Kraft from wind and hydroelectric power, the facility will be able to provide continuous and cost-effective eSAF production, supporting the EU’s decarbonization goals and helping the aviation industry to reach its net-zero emissions aspirations.

Expected to begin operations in 2030, the plant is slated to produce 100,000 tonnes of SAF a year at full capacity.

“We are proud to be partnering with Skellefteå Kraft, as our complementary skills and shared sustainability vision make this a unique location for eSAF production,” explained SkyNRG CEO Philippe Lacamp. “We are pleased to see the progress on this project and are committed to helping it reach completion.”

ForeFlight has made its flight plan drawer more useful with a resizing capability and added a graphical cabin layout to weight and balance planning, as well as other improvements.

The new flight plan drawer has a touch control at the bottom that allows the user to resize the drawer vertically. This provides much more space for complex flight plan creation. Resizing is also available in the navlog and profile sections, expanding the amount of information that can be viewed.

This makes viewing a lengthy navlog simpler with no scrolling required. In the profile view, two new overlays are available: headwind/tailwind and estimated groundspeed. These are depicted in the profile view so the pilot can instantly see the forecast wind at various altitudes or the resulting groundspeed for the planned direction of flight.

Setting up of the new weight and balance graphical cabin layout must be done on the ForeFlight web access site and is available for ForeFlight Performance and up subscribers. Selecting an aircraft provides access to the weight and balance profile name, where there is a link to edit that profile.

After clicking on the edit link, a “get started” button pops up, asking whether the user wants to “display your interior during loading.” Once completed, the new cabin layout is available by clicking the weight and balance tab in the flights section.

Charter booking platform VOO has introduced a feature that allows brokers and aircraft operators to see empty-leg flight availability. The new function is intended to help users more readily offer more cost-effective flight options to clients.

By inputting departure and arrival locations, along with a search radius for trips and preferred travel dates, users can quickly see available aircraft and charter rates. VOO has expanded the data sources used by its marketplace platform by tapping its existing bookings database and the flight management systems of operators connected to its system.

According to the Austria-based company, operators can also benefit from the tool by having an easier means to make brokers aware of their empty leg sectors and manage the availability of aircraft. Once a broker submits a price request for a suitable empty-leg flight, the platform creates a folder automatically, allowing the operator to review the estimated price and adjust it as necessary before releasing the folder as a booking offer to the broker. The broker only sees the confirmed price when the folder is designated as a booking offer in the system.

Around 200 brokers use the platform with access to more than 400 aircraft and 130 operators. VOO said it intends to introduce further new features later this year.