Textron Finds New Special-missions Role for Latitude

Textron Aviation has delivered two Cessna Citation Latitudes to Japan that are configured for flight inspection missions, the Wichita-based airframer announced this week. They are part of a three-airplane order from the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) made in September 2017.

Kanematsu Corp. has received the pair of midsize twins that will be owned and operated by the JASDF to scrutinize instrument approaches and airway procedures in the country’s national airspace. The Flight Checker Squadron based at Iruma Air Base in Saitama Prefecture north of Tokyo will operate the Latitudes, which are outfitted with Unifis 3000 Flight Inspection System equipment from Norwegian Special Mission. A third Latitude for the JASDF is expected to be delivered early next year.

In addition to these flight inspection aircraft, Textron has also configured a Latitude for medevac operations for Babcock Scandinavian Air Ambulance.

Separately, Textron announced an order last November from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau for a specially equipped Citation Longitude to also perform flight inspections in that country. The modified Longitude, expected to be delivered next year, will be equipped with Unifis 3000-G2 flight inspection equipment for critical verification of navigation aids such as instrument landing system (ILS) category I, II, and III approaches; ground-based augmentation system (GBAS); very-high-frequency omnidirectional range (VOR); and tactical air navigation (Tacan).

FAA To Adjust Hours at 100 Air Traffic Control Towers

The FAA is temporarily cutting back the operating hours of about 100 of its air traffic control towers where movements have significantly decreased. Adjusting the hours will enable the agency to minimize health risks while ensuring continued safe operations, the FAA said in announcing its plans. Further, this will reduce the possibility of temporary tower closures occurring from Covid-19 exposures—something the FAA has grappled with at a number of locations throughout the country.

Operations at the affected towers particularly have dropped off in the evening, the FAA noted, saying it selected the towers based on several factors—including numbers and types of operations, ability to social distance and reduce exposure, and safety during non-towered times. The agency added it expects “the adjustments will not have any operational effects.”

The reduced hours are anticipated to take effect next week, NBAA said, adding that a list of affected towers is anticipated to be released tomorrow.

“The FAA has been very methodical and analytical about ensuring any temporary reduction in operational hours at air traffic control towers will have minimal or no impact on flight operations, and NBAA is working with the FAA to continually evaluate air traffic demand during the pandemic to ensure that operational hours at these towers will increase as and when demand returns,” said Heidi Williams, NBAA's director of air traffic services and infrastructure.

Newly Minted Kodiak Carries Ventilators to California

Daher's Kodiak Aircraft unit in Sandpoint, Idaho, donated use of a brand-new—and not-yet-painted—Kodiak 100 Series II turboprop single, as well as pilot time, last week to deliver 240 ventilators to Sacramento, California, for the Department of Public Health’s Emergency Preparedness Office. The ventilators were manufactured by Idaho-based Percussionaire. 

“Daher has the same culture of helping people as Percussionaire, and we recognized the importance of making the airlift resources available for this life-saving equipment,” said Nicolas Chabbert, senior v-p of the Daher Aircraft division.

“We needed to get ventilators to California as quickly as possible, and we found that using Daher aircraft would be the quickest possible way,” added Percussionaire president and CEO Mark Baillie.

Percussionaire adapted its TXP 5 high-frequency percussive ventilator system for hospital use with Covid-19 patients. The technology previously had been used for portable units during the Desert Storm Gulf War, according to Daher.

Jet Biofuel Industry In It for Long Haul

It is too early to predict what effect the Covid-19 crisis and its knock-on impacts on civil aviation and oil prices will have in the long term for the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry, according to Steve Csonka, executive director of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI). “What I’m most concerned about right now is how the airlines come out of this crisis in general,” he told AIN. “[But SAF] is a long-run approach for aviation, so I don’t think the commitment has wavered whatsoever.”

On the bright side, with the prospect of further Covid-19-related economic relief currently being drafted in Congress, Csonka believes there could be some future stimulus or incentives for the use of sustainable fuels in the U.S.

After four years of sustained commercial use of SAF, CAAFI’s industry assessment called for renewable jet fuel production to increase from 36 million gallons per year (GPY) to 43 million GPY this year. It then called for that to grow tenfold by 2022, with the anticipated opening of a major production facility in Asia, and a doubling of that figure to more than 800 million gallons by 2024 as more facilities come online and others are enlarged.

However, Csonka sees some of those production targets possibly sliding to the right based on construction delays or reduced short-term demand due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Stardustjets To Launch Charter Services with Heron

Indian private aviation startup company Stardustjets is launching a partnership with German charter operator Heron Aviation. The companies plan to offer aircraft from Heron’s eight-strong fleet for charter flights in and out of India. Stardustjets is in the process of negotiating to purchase a midsize jet that it intends to base at an as-yet-unconfirmed location in the country from late 2020.

According to Bhimal Rai, a co-founder of Mumbai-based Stardustjets, his company and Heron Aviation will jointly apply for an Indian air operator’s certificate. Heron is an EASA-approved continuing airworthiness management organization.

Rai told AIN that Stardustjets is preparing for a full operational launch once current Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions are lifted in India. He claimed that government restrictions that have previously constrained business aviation growth in India are being eased.

The Heron fleet includes a pair of Dassault Falcon 900EXs and a 900LX; a Bombardier Learjet 60; and a Cessna Citation Mustang, CitationJet, XLS+, and CJ2. Of these, only the Falcon 900s have sufficient range to fly nonstop between Germany and India.

Avinode Aid Launched To Link Brokers, Medevacs

Avinode has rolled out a targeted online feature, Avinode Aid, to connect brokers with available air ambulance aircraft that might be needed for air medical transport or humanitarian relief missions. Offered for free through the end of this year, Avinode Aid is accessible to all operators, whether or not they are currently Avinode members.

Avinode Aid breaks down search results to enable brokers to easily identify available fixed-wing air ambulances. Similarly, medical helicopters are in a separate category in Avinode’s helicopter search. Avinode further will promote medical aircraft placed on the platform through its email and social media communications.

“It is critical for the business air charter community to collaborate during this pandemic, to find ways to bring special mission aircraft to those in need,” said Per Marthinsson, executive v-p of Avinode Group. “Technology is an enabler of this collaboration.”

Speaking on Wednesday during a Corporate Jet Investor Town Hall on charter, Marthinsson added, “We’re encouraged by what operators and brokers are doing,” and said Avinode looked at how it could contribute. Avinode has had some air ambulances on its platform, but this aggregates them to make the information available to operators and buyers. “We carved out a portion focused on air ambulances,” he said. “We want to make sure these critical assets are readily available.”

Biggin Hill Presses Ahead with Long-term Growth Plans

Despite the now-month-long UK government lockdown restrictions due to Covid-19, London Biggin Hill Airport has not abandoned its big plans. However, its management team is all too well aware of how its operations, and those of its customers, have been impacted by the emergency and so the short-term focus is on keeping the facility designated as critical national infrastructure open and functioning.

But the airport is pressing ahead with long-term expansion and development plans, including new maintenance facilities, a training center, and a hotel. “We won’t take our foot off the accelerator,” Biggin Hill CEO David Winstanley told AIN. “If you turn the tap [faucet] off in aviation, it takes a long time to turn it back on again.”

In February, Bombardier announced plans to build a 250,000-sq-ft facility on the south side of Biggin Hill. Meanwhile, a new hotel is due to open at the airport in October 2021. Air Culinaire is moving its existing on-site flight kitchen into the hotel and will run the restaurant there, in addition to continuing to provide in-flight catering.

Over the next two years, parent company Regional Airports is making further investments with a new FBO building and control tower. It will also create a new main entrance to the site to provide a more permanent and professional first impression to match its bigger, longer-term ambitions.

Comlux Offering Aircraft Ops in Crisis for At-cost

Once Comlux Aviation completed the initial flurry of repatriation activity for its clients last month, the company turned to opportunities for its aircraft to support Covid-19 relief activities, according to Comlux Aviation CEO Andrea Zanetto. “We know our clients are now staying safely at home—in fact, we brought them home in March, which was quite intense. So today we’re looking for opportunities for our aircraft—keeping our assets flying.”

When AIN spoke to Zanetto today, the company was highlighting two successful operations with its aircraft. The first used its VIP-configured Boeing BBJ 777-200LR  named “Crystal Skye.” He said the 777 “is great for cargo and has excellent range capabilities.”

This is particularly the case as the cargo it carried from Shanghai to Indianapolis earlier this month was not heavy, just “voluminous,” being 20 tonnes of medical freight, said Zanetto. That meant it could take maximum fuel for the 13-hour flight. The other mission involved a regular flight in Kazakhstan using the company's Sukhoi Business Jet. “This was to transport experts coming from China to train personnel fighting against Covid-19."

Zanetto said Comlux, which has nine offices around the world and a fleet of 11 aircraft, is now “looking for other opportunities—and our policy is to operate ‘at cost.’” He sees cargo, especially medical cargo, as the area with the most demand at the moment.

AIN Webinar: How Aviation Training Is Weathering Covid-19

Join us on Tuesday (April 28) at 12:00 p.m. EDT as AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber moderates a discussion on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation training industry. He will talk to three senior leaders from this sector: Dr. Kenneth Byrnes, associate dean of the college of aviation and flight department chair at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach Campus; Chris Ranganathan, CAE’s chief learning officer; and Craig Joiner, senior v-p of brand experience at Fulcrum Labs. Register for this FREE one-hour webinar.