EBACEby Curt Epstein Report

The European H S O T N I C M D event is bigger I V A D than ever New and Improved While announcements of major new The European Business Aviation Con- airframe designs were sparse at EBACE, vention & Exhibition (EBACE) is growing a number of manufacturers announced stronger. At the show’s inception in 2001 upgrades to current models. there might have been some who doubted Amid the buzz at EBACE over the re- the viability of an annual European busi- cently certified Falcon 7X, French airframer ness aviation show along the lines of the Dassault announced an upgraded version of firmly established NBAA event in the U.S., but the 2007 edition, held May 22 through its popular twin-engine Falcon 2000. The 24 in Geneva, weighed in as the biggest and new Falcon 2000LX, featuring Aviation Part- best so far in the show’s seven-year history. ners blended winglets, will add 200 nm to With a record-breaking 11,000 visitors the range of its Falcon 2000EX predecessor, and 354 exhibitors (up a healthy 18 percent for a total of 4,000 nm at Mach 0.80 and from last year), the event faced a sold-out 41,000 feet. Dassault expects certification Hall 6 at the Palexpo Convention Center, for the upgrade by the end of this year. The forcing organizers to relocate many high- LX will replace the 2000EX starting with end airframe exhibitors with large display 2010 deliveries. Customers already holding booths to Hall 7, adjacent to the static 2000EX orders scheduled for delivery in display. The 61 aircraft on display were a 2008 and 2009 can get the winglets as an testament to the fact that Europe’s signa- option for an additional $550,000. The 66- ture business aviation event–and the over- inch-tall winglets add 6 feet 9 inches to the seas market–is thriving. Indeed, the show wingspan of the Falcon 2000 and 275 promises to become even more cosmopoli- pounds to its empty weight. With the tan than its American cousin, with many 2000LX’s longer legs, more non-stop city N U.S. exhibitors realizing that as the global I pairs such as New York to Moscow or Paris A B

business aviation market expands, they R

E to New Delhi are now within its reach. G could reach a wider international audience O

R Piaggio Aero Industries, which pro- at EBACE. Drawing visitors and exhibitors duces the Avanti II, announced that the air- from Western and Eastern Europe, the CEO Taher Agueel says the deal is crucial The 11,000 visitors who descended on Geneva’s plane will be getting even faster. The Middle East and even Asia, the show is to the future plans of his company, Saudi Palexpo set a record in EBACE’s seven-year history. company received EASA approval for in- climbing in clear skies and is scheduled to Arabia’s only licensed private aircraft oper- stallation of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6- take place in Geneva through 2012. ator. Gulfstream went on to add another conversion as air ambulances, while newly G450 sale to UK charter operator London formed Prestige Jet–part of the Al Yasi 66B engines, giving the twin pusher a top Manufacturers Log Big Sales Executive Aviation. When that aircraft is group–plans to use a pair of SPns for VIP speed of 402 knots (Mach 0.70). Piaggio Emblematic of this growth are the sales delivered in 2009, it will be the first G450 service as well as shuttle operations to the says it holds orders for 85 Avanti IIs worth deals announced on the EBACE stage. Net- on the UK charter market. group’s steel factory in Oman. more than $550 million. Jets Europe on the first day of the show Another major transaction saw Cessna While the brisk sales pace, coupled with Four of those are destined for fast grow- inked a deal worth more than $700 million closing a deal worth $280 million with the length of the OEM backlogs, reflects ing, but inaccurately named, European tur- with Hawker for 32 Hawker Austria-based JetAlliance. The purchase the current vitality of the business aviation boprop operator Jetfly. The Avantis are part 4000 super-midsize business jets and their includes one CJ1+, six CJ2+s, five CJ3s, market, the absence of significant new air- of an order of new aircraft that will more maintenance. The fractional operator said three XLS+s, one Sovereign, two Citation craft launch announcements at EBACE than double Jetfly’s fleet. The company said its European customers had been clamoring Xs and seven Citation Mustangs. According could be seen as a sign of caution among it favors turboprops because they are well for an entry-level stand-up cabin aircraft, to JetAlliance CEO Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, airframers. (See box at right for a list of suited to the European environment. Said and the 4000, which received its type certi- some of the aircraft will be used by Aus- upgrades that replaced new-model intro- company president Jacques Lemaigre du fication last November, fit the bill. The deal trian , a new partnership ven- ductions in the spotlight.) One sight on the Breuil, “There are 2,200 airports in Europe, is in addition to the fifty 4000s already on ture between his company and Austrian show floor that did raise eyebrows was and if we operated jets our co-owners would order for NetJets’ U.S. operations. Deliver- Airlines that will carry business jet passen- Cessna’s mock-up of its large-cabin busi- be able to access only 700 of them.” ies will begin next year and continue gers from Eastern Europe to Vienna to meet ness jet concept. The design, which is revealed two new through 2016. The Wichita-based manufac- scheduled long-haul commercial flights. expected to accommodate nine passengers, upgrades to its venerable King Air line at turer tacked on another $30 million sale in Grob raked in orders for its SPn light has yet to be defined in terms of interior EBACE. The King Air B200GT will receive the form of a pair of Hawker 900XPs to jet. The company announced at EBACE arrangements, avionics or engines, but recently certified Pratt & Whitney Canada Spain’s Private Aviation, which will that it holds firm orders for its first two according to company chairman, president PT6A-52 turboprops that will boost its speed use them for European operations. years of production–amounting to more and CEO Jack Pelton, a firm decision on by 25 knots to a high-speed cruise of more Continuing the momentum, Gulfstream than 60 aircraft. The Swiss-German air- the future of the program could come by than 300 knots, while the King Air C90GTi netted a firm contract for three G450s framer broke through to the Middle East- the end of the year. will offer the Rockwell Collins Pro Line from Saudi Arabia’s National Air Service. ern market at EBACE, with orders from The very light jet category is creating as If the operator exercises options it took on two Abu Dhabi-based operators. The four much buzz in Europe and around the world avionics suite. Both derivatives are expected 17 more, the agreement could be worth SPns destined for Falcon Aviation Services as it has in the U.S. The much anticipated to receive certification later this year, with de- a potential $650 million. Deliveries will will be split between six-seat executive lay- Eclipse 500 made its second European liveries beginning in the fourth quarter. –C.E. begin in the third quarter of 2009. NAS out and 10-seat configuration suitable for Continues on page 20 u

18aaAviation International News • July 2007 • www.ainonline.com uContinued from page 18 Zhong Hong Tai General Avia- showing this year at EBACE tion Airlines of China signed next year. The improvements could be Embraer’s Legacy 600 has been (its debut was at the Aero 2007 for 50 Adam Aircraft A700s. NEWS a precursor to a European joint venture approved to operate at Cannes-Man- show in Friedrichshafen). The sale takes Adam’s order with Landmark Aviation. delieu Airport, one of the major With type certificate and pro- backlog to 377 aircraft. Hainan DIGEST Arinc Direct has added extended gateways to the French Riviera. The ap- duction certification finally in Zhong Hong Tai General Avia- twin-engine operations (ETOPS) route proval makes the aircraft the largest hand, Eclipse announced a 180- tion Airlines plans to sell the planning to its portfolio of flight sup- business jet authorized to operate from aircraft order–the company’s A500 and A700 for Adam Air- Shell Aviation is planning to port services for business aircraft. the airport. Located near the center of largest European order to date– craft and provide leaseback expand its Shell Card program to Arinc Direct will provide operators the city, the airport is engaged in a from Etirc, a start-up Turkish options to owners for air-taxi customers in Germany, France and with routes marked in conformance long-running dispute with local air-taxi operation to be head- operations, following delivery Austria. The card–currently available in with ETOPS requirements “at no extra government and community groups quartered in Istanbul. The order of the A700 next year. Adam the U.S., UK, Scandinavia and Switzer- cost” to customers. with regard to operations. includes firm sales of 120 aircraft hopes to achieve FAA certifica- land–promises easier transactions with Revue Thommen has announced Pratt & Whitney Canada announced and options on 60 more, and de- tion for its first jet by the end of quick and reliable online approval and that its AD32 air-data display with the launch of a new customer support liveries are expected to begin in the year, with EASA certifica- remote billing. autopilot alerter has been integrated center at its Quebec headquarters. The the middle of next year. Accord- tion to follow soon after. The newly created EGAMA, intended into an RVSM package available for engine maker says the new facility is ing to Etirc, the order will satisfy Cessna has already achieved to be a European counterpart to the European-registered Hawker Beechcraft aimed at delivering an integrated and “an explosion” of demand in that milestone, making its Mus- General Aviation Manufacturers Associ- King Airs. The EASA issued an STC for rapid response service to customers Eastern Europe. The air-taxi fleet tang the first VLJ to be certified ation, held its first meeting at EBACE. the package to U.S.-based Elliott Avia- worldwide, bringing together technical will service Turkey, the Turkish on both sides of the Atlantic. Dassault Falcon’s Olivier Villa was tion for installation in King Air B200s, support, logistics, service engineering, Republics and European destina- One-third of the 300 Mustangs named the association’s first chairman; B300s and B350s equipped with certain engine maintenance programs and war- tions within the 500’s range of on order are destined for Eu- Piaggio Aero’s Jose Di Mase was Rockwell Collins, Bendix/King and Hon- ranty. The company also announced two 1,125 nm. Eclipse is now claim- rope, and deliveries are expected selected as vice chairman. eywell autopilots. The equipment will be new five-year maintenance programs ing orders for 2,600 copies of the to begin this summer. Honeywell has delivered the first delivered as a complete kit for installa- with Colorado-based Air Methods and new VLJ and plans to deliver The Mustang and Eclipse batch of 32 TFE731-50R engines des- tion in European-operated aircraft. with UK air ambulance operator AirMed. 1,000 of them next year. 500 are the two aircraft under tined for Hawker’s new 900XP. The Avfuel and Signature Flight Support Guggenheim Partners and UBS The Albuquerque, N.M.- consideration by ByJets, a new latest version of the engine, derived announced they will jointly offer Avfuel have formed a corporate jet financing based manufacturer cemented Geneva-based start-up air taxi/ from the TFE731-50 powering the commercial contract fuel at Signature’s company they say will combine world- its training team at EBACE corporate shuttle service. The Dassault Falcon 900DX, continues a 19 European FBO locations. The pilot re- wide reach with a streamlined approval with Flight Simulation of The company says it will acquire a series that began with the certification fueling incentive program Avtrip will also process. The new company, Guggen- Netherlands and Texas-based dozen VLJs next year and in- of the first TFE731 in 1972. be made available to eligible customers. heim Aero Finance, will offer financing Higher Power Aviation to pro- tends to add another dozen each Bombardier has sold a pair of Snecma says its Silvercrest solutions to individual and corporate vide an FAA-approved training year. Since both airframers have 4,000 nm-range Challenger 605s to 10,000-pound-thrust-class engine is buyers of new and pre-owned business curriculum for the Eclipse 500. large backlogs, ByJets plans to Bahrain-based Bexair, which claims on schedule to run by the end of the jets. The firm will be led by veteran avi- Another nascent VLJ racked acquire early delivery slots “the biggest and fastest growing fleet year. According to company vice presi- ation executives Claude Franco and Bob up a major deal as Hainan from position holders. in the region.” The company flies a dent Jean Pierre Cojan, the first compo- Peart. Guggenheim Partners oversees mixed collection of aircraft, including nents and subassemblies for the core more than $125 billion in assets, while Cessna Citation Mustang Cessna Citation XLSes, Bombardier engine technology demonstrator have UBS is one of the world’s largest finan- Challenger 604s, a Challenger 601-3R been delivered to the company’s cial services firms, overseeing more and an Embraer Legacy 600. According Villaroche plant in France. The engine than $3 trillion. to Bexair’s chairman, the company is planned for aircraft in the 45,000- Safe Flight of White Plains, N.Y., expects to become a global operation to 60,000-pound mtow range. was awarded EASA certification for its through alliances in Asia, Europe and Feras has upgraded its FBO facility helicopter powerline detection system North America. at Vnukovo 3, one of three Moscow for use on the twin-engine Eurocopter Marshall Aerospace is upgrading airports. The facility is open 24 hours AS 355 Ecureuil II. The system senses its facilities at its UK headquarters in a day and offers satellite television and electromagnetic fields radiating from live Cambridge, 40 miles north of London. Internet connections. Feras handles wires and issues an audio warning which The planned $10 million expansion in- more than one-third of executive flights increases in frequency the closer the cludes a new 25,000-sq-ft hangar, FBO at the airport and supervises flights at helicopter gets. Safe Flight is expecting and maintenance, repair and overhaul the other two airports, Domodedovo to receive EASA certification for use of N shop and is scheduled to open early and Sheremetyevo. the system on the AS 350 as well. –C.E. I A B

R E G O R services along with aircraft man- agement, fractional ownership and ad hoc charter services. Flying Group says its program is tailored to the needs of customers flying up to 100 hours per year and is based on a fixed payment of $186,000 for 20 flight hours in a . Clients can move up or down within the N I

A company’s fleet on a pro rata B

R

E basis. The company operates a G O

R mix of Citations (I, Bravo, Excel The show opened with strong numbers, as 354 exhibitors and X) and Falcons (900C, 900DX filled one hall and expanded into another, and as show and 900EX EASy). It is sched-

H promoters expected a record-breaking turnout from visitors S uled to take delivery of three Fal- O

T all over the world. The 61 aircraft on static display at the N I con 7Xs next year. C airport were a further testament to the show’s growing M D I prestige in the industry. Also this year, French execu- V A

D tive helicopter charter operator Aviaxess unveiled its new Avia- Brazilian manufacturer Em- executive version of its 747-8, and expects to take advantage of year will increase the completion card, which claims to be the first braer announced sales of 11 more which has 5,667 sq ft of floor the Elite’s 3,400-nm range for shop’s annual capacity to 20 Das- frequent-flier loyalty reward pro- Phenom 100s at EBACE. Seven space and travels at speeds up to nonstop transcontinental and sault Falcons and six airliners. gram in the business aviation of the aircraft–which is on track Mach 0.86. The aircraft would transatlantic routes. The company just completed and market. According to company for certification next year–are on be capable of nonstop flights To meet the surging demand delivered its second executive officials, after logging specified order by Kansas City, Mo., frac- linking city pairs such as Dubai for its executive jets, Airbus an- 747-400 for the Dubai Air Wing, numbers of flight hours, clients tional operator Executive AirShare. and Los Angeles. Since last nounced the appointment of two completing a contract it was can earn rewards ranging from Premier Aviation, based in County year’s event, Boeing Business additional completion centers in awarded in 2004. complimentary hotel accommo- Kildare, Ireland, signed a contract Jets has taken orders for 27 air- addition to Lufthansa Technik dations to Breitling watches. Cus- for the remaining four. Premier craft, including 12 BBJs, two and Jet Aviation in Basel. The air- Dealing the Cards tomers accrue flight hours either plans to use the jets in its fractional BBJ2s, three BBJ3s, six 787 framer has tapped Stork Fokker The jet card concept seems to by chartering the company’s own share and charter operations. Dreamliners and four 747-8s. in The Netherlands and revived have established itself firmly in fleet of helicopters or by booking According to Boeing, 44 percent its own defunct completions fa- Europe. Geneva-based PrivatAir fixed-wing charters through Avi- Large-scale Luxury of its non-commercial jet sales cility located at Airbus’s premises announced it has taken $10 mil- axess’s brokering division. The At the other extreme of the are to private individuals. in Toulouse, France, to perform lion in deposits for its Select jet program is in addition to the business aviation evolutionary Cross-Atlantic rival Airbus interior completions. The new in- card. According to chief execu- company’s Corporate Helicard, scale, the large-cabin airliner-class was represented at EBACE by dependently managed company, tive Greg Thomas, “We believe which was introduced last year jets saw action at EBACE as well. the airshow debut of the newest majority owned by Airbus, will it’s the perfect product for Eu- and allows clients to purchase At the start of the show, Boeing and smallest member of the con- provide the flexibility needed in rope, and we think the rest of this discounted block charter rates for announced that it had received sortium’s ACJ line, the A318 the executive bizliner market. Ini- year will show some interesting helicopter flights. orders for seven aircraft since the Elite. This aircraft, the first of tial plans call for the completion developments in that field. We Air Partner is reporting a beginning of the year. Worth five Elites ordered by launch of three executive Airbuses at the have been through two renewal surge in business. Over a period nearly $500 million, the orders are customer Zurich-based charter facility per year. cycles without spending any of six months ending in January, for six BBJs and one executive operator Comlux, features an in- Jet Aviation has also unveiled money on marketing and we’ve the UK-based company saw its version of the 787-9 Dreamliner. terior by Lufthansa Technik, de- plans for a $35 million investment used it as a pilot program to client base increase by 25 per- Before the show ended, Boe- signed for 18 passengers. Airbus program at its Basel, Switzerland understand how to manage dead- cent. Compared with the same ing had added two more to that has more than 20 A318s on completions facility. The program heads and other issues.” PrivatAir’s period last year, sales grew by 60 total. European private charter order, and since entering the cor- calls for increasing ramp space fleet ranges from turboprops to percent while operating profit in- operator Ocean Sky Aviation porate jet market in 1997 has and constructing a hangar large Boeing BBJs. creased by 139 percent to $6.3 bought a BBJ, while Hong Kong sold 80 from its ACJ stable. U.S. enough to accommodate an Air- Belgium-based Flying Group million. The company recently re- real-estate tycoon Joseph Lau launch customer Minnesota- bus A380 and Boeing 787 simul- began offering its FlyingCard branded itself into two business added an order for another exec- based Petters Group Worldwide taneously. The expansion will more option in January and has seen units, including Air Partner Pri- utive Dreamliner. The company is expecting delivery of the first than double its existing 248,000 such success that the company vate Jets, which handles its new also expanded on its plans for an of six Elites on order next year sq ft of covered space and by next now considers it one of its core Jet Card division. J