european business air news november 2012

Amira Air targets US brokers with its expanding charter fleet

Chester-based charter operator Ambassador Direct has addedtwo managed King Airs to its fleet; a 250 and a C90GTx. HowardPovey, at that time regional sales director at Hawker BeechcraftCorporation (now sales director, Marshall Aerospace), is picturedhere with directors Geoff Benton, Andrew Jones and KeithBarrington. See full story on page 2.

AfBAAannouncesleadership

group

Vienna-based Amira Air isexpecting further additions toits extensive charter fleet, andhas been promoting its servicesto US brokers by making a firstappearance at the NBAAconvention, hosted on theAvinode booth.

The first new arrival will be a Citation Excel expected in the next few weeks, while an additional Challenger 300and 605 are to be added to the fleet during the first quarterof 2013.

The company says it has

noticed a growing demandfrom US clients wishing tocharter aircraft to travel to andthroughout Europe, and thiswas especially noticeablethroughout this summer. Byexhibiting at NBAA Amira Air is anticipating that thisbusiness will increase further,especially as it allowed thecompany to engage indiscussions with clients andbrokers, and demonstrate itsfleet of aircraft.

For non-stop transatlanticservices the company can offer

two Global Express charteraircraft, one of them is a brandnew Global 5000 Vision ownedby Niki Lauda, the Formula 1racing champion. In additionthe company offers a Hawker400XP as well as a CJ2+ forcharter flights.

Amira Air decided tostrengthen its presence in theUS to grow and intensifyexisting business relations andhas set itself the task ofbecoming the “operator ofchoice in Europe” for statesidebrokers and charter clients.

One factor that has helpedAmira Air build businessrelationships with Americanand Canadian clients is thefleet of Challenger 300 aircraftthe company operates.

The aircraft, it says, areparticularly suited to flightsinto Europe. Having a fleet ofsix Challenger 300 aircraftavailable for charter flightsmeans that Amira Air is thelargest charter operator of thetype in Europe.

See our Super Midsize Jetfeature on pages 8-12.

The African Business AviationAssociation (AfBAA) haslaunched four new membershipcategories as well as detailing itsfounding members.

AfBAA already has fully fundedcommitment from 18 out of 20founding members, includinginternational and Africanbusinesses, and is now workingthrough a selection process tofinalise the last two.

“We noted that a number ofcompanies we would havewelcomed as founding memberswere unable to apply originally fora variety of reasons.

“As we value their input andthe potential support they canoffer, AfBAA will now encouragethem to apply for ‘launchmember’ status,” says TarekRagheb, founder and chairman.In addition, interested parties willbe able to apply for the newly-formed ‘normal’ and ‘affiliate’membership types.

As the association looks to thefuture, a new leadership grouphas been formed which featuresleading figureheads from Africanbusiness aviation nominated bythe founding members. Theboard will be led by Ragheb, withIvor Ichikowitz of ParamountGroup, South Africa, as vicechairman and treasurer, who willbe supported by four sub-committees each with their ownremit and elected chairperson.

Overseeing the association’soperations will be Rady Fahmy,former programme director,newly promoted to the role ofexecutive director.

Ambassadorbrings in

a brace ofKing Airs

ISSUE 231 NOVEMBER 2012

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Bernhard Wipfler, chiefmarketing officer of Amira Air,says the NBAA conventionprovided a great opportunity tosee existing customers andintroduce its services topotential new clients.

Pages 13-14

Italy regionalreview

Pages 8-12

Latest modelsbring advancedtechnology tosuper midsizearena

ME & MY AIRCRAFTSuper midsize jets

2 NOVEMBER 2012 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

Ambassador Direct Limited, based at Hawarden airport near Chester,UK, has recently taken delivery of two new King Air aircraft, a 250and a C90GTx operated on behalf of owners.

The company was set up in 2008by directors Keith Barrington,Andrew Jones and Geoff Benton tooperate and manage air transport forbusinesses across the north west andWales. Ambassador provides aturnkey service including crewing,maintenance management and flightplanning, simplifying aircraftoperation for aircraft owners.

About the delivery Barringtonsays: “We made the decision torecommend the purchase of twoBeechcraft King Air models earlierthis year following our conversationswith two clients who were looking foraffordable, efficient and easy tomanage business aviation.

“With these criteria, we had to lookno further than the King Air 250 andthe King Air C90GTx, which offer theperfect solution, providing quickshort distance air transport facilities,at a low operating cost.”

James Timpson, md of TimpsonLimited and owner of the C90GTx,comments: “We have been reallypleased with the performance; it’s thesecond King Air we have owned since2008. We run a very lean head office,and need a reliable, easy-to-runaircraft that allows us to visit ourexpanding store network across theUK and Ireland. The King Air is theideal business tool – it provides fast,efficient transport across the countryto enable us to meet store colleaguesface to face and make multiple site

visits in a day, while the shorter traveltime means I am able to spend moretime with my family at the end of theday. This makes the King Air perfectfor our company and an obviouschoice of business air travel.”Timpson has almost 1,000 retailstores throughout the UK.

Says Barrington: “Both clients hadpreviously used Beechcraft aircraftand were well aware of theirstrengths, so overall it seemed like aperfect fit.

“I first flew a King Air in 1970 andhave always found them reliable, andlittle else can compete with themeither operationally or financially.Furthermore, from our ownperspective, Hawker Beechcraftmodels are easy to maintain and havea good lifespan, and we have theadded advantage of having HawkerBeechcraft Limited based locally atHawarden airport. With the King Air250 based at Caernarfon airport andthe C90GTx based at Hawarden, thismeans that help is close at handshould either client requiremaintenance or upgrades at anypoint during the contract.”

Barrington adds: “These twopurchases have opened up newwindows of business for our clients. Abusiness trip which would once havemeant three or four days away fromthe office can now be completed inunder a day. The increased flexibilityallows our clients to quickly reachbusiness in areas they had notpreviously considered, for example inScotland or the south west, while italso gives the opportunity for them tostrengthen existing relationships withclients across the UK.”

Ambassador brings ina brace of King Airs

Benedicte Heyerdahl is enjoying the challenge of business charter sales.

Hesnes Air AS strengthened its salesand marketing department earlierthis year by appointing BenedicteHeyerdahl, who has previousexperience of logistics within variousNorwegian companies, including theSAS-owned airline Wideroe.

Heyerdahl is now relishing thechallenge of expanding the marketfor Hesnes Air: “I am truly enjoyingthe world of private air charter. Thebiggest difference from working in ascheduled airline is that every day isdifferent, and there are constantly

new places, people and tasks toexplore. Another positive aspect, isthat I feel closer to the market and the operation.

“With regard to the market for oursize of fleet, we find that there aremany companies in this segment, sothe competition is tough.”

Hesnes Air is a private charteroperator based at Sandefjord airport,Torp, and Gardermoen airport, Oslo. It operates one AS350 B3helicopter, one King Air B200 and twoCitation Encores.

Hesnes utilises commercialexperience in tough market

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Russian business aviation is enjoying constant

growth and has been the bright star of the

business aviation market in Europe. Moscow’s

Vnukovo 3 has been the main terminal for the

Russian private jets as well as one of the top terminals

in Europe. As the demand for private jet travel

increases, the need for the better infrastructure

becomes a necessity; better runways, better VIP halls,

better services, and surely better terminals that may

service business aviation on the top level, is a must.

Saint Petersburg, the northern capital of Russia,

has been one of the most demanding locations in the

past couple of years. Without proper infrastructure

to service private jets, it was very difficult to provide

adequate services, but thanks to JetPort SPb, a local

handling agent, services were rendered at the very

top level, even though the infrastructure was not in

place. This has been the case for many regional

airports in Russia with the old Soviet infrastructure;

most of the airports are not suitable for modern day

business aviation. This is exactly why Pulkovo 3 will

pave the way for the future of business aviation in

Russia and expand its boundaries beyond Moscow.

Currently the Business Aviation Center is under

active construction and is expected to start

operations in the near future. The surface area will

total 100,000 sq.m with the ramp accommodating

more than 20 aircraft parking places, hangers,

passenger terminal, and other infrastructure,

especially designed to suit the needs of business

aviation. The passenger terminal will have a surface

area of 4,000 sq.m. The first floor will serve up to

1,500 passengers per day; the second floor will be

serve as Administration offices. The Passenger

terminal is designed to meet all the requirements of

passengers: arrival and departure zones, pre-flight

security and customs control, duty free store, bar,

meeting rooms, and most importantly, qualified staff

and a professional approach.

Following the success of Vnukovo-3, the project

of the Saint Petersburg terminal is following a

similar pattern (both have been designed by the

same architect). This will offer the same high quality

standards in passenger and aircraft handling and in

the future Pulkovo 3 will become one of the top

locations in Russia.

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Fresh from receiving permission fromthe American authorities to fly overGrand Canyon National Park inArizona, Eurocopter’s EC130 B4 hasmade its debut on Reunion Island,declared a world heritage site byUNESCO in 2010.

The aircraft, one of the quietest in its class at 8.5 decibels below the ICAO standard, will carry outtourism operations and aerial workfor Corail Hélicoptères.

Founded in 2004, the company hasa fleet of five Eurocopter helicoptersfor tourism, transport, aerial work,firefighting and air evacuation. Asecond EC130 B4 will join the fleetbefore the end of the year.

Corail Hélicoptères carried morethan 22,000 passengers in 2011 andnow plans to add a link betweenReunion Island and Mauritius.

“Aside from the performance of ahelicopter that boasts Eurocoptertechnology, the added safety of thefenestron rotor and exceptional cabinvisibility, the EC130 B4 is out in frontwhen it comes to reduced soundlevels,” says Alfred Chane Pane, ceo of Corail.

“Our selection of this helicopter ispart of the programme we have set upto share the splendour of ReunionIsland with tourists from all over theworld, and to protect that heritagethrough our aerial work andfirefighting operations.”

Eurocopter vp Europe andCentral Asia Olivier Michalon adds:“In addition to flight safety andtechnological excellence,environmental performance is acore aspect of Eurocopter’sinnovation strategy.”

Corail’s quietEC130 debuts

at world heritage site

Corail’s EC130 B4 will be joined byanother shortly.

Eurojet and Smart team upfor Guinness charters

Eurojet Aviation has teamed up withaircraft broker Smart Aviation to helpdeliver a major new promotionalcampaign for a global drinks brand.Launched in October and operatingfor nine weeks up to December, the‘Guinness Class’ campaign will see aEurojet Citation fly up to five fans ofthe famous stout from locationsaround the UK to Dublin every Fridayand Saturday evening.

Eurojet md Graeme Campbell says:“We are very pleased to workalongside Smart Aviation in realising achallenging and very innovativecampaign. As winners are selectedwithout warning from one of 1,000participating pubs throughout the UK,our crew and operations staff have tobe ready to arrange a flight to thewinners’ location (somewhere in theUK) before making the onward flightto Dublin. This is an unusual projectbut one that’s well within thecapability of our experienced team.”

Smart Aviation says it was delightedto have been chosen to arrange the charters, on behalf of Diageo,global drinks company. “The projecthas involved months of careful

planning, and close liaison with bothour clients, and also our partnersEurojet who will be operating theaircraft for us,” says businessdevelopment manager Mark Sale.

“Smart has demonstrated its abilityto provide a complete package byalso arranging the vip limousinetransfers in the UK and Dublin as wellas hotel arrangements for our client’sstaff,” he says.

In March of this year, Eurojetopened the Business Aviation Centreat Birmingham airport, and a sectionof the promotional online advertising,featuring a Guinness-brandedCitation, was filmed at there in August.

Sloane prepares AW109S for 2013 start as TheChildren’s Air Ambulance launches service

Sloane Helicopters is preparing tolaunch operations with anAgustaWestland AW109S on behalf ofThe Children’s Air Ambulance(TCAA). The company recently flewthe special liveried and dedicatedhelicopter in for a launch party at the Barclays London Heliport,carrying Alex Toft, director ofoperations and clinical services ofThe Air Ambulance Service and TCAAambassador pop star Simon Le Bon ofDuran Duran.

Simon Hutchins, manager of theheliport, greeted the guests when thehelicopter landed from Coventryairport, the operations base of theTCAA. Applauding the initiative, The Reuben Foundation has pledgedits support to TCAA, commenting:“We recognise the crucial serviceprovided by The Children’s AirAmbulance across London and theUK and are pleased to give oursupport and welcome them to theBarclays London Heliport.”

TCAA will transfer critically illchildren from general hospitals topaediatric intensive care units acrossEngland and Wales, or help movespecialist paediatric teams to enablechildren to receive the specialisttreatment and care they need as soonas possible, cutting transfer times.

Commenting on the launch, Toftsays: “It was a hugely exciting day for

us. After months of planning, we’renow entering a two-month phase oftraining and fundraising – our crewwill be visiting five children’s transfergroups across the UK for familiar-isation purposes – before beginning toundertake missions in early 2013.”

Le Bon adds: “The Children’s Air

Ambulance is a fantastic new servicethat is desperately needed through-out the UK. Each year, thousands ofseriously ill children need urgent careat specialist hospitals. This servicerelies completely on charitabledonations from the general public. Itis my intention to do all I can to raise

the profile of TCAA and to help raisethe money that is so crucial tokeeping the service running.”

The service needs a further£545,000 to begin delivering theservice in England and Wales, with£134,000 required per month tomaintain the service.

At the launch party are Simon Hutchins on the left, with pop star and TCAA ambassador Simon Le Bon, centre, and Alex Toft on theright. With them are the Barclays London Heliport team and young guests.

Austrian charter operator GlobeAirhas selected DayJet Technologies toprovide its operations software, basedon its ASTRO system with Solver fullyintegrated optimisation engine.

The decision follows consid-eration of systems which wouldprovide a robust solution to facilitateadapting operational plans on aregular basis, as well as in real time.“DayJet Technologies plays a key rolein helping us achieve our vision ofexpanding our position as a marketleader in the niche of customisedbusiness flights,” says BernhardFragner, ceo of GlobeAir.

“Using the ASTRO system willenable us to make integrated andinformed decisions in real-time so

that we can grow our business andprovide our customers with worldclass service.”

GlobeAir says it has the world’slargest fleet of modern CitationMustangs, and is IS-BAO as well asWyvern certified.

“We are proud to have beenchosen as GlobeAir’s partner for thiskey element of its growing business,”says Roei Ganzarski, president andcoo of DayJet.

“It is very satisfying to see how weare enabling a complex business tomake informed, integrated andintelligent decisions in real-time astheir environment changes, so thatthey can better serve their owncustomers and themselves.”

GlobeAir chooses DayJet software to streamline operations

Guinness drinkers can win the chance tofly to Dublin.

Gama to add operations centre in GlasgowGama Aviation is making a major investment in a base at Glasgow airport whichwill include an operations centre, with a local team further supporting theprovision of services to the Scottish Ambulance Service King Air and NHSScotland. Opening in spring next year, the centre will comprise a dedicatedhangar, handling terminal and maintenance capabilities.

Gama Aviation was recently selected to be the dedicated provider of airambulance services to the Scottish Air Ambulance service for a further sevenyears until 2020.

The development of a Gama Aviation executive terminal will affordoperators a new transit/tech stop between north America and the Middle East in particular.


London Executive Aviation has beenjudged ‘best general aviationoperator’ for a third time in theprestigious Baltic Air CharterAssociation Excellence Awards.

The award was decided by BACAmembers, who were asked tonominate the organisations theyconsider best in class. BACArepresents more than 125 companies,including air brokers, charter airlines,airports, business aircraft operators,consultants and others involved in air charter, scheduled flying and air cargo.

LEA md George Galanopoulossays: “We are absolutely delighted toreceive this recognition from ourrespected industry colleagues, themost demanding group of judges one could imagine. Despite thetoughest industry recession ever, LEA has continued to invest rightacross its business – in our fleet, our

service provision and in training andtechnology. Today’s award is awelcome vindication of ourcommitment to excellence.”

BACA members chose TitanAirways as ‘best passenger charterairline’; Rizon Jet as best handlingagent/FBO; and gave its ‘globalexcellence award’ to Avinode.

The latter is awarded to anoverseas company that hasperformed and delivered above andbeyond the call of duty. “Avinode isdelighted to receive this award,” saysmd Oliver King. “For 10 years, we havecombined cutting edge technology tobring buyers and sellers of businessaviation across Europe together tofulfill our company mission ofmaking air charter available. Businessaviation is an important industry inEurope and Avinode is proud to havebeen recognised by the members ofBACA in this way.”

London Executive picks up third BACA award

A European flight attendantcommittee has been appointed tooversee the 2013 Cabin CrewSymposium which will be held at theEBACE show in Geneva next year.Paul Milverton, Gama Aviation cabinservice training and safety manager,has been selected to chair thecommittee until 2016.

“I am flattered and delighted tohave been offered the opportunity tochair this new European initiativeand look forward to leading the wayfor the 2013 symposium,” he says. “Ivery much look forward to workingwith my fellow committee colleaguesto create a symposium that is aseffective, instructive and popularwith European-based businessaviation cabin crew as is the NBAA-sponsored Flight Attendant’sSymposium in the USA. I would likethe symposium to be an educationalresource providing essential supportand networking opportunities forattendees that want to enhance theirdelivery of cabin safety, security andservice excellence.”

The increasingly global nature ofbusiness aviation activity demandsthe highest levels of training for crewscharged with the safety and securityof both passengers and aircraft. Withcabin crew playing a critical role insafety, security and operationalprocesses, the third annual EBACE

Cabin Crew Symposium will seek toaddress a wide range of issuesincluding passenger and crew safety,alongside aspects such as on-boardcatering and service delivery.

Milverton’s selection recogniseshis exceptional expertise in allmatters relating to in-flight servicedelivery, particularly in Europe andthe Middle East.

Prior to joining Gama in 2007, Paulhad served in the Royal Air Force. Hismilitary career included 15 years asan air steward with the RAF’s 32(Royal) Squadron, of which for 12years Paul had the honour of acting aspersonal air steward to HRH thePrince of Wales, over a remarkabletotal of 650 royal flights.

Vice chairman of the committee

will be Daniel Hulme, managingdirector of Alison Price On Air.

Hulme will represent all aspects ofon-board catering, utilising hisextensive experience working withand training flight attendants in acatering capacity. Alison Price On Airspent nine months consulting withflight attendants prior to developingits award winning product.

The company recently completedthe training of its 80th flight attendantas part of its ongoing educationalprogramme aimed at improvingcatering services in the skies.

“I am delighted to have beenselected to vice chair and I’m verymuch looking forward to developingthe vision that exists for supportingthe flight attendants,” says Hulme.“Often undervalued, the flightattendant is the conduit between theclient and our business, so to bestunderstand our vision for food, andstrengthen our relationships with theclient, it is crucial that they are wellinformed. The committee plans towork closely with them and to garnersupport from the business aviationcommunity to help them win therespect they rightly deserve.”

Milverton to chair European flight attendant committee

Paul Milverton looks forward to leading the way as committee chair.

As vice chair Daniel Hulme will focus oncatering excellence.

George Galanopoulos receives LEA’s award from Wendy Murphy of Direct Air Charters.

Aviation Linkreceives first ever

777-200LR forMiddle Eastcustomer

Aviation Link of Saudi Arabia hastaken delivery of the first BBJ 777-200LR (long range) to be completedfor a private customer in the MiddleEast. The aircraft was handed overfrom AMAC’s facility in Basel,Switzerland, following 19 months ofcompletion work that required morethan 500,000 man hours.

Described as unique, the aircraftfeatures 29,000 kgs of interior cabinweight and various spaces includingprivate hallway, master bedroom,master lavatory, private lounges,majlis, cabanas, guest areas, staffareas and galleys throughout thecabin. In-flight entertainmentoptions are many and varied,including audio video on demand, upto 64" monitors and BluRay players.

“The principal set very highstandards for this elegant interior,”says Bernd Schramm, AMAC Groupcoo. “We are extremely pleased wewere able to meet the demanding andchallenging requirements specified.”

Schramm points out that AMAC’srelationship and regular comm-unication with Boeing were key to theon-time completion. “AMAC is proudthat we were able to re-deliver ourfirst widebody completion project intime and on budget to the highestsatisfaction of our customer,” he said.

In May this year, the company wasapproved by Boeing as a warrantyservice centre. The partnership withthe OEM will continue as AMACbegins completion of a BBJ 747-8 atthe end of October.

When the aircraft was firstdelivered back in 2010 it was chosento meet the customer’s requirementfor a widebody aircraft capable ofconnecting virtually any two cities inthe world non-stop, while carrying afull cargo load. Aviation Link workedclosely with Boeing at the time toensure the aircraft was builtspecifically for vip cabin conversion.

Since its introduction just over a yearago, 25 operators from six continentshave installed Blackhawk’s XP42Aupgrade package for the Cessna 208B Caravan. One off these newinstallations is operated by MarkRoss, president of the Ross Group inNairobi, Kenya.

Ross is a well-known aviator andwriter with 25 years of experienceflying passenger and humanitarianmissions throughout remote areas in East Africa. As part of a jointventure with Blackhawk, he will now promote Blackhawk and the

XP42A upgrade package to thenation’s aviation community,providing marketing support andflight demonstrations afterinstallation is completed.

“Every member of the Blackhawkteam, including our partners andaffiliates around the globe, sharesenormous pride in the XP42A and itsremarkable record,” says Jim Allmon,Blackhawk president and ceo. “Weare delighted to add Mark Ross to ourteam because he will greatlyfacilitate market developmentthroughout East Africa.”

Ross Group brings Blackhawkfor the Caravan to Kenya

b.airline appoints Air Partner for sales in GermanySalzburg-based b.airline has put Air Partner exclusively in charge of chartersales in Germany for two Munich-based Citations.

“Due to the close cooperation with b.airline we will have exclusive access totwo marketable and modern aircraft,” says Air Partner’s director internationaloffices Birte Püschel-Kipke.

The CJ2 and Citation X accommodate six to eight passengers and have arange of 2,600km and 6,000km respectively.

Air Partner cooperates with 50 different private jet airlines and carries outaround 600 flights a year for private and business clients in Germany. “This isour second collaboration with a private jet operator on an exclusive basis,” addsPüschel-Kipke.


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Francisco Sanz, aircraft management director, will see three fleet additions over thecoming year.

Light jet joins heavy stablemates at ExecutiveExecutive Airlines’ has added the first light jet to its AOC, having previouslyfocused on large cabin and long range aircraft. The Citation Mustang will bejoined in 2013 by two Gulfstream G550s.

Passenger figures released by AENA (Spanish Airports and Air NavigationAdministration) back up Executive Airlines’ claim that it is the leading Spanish business operator, in 2011 achieving the highest number of passengersat more than 12,400.

Gloucestershire-based Bond AirServices has carried out its maidenflight in support of Greater Gabbardoffshore wind farm, making it thefirst helicopter operation of its kindin the UK.

Located 25km off the Suffolk coastand with 140 turbines, GreaterGabbard is currently the world’slargest offshore wind farm.

Bond will provide helicopterservices to deliver maintenancetechnicians by hoist to the turbines ofthe wind farm. The companyanticipates that wind farm operatorsand turbine manufacturers makingthe similar choice of includinghelicopters in their operations andmaintenance strategy will benefitfrom increased productivity.

Stephen Rose, offshore windgeneration manager at GreaterGabbard Offshore Winds Limited,says: “Safety is our number onepriority at all times, and usinghelicopters means we can get greateraccess to the turbines in conditionswhich would be impossible by boat.”

The service operates daily from apurpose-built facility at LowestoftPort using a Eurocopter EC135T2i.

Additionally, Bond has signed a£26 million seven-year contract withMidlands Air Ambulance Charity(MAAC) to continue provision of airambulance service cover across sixcounties in the West Midlands.

Bond will support the contract for three Eurocopter EC135T2ihelicopters on a 365 days a year basis,including back-up support to ensureservice availability.

To allow full night HEMSoperations, MAAC intends to upgradeone of the aircraft to a night vision-equipped EC135T2e aircraft. Chiefexecutive Hanna Sebright says: “Weare extremely pleased with thedecision to continue our long-standing relationship with Bond AirServices and look forward to theintroduction of our new aircraft. Thenight flying capability of this aircraftis particularly exciting, allowing us toextend the service we offer.”

Parent company Bond AviationGroup has taken delivery of the firstof 16 S-92 baseline helicopters fromSikorsky Aircraft Corp. Sikorsky is to

customise the helicopters for offshoreoil operations.

“Our group is committed to safetyas the utmost priority for ourcustomers, and the S-92 helicopterrepresents the latest technology interms of design and safety,” says ceoRichard Mintern. “This, combinedwith its payload, speed and rangecapabilities, makes the S-92 an idealchoice for Bond and for ourcustomers. These first two aircraft willbe operated by our new business inNorway, Norsk Helikopterservice.”

The S-92 helicopter is one of thelargest in its heavy offshore class,easily carrying 19 passengers andluggage. Since entering service inSeptember 2004, the S-92 fleet hasgrown to more than 150 aircraft.

The parent company of BondAviation Group has been establishedunder the new name Avincis MissionCritical Services. Unveiling the brandfrom its London headquarters, thecompany will manage operatorsInaer, Bond, Australian Helicoptersand Norsk Helikopterservice.

Bond makes maiden flight for offshore wind farm

Helicopters can access wind turbineswhen conditions at sea are difficult.

Charter airline Cello Aviation hasstrengthened its commercial teamwith the addition of Martine Williamsas account executive.

Williams brings nearly 20 yearsexperience in the aviation sector tothe Birmingham-based company thathas seen bookings more than doublesince last year.

“It is a very exciting time to joinCello, which is clearly going places,”she says. “I shall be working withbrokers and customers in the UK andEurope. We have a great product withgreat people and I know from my ownexperience how important the crewthat delivers front line service is.”

Starting out as cabin crew,Williams moved into sales where sheworked for European Aviation andmost recently with Strategic Aviationin Gatwick.

As part of its second anniversarycelebrations Cello’s vip BAe 146 has been flying the skies of Europesporting a giant pink nose in support of the Breakthrough BreastCancer charity.

As well as making a donation, theairline is organising a collection onboard and at its offices.

In keeping with its ethos of usinglocal businesses as suppliers, thecompany has arranged for local vipcar company Diamond ChauffeurServices to provide top end carsincluding Rolls Royce and Bentley toback up its vip charter service.

Martine Williams joins Cello at anexciting time.

Nordic charter and managementoperator JoinJet has placed an orderfor the first Pro Line 21-equippedHawker 800XPR, which will be thesecond of the model in its fleet. Thecompany also has on order a Hawker4000 and a Hawker 400XPR.

The Hawker 800XPR programmeoffers airframe modifications such asthe replacement of the existingTFE731-5BR engines with morepowerful -50R engines and theaddition of genuine Hawker winglets.

JoinJet also elected to add wi-ficapabilities, a medevac interior, aflight data recorder, as well as newcustom paint and interior selectionsto its aircraft. Delivery is expectedfirst quarter of 2013.

“The 800XPR programme deliversthe range, proven reliability andexceptional passenger comfort thatwill help JoinJet continue to provideexceptional air lift and meet thegrowing demand for charter servicesfrom business owners across theEurope, Middle East and Africaregions,” says Christi Tannahill,Hawker Beechcraft senior vp, globalcustomer support. “JoinJet’scommitment to our Hawker 400XPRand 800XPR programmes is atestament to the significance andvalue propositions of the upgrades.”

Capable of producing 5,000pounds of thrust but flat rated to4,660 pounds, the Hawker 800XPR’s

new TFE731-50R engines create arobust interstage turbine temper-ature margin that results in improvedperformance and durability. Throughthe incorporation of 70 design and material improvements, theTFE731-50R engines deliver a sevenper cent reduction in specific fuelconsumption while increasingmaintenance intervals. The result is a32 per cent reduction in Honeywell’sminimum Maintenance Service Plancosts due to major periodicinspections of 3,000 hours and corezone inspection intervals of 6,000hours as compared to 2,100 and 4,200respectively on the original engines.The 800XPR upgrade qualifies forzero-cost enrollment in Honeywell’sMSP. The new engines also deliver anumber of green advantages, such aslower noise levels and reducedcarbon emissions.

The Hawker 800XPR upgradeprovides improved hot/highperformance. Climbing directly toFL410 at maximum takeoff weight in25 minutes, the Hawker 800XPR willreach FL370 three minutes faster thanthe Hawker 800XP. The direct climbcapabilities, combined with theaircraft’s improved fuel efficiency,translate into true extended rangeand faster block times.

JoinJet also operates an Envoy 3,which is featured in our SuperMidsize Jets feature on pages 8-12.

JoinJet tops up its orderwith three more Hawkers

Cello strengthensits commercial

team at anexciting time

Cello’s BAE 146 sporting its pink nose.

In January, the UK Ministry ofDefence awarded a contract to OxfordUniversity Hospitals NHS Trust(OUH) and Air Medical Limited(AirMed) for the provision of 24/7clinical advice and aeromedicalsupport for all of its neonatal,obstetric and paediatric cases aroundthe globe.

Since then, the air ambulanceservice based at Oxford airport hascarried out many missions includingtransporting a baby with a heartmurmur for cardiac assessment, atoddler for neurological assessmentand an extremely premature baby forspecialist care.

As well as providing initial clinicalinput and ensuring 24/7 on-calladvice is available, a number of the cases have been brought to theOUH for assessment and ongoingspecialist care.

AirMed’s neonatal medicaldirector Dr Charlotte Bennett is aconsultant neonatologist at the trust’snewborn intensive care unit andworks closely with a number ofcolleagues from the trust who providean on-call service for AirMed.

She says: “The relationship wehave with AirMed means we can

provide a highly responsive service to time critical emergencies.Together with AirMed and the MoD we are able to offer specialist

care to military families whosebabies become sick or deliverprematurely here in the UK or whileposted overseas.”

AirMed and the OUH have plans todeliver a consultant-led neonataltransfer service to NICUs across theUK and around the world.

Titan Airways’ cabin crew are nowsporting stylish new uniforms,designed specifically to complementTitan’s striking corporate identity. The sleek new look, created bycorporate uniform specialist FieldGrey, was designed to embraceTitan’s distinctive style and debutedin November.

The individual items aredeliberately simple in cut with boththe garments and the coordinatingaccessories said to be ofuncompromising quality. The men’suniform comprises a smartly tailoredsingle-breasted dark grey suit wornwith a white shirt and purple tie,while female cabin crew have theoption of either a dark grey skirt,blouse and waistcoat, worn with apurple neckerchief to complementthe men’s ties, or a tailored dark greydress, again worn with a purpleneckerchief.

“From the outset, Field Greyimpressed us with their profess-ionalism and their ability to transformour vision into reality,” says inflight

services manager Kim Braithwaite.“We’re thrilled with the results.”

Janice Turner, creative director ofField Grey, adds: “We were absolutelydelighted to be selected to design and create a new uniform for the Titan Airways cabin crew. Weenjoyed working closely with Titanthroughout the research anddevelopment process to realise theirvision and provide their high qualityairline with a high quality uniform tomatch. We’re extremely pleased withthe finished collection and are very excited to see the new uniformshit the runway.”

Titan Airways will be celebratingits 25th anniversary in 2013, and has afleet comprising 12 aircraft: threeBoeing 737-300QCs, one Boeing 737 –300F, two BAe 146-200QCs, one BAeAvro RJ100, three Boeing 757-200s(two having joined the fleet in 2012); a Boeing 767-300ER and the newCJ2+. Several of the aircraft are QC(quick change), which enablesutilisation for either passenger orfreight transportation.


The new uniforms are modelled by Titan Airways’ cabin crew David Maxwell, DanielleBayles wearing the skirt, blouse and waistcoat option and Rebecca Hess who modelsthe dress. Picture credit: Richard Martin, Titan Airways BAe 146 first officer andprofessional photographer, www.aspectphoto.co.uk

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Titan Airways cuts nocorners on uniforms

AirMed meets MoD demand for paediatric transfers

AirMed operates neonatal transfers for the MoD, but also for other clients. On this occasion, obstetric patient Kelly Fisk (centre)was accompanied by neonatal medical director Dr Charlotte Bennett with obstetric fellow Sally Collins, and flown by Capt PhilBurton and flight officer Doug Paton.

Phoenix Aviation, a private executiveair charter company based inNairobi, has appointed FritzStrahammer as chief operationsofficer. Strahammer brings to his newrole a wealth of experience withalmost four decades working in thefield of aviation.

As a captain and instructor forLauda Air/Austrian Airlines on theBoeing B737, B767 and B777, he roseto the position of director of flightoperations, a position he held for 15years. The merger of Lauda Air andAustrian Airlines was one of the manyprojects under his leadership.

He worked as a pilot at Nairobi’sWilson airport for approximately tenyears before joining Lauda Air, four ofwhich were for AMREF FlyingDoctors, a long-time partner withPhoenix Aviation.

The company expects hisextensive training and experience tobuild upon the reputation forexcellence in operations, safety andcustomer service for which Phoenixclaims to be renowned in the EasternAfrican region.

Kenya’s PhoenixAviation appoints

Strahammer

Fritz Strahammer joins Phoenix.

The CEPA Expo, to be held in Pragueon 28-30th November, will focus on‘acceleration’ and ways of speedingup the processes involved in doingbusiness in the industry. Theconference will be analysing ways ofbridging communication methods toimprove the potential for success inthe private aviation market.

Speakers at the event will includeAvinode’s md Oliver King who will beanalysing the status of the chartermarket; which regions are growingfastest; and providing detailedforecasts for 2013.

Other speakers will include ceo ofAtron Nick Fitzpatrick, chairman ofOpera Jet Martin Hudec and co-founder of PrivateFly Carol Cork.

A panel led by the Ogilvy’s ceoDita Stejskalova will explore theindustry’s growing use of social mediato interact with clients. The panel willconsider whether this new platformstrengthens or dilutes luxury brands.

Commenting on this year’sconference, CEPA chairman BrendanLodge says: “The content demon-strates the realistic and focusedapproach that CEPA has to genuinelyaiding private aviation business incentral and eastern Europe. Therelevant panels and speakers will givedelegates the best insight into how toimprove their chances of success inthis increasingly important part of the world.”

Faster businesson the agenda

in Prague

Oryx adds helicopter transfers to fit customer needs

Biggin Hill-based aircraft manage-ment and air charter company OryxJet is now offering helicoptercharter as an additional method oftransportation and onward carriageto complement its existing fleet ofexecutive jets.

Oryx Jet ceo Mike Russell says:“We are excited to includehelicopters within our growingfleet. Trips can be completelycustomisable to our clients’ specificrequirements, allowing us tocontinue to provide an unpar-alleled vip service. This may well

include free helicopter transfers for our charter customers from many London airports to and fromBiggin Hill.

“Offering more choice toprivate business and leisure charterservices locally and internationally,our privately-chartered helicopterscan replace long waits in traffic, thus increasing productivity, whilecovering a great distance in a fractionof the time.”

The company’s existing Hawker,Falcon 50, and Challenger 604 fleet iscomplemented by the addition ofsingle and twin turbine enginehelicopters. The AS355 Twin Squirrelfleet consists of a F2 and theN model which are night capable IFRhelicopters. The EC120B is a single-engine helicopter which features awide bodied cabin, a state-of-the-artergonomic cockpit and a sizeablehold, the company reports.

Russell adds: “All our aircrafthave a reputation for excellence.Being able to offer the comfort ofprivate helicopter travel to ourcustomers ensures we can offer whatour clients want the most – safety,security, speed, reliability andprivacy. We are confident the latestadditions to our fleet will provepopular with air charter customersold and new and be chosen byclients for both business andleisure trips.”

Oxyrx Jet’s plans may include freehelicopter transfers from London aiportsfor its charter customers.


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Harold Stoddard, quality and safety manager of Rizon Jet (centre), receives the awardfrom local auditors Nexus, represented by president and ceo Abdullah M Al-Sayed andvp safety and quality William Mermelstein.

Qatar-based Rizon Jet has receivedthe internationally respected AviationResearch Group/US (ARG/US)Platinum Safety Rating at its Dohafacility. The rating is the result ofindependent evaluations and a week-long audit, facilitated by NEXUSFlight Operations Services, the firstfacilitator of the rating audits in theMiddle East region, that assesses thecandidate’s flight operations againstindustry best practices.

Rizon Jet says it is the first and onlyaircraft charter operator in theMiddle East and North Africa toachieve ARG/US Platinum rating,which confirms the company’scommitment to excellent safetystandards and providing outstandingservice with unparalleled facilities.

Captain Hassan Al-Mousawi, ceo,says: “Our clients demand excellence,and achieving the highest aviationsafety rating has been our priority. Weare now one of a few Platinum-ratedoperators outside the US, and indeedthe only one in the MENA region, andare confident this will help us to stand

out in what is a highly competitivemarketplace.”

The rating requires a well-developed and fully implementedsafety management system, whichincludes a clear and workableemergency response plan, as well as effective policies, procedures, and record-keeping for all major operational and maintenance aspects.

“The rating is recognition for ourconsistently high flight safetystandards, achieved by our dedicatedand professional team in Doha. Westrive for excellence in every aspect ofour business, but safety is ofparamount importance in thisindustry and we are proud to beacknowledged for our efforts,” addsAl-Mousawi.

Forecasting a growth in demandfor private business and leisure jetcharter, Rizon Jet’s fleet comprisestwo Challenger 605, and a Hawker900XP, with UK affiliate Oryx Jetproviding access to additionalaircraft, including two helicopters.

Rizon Jet’s aviation safetyrating is a Middle East first

Celebrating with Embraer Aircraft engineers and contract team members are FlairJet duty ops manager first officer David Taylor(third from left) and ground ops director and safety manager Captain Mike Chamberlain (seventh from left).

FlairJet has enjoyed its busiest yearyet, notching up its 20th Embraeraircraft acceptance or delivery at theend of September.

The London Oxford Airport-basedcharter and management companyhas, since 2009, taken responsibilityfor delivery flights or acceptances of eight Phenom 100s, 10 Phenom300s, a Legacy 600 and an EmbraerLineage, for itself and third party customers.

FlairJet personnel have carried outthe technical acceptance of sevennew aircraft so far this year, mostrecently a Phenom 300. Following

technical acceptance at the end ofSeptember, the aircraft arrived in theUK after a four-day, 8,000nm tripfrom Embraer’s Sao Jose dos Camposfacilities. The route took in Belem,Barbados, Fort Lauderdale, Bangorand Goose Bay prior to thetransatlantic crossing to Keflavik andthe final legs to the UK. Acceptanceand delivery was carried out by CaptMike Chamberlain, FlairJet’s groundops director and safety manager, andfirst officer David Taylor.

“This was a textbook acceptanceand delivery. We were blessed withgenerally good weather and the

aircraft behaved impeccably,” reportsChamberlain. “We even managed totweet our progress throughout.”

FlairJet ceo and founder DavidFletcher adds: “This was very specialfor us being our 20th Embraer aircraftacceptance. Over the last three yearswe have built up a fantasticrelationship with Embraer; we areproud to have been there at the outsetwith the Phenom programme.”

FlairJet reports that by beingprofitable, it has bucked the trend inEurope’s light jet fraternity, and isconsidering a second UK airporthome in 2013.

FlairJet ponders a second base for 2013

The second 400XT aircraft to beaccepted for European registrationwill soon be delivered to a privatebuyer in Switzerland and will bemanaged by TAG Aviation, saysNextant Aerospace. Achieving EASAcertification is expected imminently,as the first deliveries of the 400XT arebeing made to Europe.

To date, 40 per cent of all 400XTsales have come from outside ofNorth America, with a substantialportion of those from the Eurozone.

“Last year, we announced finalFAA certification of the Nextant400XT in the US. Now we are proud tobe closing in on a comparableapproval from the European AviationSafety Agency, which willimmediately make the 400XTavailable for service throughoutEurope,” says Kenneth C Ricci,founder and chief executive officer ofNextant Aerospace. “The 400XT istruly a business jet for the Europeantraveller because of its exceptionalrange. We are confident that this approval will further boost salesin Europe – already proven to be oneof its strongest markets.”

NetJets Europe has been on a Euro-pean preview tour taking in London,Geneva, Moscow, and Istanbul aheadof the introduction of its latest fleetaddition, the Global 6000.

The aircraft will offer the longestrange and largest cabin in NetJets’fleet when it takes delivery of its firstexample later this year, part of anorder placed in 2011. The jets are to bepart of the company’s global‘Signature Series’ initiative, and it hasbeen involved in their design fromstart to finish, ensuring they maximisepassenger comfort, efficiency andprivacy in the air.

The Global 6000 will be sold inshares starting at 50 hours a yearpriced at US$3.1m for a 1/16th share,with strong demand already reported;75 per cent of the first two aircraft hasalready been sold.

“Despite a slow-moving macro-economic environment, large cabinaircraft have been the strongestperformer in our portfolio, andcustomers will be very excited at whatthe Global 6000 adds to our offering,”comments Marine Eugene, salesdirector of NetJets Europe.

“With the long range capabilities ofthe aircraft, alongside its operatingefficiency, interior comforts andreliability, it will be ideally suited toEuropean corporations and indivi-duals looking to expand and dobusiness in high growth markets inthe BRIC economies and beyond.”

The layout of the aircraft offers a

private stateroom at the rear and acustomised forward crew rest areaand galley, to allow total privacy topassengers in the main cabin. Thecabin itself features large windowsand seats up to 14 passengerscomfortably for journeys up to a flightrange of 13 hours. Enhancedsoundproofing cuts aerodynamicnoise and improves sound quality atfull air speed.

Given the long range of the jet,which can travel from London to SãoPaulo non-stop, NetJets Europe is alsolaunching an extension of the servicearea for its Global aircraft customers,saving them positioning fees onflights to cities in India, Kazahkstan,China, Angola, Nigeria, South Africa,the Middle East and Brazil. This willdeliver savings of up to 35 per cent inthe operating costs for those flights.

Entrepreneur and philanthropistJohn McCall MacBain agrees:“Bombardier products have areputation for quality, and NetJets’design philosophy is outstanding. Theextended service area adds to thevalue and efficiency we get from theservice and will be invaluable as myfamily and personal obligations spanseveral continents.”

NetJets Europe has already seenstrong demand and will take a furthertwo Global 6000 aircraft in the firsthalf of 2013 and then assess demand.As part of the original purchase,NetJets has orders for the Global 7000and Global 8000 aircraft.

NetJets goes on tour with the Global 6000

Air Charter Scotland has added afactory-new Citation CJ2, based atLuton, to its charter fleet and recentlyperformed a life-saving mission whenit teamed up with Edinburgh-basedJetlogic, flying 12-year-old cancerpatient Vanessa Riddle home safely to Scotland following a stem celltransplant in Germany.

Vanessa is battling relapsed stagefour neuroblastoma, a rare andaggressive childhood cancer. A con-certed fundraising effort meant thatVanessa was able to go to Tübingen,Germany, for the transplant that isexpected to dramatically increase herchance of long-term survival.

Following treatment, Vanessa’s lowimmune system meant that a flight ona commercial airline presented a high

infection risk. Following a Twitterappeal, Air Charter Scotland provideda Citation to carry Vanessa home.

Derek Thomson, ops director,says: “After a discussion between ourcompany and Jetlogic, we offered ourservices to bring Vanessa and herfamily home. Vanessa is a brave andinspirational young lady who isfighting a very tough battle; I am justpleased that we were able to helpmake her return home a safe one.”

York-based FlyMeNow is anothercharter company that responded to aplea for assistance via Twitter, flyingseven-year-old Jamie Inglis toGermany for medical treatment.

Jamie has a rare childhood cancerthat has weakened his immunesystem and, like Vanessa, a privateflight offered Jamie the safest way ofgetting to Stuttgart for stem celltreatment.

Commercial director AndrewWhitney says: “Jamie is from ourbackyard and there is hope and a lightat the end of the tunnel for him,which is why we are proud to be ableto help. We organise a lot of what youmight call mercy missions, but thishas definitely been our mostimportant mission of the year.”

Twitter appeals help find flightsfor young cancer patients

Vanessa flies home safely aboard AirCharter Scotland’s jet.

TAG to fly 400XT for Swissprivate owner


The online charter marketplaceAvinode is predicting that the supermidsize sector will be the worstaffected of all by a downturn inEuropean air charter during 2013. Itsuggests that super midsize charterflight hours might fall by as much as9.1 per cent, although northernEurope could be less affected thanthe southern countries. This is instark contrast to the United States,where it believes charter demand forsuper midsize jets will increase next year.

EBAN’s readers fly 845 supermidsize jets throughout the EMEAregion, and for this report we askedsome of them to tell us about their experiences.

CHALLENGER 601/604/605

A handful of the original Challenger600 model remain in service in SouthAfrica, Bulgaria, Germany, Irelandand the UK, with retrofitted winglets,but the majority of the EMEA fleet arethe subsequent variants with factorywinglets produced after 1983.

In the absence of universally-accepted definitions, EBAN and its hand-books of business aviation have come to their own conclusions as to whichbusiness jets fall into which category; midsize, super midsize and longrange – and it has not always been easy.

Cabin volume is the most important measure, but range and speedalso cannot be ignored. So, at the margins we have the Hawker 800 in themidsize category (see our issue March next year), while the comparably-sized Citation X has edged into this report about super midsize jets. At the other end of the cabin spectrum, the Challenger 800 finds itself inthe super midsize because it lacks the range to compare alongside thelong-range jets, and it could easily be argued that the large cabin and3,000nm-plus range of the Embraer Legacy also make it a strong contenderin that category.

If in doubt about how the various aircraft compare, remember that allbusiness aircraft are listed on the www.handbook.aero web site, withspecifications and details of maintenance support, charter operators andtraining organisations.

What qualifies as a super midsizejet anyway?

ME & MYAIRCRAFTSuper midsize jets

1. Challenger 601/4/5 209

2. Falcon 2000 160

3. Legacy 600/650 104

4. Challenger 300 77

5. Citation Sovereign 69

6. Falcon 50 65

7. Challenger 800 41

8. Envoy 3 32

9. Gulfstream G200/Galaxy 31

10. Citation X 25

EBAN tracks aircraft ownership by itsreaders throughout Europe, the MiddleEast, Russia and Africa. This tableindicates the ten most prevalent supermidsize jets in service.

Latest models bringadvanced technology to

super midsize arena

Dassault’s Falcon2000LXS is set to enterservice in 2014.

The top ten by numbers

ACS shuffles executive jet teamAir Charter Service has appointedRuan Courtney, who has been withthe company for 15 years, as groupdirector of executive jets. He will beusing his experience to manage thecompany’s growing global execu-tive jets team as well as overseeingthe rollout of the company’s newjet card – the Lindbergh Card.

Working with Courtney will beGavin Copus, who takes up theposition of business developmentdirector of executive jets aftermoving back to the UK from thecompany’s Hong Kong office.

365 Aviation to add onlinecalculatorSarah Grimes, who joined 365Aviation in August this year, reportsthat the company is continuing toexpand, and has further plans torecruit additional staff into 2013.“We have recently revamped theweb site, which is just aboutcomplete now and will be activelymarketing the new site and onlinequote calculator in the comingweeks,” she says.

Vertis Aviation opens in LondonSwiss-based Vertis Aviation hasappointed Julian Burrell as md ofits new London business, due tolaunch in December. He will be

responsible for managing the char-ter brokerage, having previouslyworked at The Charter Company.

Based in Zug, Switzerland, sistercompany Vertis Aviation focuses onthe operations side of the businesswhich sees the company formingmarketing alliances with preferredsuppliers and leading aircraftoperators to create a premier fleetof aircraft that can be offered forprivate and corporate charter.

Air Partner boostsRussia/CIS deskAir Partner has appointed AntonFrolov as a senior account managerfor its Russian and CIS desk inLondon. Frolov was previously withChapman Freeborn and will workwith Air Partner’s sales and cust-omer relations team in Moscow.Director of Air Partner Private JetsDavid Macdonald says: “Hugewealth creation in the BRIC econ-omies means we are seeing growthacross the emerging markets, aswell as the development of newhubs for private jet activity in Russiaand the former CIS.”

ACT prepares twentiethairlift to EIBTMAir Charter Travel is preparing toprovide its 20th ‘hosted buyer’ flightto EIBTM, the meetings, incentives,events and business travel industryevent in Barcelona at the end ofNovember. Over 250 UK-basedhosted buyers will travel on aThomas Cook Boeing 757-200, andexperience the benefits of flyingprivate charter with dedicatedcheck-in desks, onboard serviceand onward transport to hotels.

“This presents us with anexcellent opportunity to showcasethe benefits of flying by privatecharter and demonstrates theadded value it can bring to aproduct launch or business trip,”says ACT md Tim Procter.

CHAR TER BROKER NEWS . . .

Anne Mascioli, Chris Vandenplas and Véronique Degryse celebrate.

Ruan Courtney

Challenger 601s are still relativelycommon, in service with the Czechpolice and the government ofGambia, as well as a host of chartercompanies. Hangar 8 has four of thevariant under its wing.

But the majority of the EMEA fleetcomprises the more recent 604 and605 models. The largest fleets are inthe hands of TAG (five 604s and six605s) and VistaJet with ten of the most recent model. Other specialistsinclude Elit’Avia in Slovenia, ExecuJet

Middle East, Arab Wings, Air Lazur inBulgaria and Hangar 8 again.

The programme has reached asignificant milestone with the entryinto service of the 200th Challenger605. The aircraft was handed over toits anonymous owner during aceremony at the factory in October,with hundreds of proud employees in attendance.

“The Challenger 600 aircraft serieswas a trailblazer in business aviationand is now the largest fleet in the category worldwide with over 850 aircraft in service,” says SteveRidolfi, president of BombardierBusiness Aircraft.

Operators will soon be able to takeadvantage of an upgrade to the 605designed to enhance safety andreduce the necessity to divert in poorweather, following the US FAA’sapproval of the Rockwell Collinshead-up guidance system for thetype. When the runway environmentis sensed and projected on the HGS,605 operators can continue on finalapproach below minima to 100 feetabove ground level before needingsight of the runway.

The aircraft’s manufacturer,Bombardier, goes to great lengths toobtain operator feedback with itscustomer advisory boards, and soEBAN is delighted to take on boardthe opinions of Europe’s only votingrepresentative, Martin Spiegl ofGermany’s Imperial Jet Europe.

“Most of the members are from theUS,” he says. “I am the only memberin Europe and as I also cover theMiddle East, there are only two of usrepresenting that region.”

He is a member of the advisoryboard for the CL600, CL800 andLearjet series, and is keen toencourage others to join. “The boardwas a bit US-centric, but now hasmembers from the Middle East,Mexico and elsewhere,” he says. The board’s meetings are webcast for customers.

Imperial Jet Europe has one eachof the 604 and 605 models, and Spiegl

Chapman Freeborn marks 15 years in BelgiumChapman Freeborn opened its Ostend office in 1997 to support its inter-national cargo flights, but the team branched out and developed a localclient portfolio, becoming one of the leading charter brokers in Belgium.Country manager Chris Vandenplas says: “It’s a great achievement to reach15 years in Belgium and we can look back with pride to many of theinteresting charter projects we have been involved in over the years.

“While the global economic conditions are challenging at the momentwe continue to do well, thanks in part to our diverse range of services, butalso the hard work and dedication of our team.”

Over the years, the Belgium team has played an important part ininternational aid airlifts including for the Asian tsunami in 2004, the Haitiearthquake in 2010 and numerous charter operations to Africa in responseto famines.

“The Challenger is a versatile aircraft... the backbone of

our fleet.”


Continued on next page

is very satisfied with the level ofmanufacturer support he receives:“There are great field servicerepresentatives, good technicalsupport and increased partsavailability in Europe.

“We are quite happy with thereliability and the technical supportof the aircraft. We are encouragingBombardier to work on the extensionof the maintenance intervals, as the604/605 platform is well-proven andwe are confident that enough data isavailable to extend the maintenanceintervals, which would help allowners and operators to savemaintenance costs.

“It is a versatile aircraft, almost allmissions needed are possible, and isthe backbone of our fleet.”

In terms of value for money, Spieglbelieves there is room for improve-ment. “Technical publications areexpensive compared to othermanufacturers, and the iPad solutionis more expensive than the paperversions.”

The aircraft’s best aspect is, he

feels, its reliability and comfort; whilethe worst thing is fuel efficiency: “Itwould be about time to have betterfuel efficiency, although the enginesare the most reliable.

“We operate the two models in thesame way, but given the advancedtechnology, it is easier to support a605 than a 604. For example, allcharting is electronic on the 605 whileon the 604 we are shipping vastamounts of paper around the worldto update our Jeppesen charts. Alsofor passenger comfort, the 605 isslightly more advanced in terms ofinflight entertainment and Airshow.”

FALCON 2000

The second most prolific supermidsize jet in the EMEA region isDassault’s Falcon 2000 in all itsvariants. There are a handful ofoperators in South Africa and SaudiArabia, but the type is yet to make itsmark throughout the rest of Africaand the Middle East. However, it ispopular in all corners of Europe.

Fractional operator NetJets has

17 on the Portuguese register, while Air Alsie in Denmark leads theway among charter operators with amanaged fleet of no fewer than ten examples. Sirio in Italy operateseight and TAG Aviation seven, whileSaudi Arabia’s National Private AirTransport Services, Spain’s Audeli and Switzerland’s Jet Aviation nurturefour each.

These larger fleets mostly feature amixture of the original Falcon 2000sand its later variants, the EX and LX.

Dassault has now launched theFalcon 2000LXS, offering improvedairport performance, payload andcabin comfort compared to the2000LX which it will replace in 2014.The 2000LXS will allow operators toaccess more airports because of newfull-length inboard slats which aresaid to give the aircraft category-leading airport performance andbalanced field length.

It will offer a range of 4,000nm(standard aircraft, full fuel, six pax,NBAA IFR reserves, 85 per centBoeing Annual Winds), will climbdirectly to 41,000 feet in 19 minutes,and will need just 2,260 feet ofrunway to land. This is no longer thanthat needed for a turboprop aircraft,says Dassault.

City pairs possible will includeNew York to Berlin; Paris to New Yorkor Delhi; and Dubai to Hong Kong orLondon City.

The cabin sound level within the

Falcon 2000LXS has been lowered bytwo decibels compared to its prede-cessor. It will be delivered standardwith an entirely new FalconCabinHD+ cabin management system thatplaces more controls and greaterconvenience into the hands ofpassengers. The system provides highdefinition viewing on monitors up to22 inches with functions that can becontrolled from anywhere in theaircraft via an iPod Touch or iPhone. Adedicated application allowspassengers to control video playback,operate optional electronic windowshades and adjust the lights,temperature and other cabinparameters to their liking.

The AirCell Axxess II satcomsystem will be included as a standardfeature, as will EASy II in the cockpit.It should be certified in the first half of 2013 with deliveries beginning in 2014.

Guido Schallmo, chief pilot andflight department manager ofThyssenKrupp DienstleistungenGmbH, is satisfied with every aspectof his Falcon 2000 EX EASy: Heappreciates the modern cockpit, verygood performance, the aerodynamicsand nice cabin. “We are very happywith our Falcon, especially thereliability,” he says.

“We got the HUD when we tookdelivery of the aircraft in April 2007and we use it every time for all take offand approaches. We were also thefirst Falcon 2000 EASy operatorworldwide who got the Cat III A (HUDIII) certification.”

If Schallmo has any criticism of the2000, then it is simply its “high price”.

Mehmet Yuksel Hocaoglu of SwanAviation agrees on the cost issue, butis very satisfied with the performanceand reliability of his Falcon 2000LX.

However, Jeroen van Wees ofMetterwoon/Flying Group, respon-ding to our survey earlier this year, is


Me & My Aircraftthroughout 2013

MARCH Midsize jets

JUNETwin turboprops

NOVEMBERVery light jets

We are keen to hear your views. Login at www.ebanmagazine.com and youwill find voting forms for each type inyour fleet. It takes moments tocomplete, and the more replies wereceive the better our final reportswill be. Your user number and pin ison the back of the mailing sheetincluded with your magazine, orrequest a reminder on the web site.

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Gulfstream will deliver the first G280 aircraft before the end of theyear to an unnamed US-basedmanufacturer with a worldwidepresence, following the FAAcertification achieved in September.

Originally known as the G250, the new model replaces the G200,which itself had evolved from the IAI Galaxy.

As with all Gulfstream aircraft, theG280 was designed withconsiderable input from Gulfstreamcustomers who participate in thecompany’s customer advisory board.

“Their contributions wereinvaluable in creating a super mid-sized aircraft that flies so far and sofast,” says Pres Henne, senior vpprogrammes, engineering and test.“The G280, with a top speed of Mach0.85, has already set four city-pairspeed records. We anticipate it willset many, many more in the monthsand years to come thanks to itsadvanced wing design and its fuel-efficient Honeywell HTF250Gengines, each of which delivers 7,445pounds of thrust. The significantrange and speed increase comparedto the G200 is achieved whileburning less fuel.

“In addition to the aircraft’stremendous performance capabil-ities, it offers the most comfortablecabin in its class with theGulfstream-designed cabin manage-ment and audio/video distributionsystems, industry-leading soundlevels, 19 super-sized windows andin-flight access to the baggagecompartment. We’re extremelyproud of this aircraft and know ourcustomers will be, too,” Henne says.

The aircraft has the longestseating area in its class, the companysays, and a total cabin length of 25feet, 10 inches. This additional spaceprovides for a larger lavatory, animproved galley and increasedstorage. Customers can select fromthree interior floor plans, which seatfrom eight to 10 and berth up to four.All of them offer significant storagecapabilities, with total storage of upto 154 cubic feet (4.63 cubic metres).

The significantly larger lavatory is

accented by two windows, acontemporary sink with raised ledge,a full-length closet and a vacuumtoilet system with overboard venting,the only system of its kind in thisclass of aircraft.

The cabin contains a larger,ergonomically designed galley thatfeatures an extra-large ice drawerwith gasper-cooled storage, a sinkwith hot and cold water, andincreased storage capacity.

Further contributing to theextraordinary cabin environment isan advanced environmental controlsystem that provides 100 percentfresh air and a low cabin altitude:7,000 feet (2,130 m) at FL450 and6,000 feet (1,828 m) at FL410.

“Taken together, these amenitiessignificantly reduce fatigue, increasemental alertness and enhanceproductivity,” Henne says.

The aircraft has new seats,measuring 21 inches (53 cm)

between the arm rests and featuringnew styling details, a telescopingheadrest with optional flexiblewings, an articulating seat pan forfull-flat berthing and an optionalrecliner-style leg rest.

The Gulfstream G280 was on show in Europe at EBACE earlier this year. Here the crew celebrates following the aircraft’slanding in Geneva. From left: Chip Leonard, international demonstration pilot; Brett Rundle, chief pilot, mid-cabin; JeanetteBrewer, manager, flight crew cabin operations; and Butch Allen, chief production test pilot, mid-cabin.

Customerinput wasinvaluable in soon tolaunch G280

Martin Lener of Tyrolean Jet Servicesoperates his G200 from a “floating base”.

Aircraft on the horizon: Gulfstream G280


very satisfied with the value formoney offered by the 2000EX EASyand 2000LX, citing their excellentrange, comfort and climbperformance. He considers them tobe “flexible, high class, comfortable,state-of-the-art aircraft.”

He has just a few small criticisms:The 2000 can sometimes have minor,but irritating, electronic glitches; thetype rating is not convertible toFalcon 900 EASy; and it has a smallcargo door.

LEGACY 600/650

The relative newcomer in business jetmanufacturing, Embraer, has maderemarkable inroads into the supermidsize fleet and has now delivered

also in Russia and Nigeria.London Executive Aviation has

seven on its fleet, and there are

Continued from previous page

over 100 Legacy 600/650 aircraft intothe EMEA region. These havepermeated throughout the region,

with examples around Europe, in theMiddle East and around Africa. Theyare especially prevalent in the UK, but


several operators with five, includingABS Jets in the Czech Republic, TAGAviation and Prestige Jets in the UAE.

The 650 model, introduced just acouple of years ago, can already befound in Morocco, Nigeria, Russia,Saudi Arabia and the UK.

Embraer’s latest innovation is toextend its new eTechPubs iPad appbeyond the Phenom aircraft toinclude the Legacy 600 and 650, elim-inating the need to carry a 40lb flightbag filled with paper manuals.

“With this new app, operators willalso have all the information theyneed to operate and service theiraircraft in the palm of their hand,”says Edson Carlos Mallaco, vpcustomer support and services. “This,and other apps we are developing, are part of our strategy to support a paperless cockpit by puttingsupport solutions on tablets andother mobile devices. This effort alsoincludes developing a paperlessmaintenance base.”

Operators with a valid technicalmanual revision service can use theeTechPubs app to download alltechnical manuals to a single iPad aspart of their subscription. It alsoworks without an internetconnection.

Slovenian Legacy 600 operatorZdenko Dremel is happy tocongratulate Embraer on the progress

made in building a customer supportnetwork. “Maintenance support hasadvanced from 2007 (and before)when it was at a low level with fewauthorised service centres, to wellorganised, widely spread Europeanand US support now. This meansEmbraer has slowly but constantlybeen improving its overall customersupport,” he says.

Not that support is often required,as the Legacy is a tough aircraft that seldom leaves an operator in anAOG situation: “Mostly you will beable to make a tech flight inaccordance with MEL to a suitablemaintenance service. It is a veryindependent, airliner-based businessjet,” says Dremel.

Despite having unreliable galleyequipment, needing a slightly longerrunway, flying lower than thecompetition and requiring longerpre- and post-flight crew workbecause of its airliner construction

While Cessna’s most recentannouncements have involved theSovereign and Citation X, its all-newdesigns, the Latitude and Longitude,continue to make progress.

These two may share the samepassenger payload and thecompany’s widest ever cabin, butthey have very different capabilities.

The Latitude will have a range of2,500nm and a price tag around$14.9m, while the Longitude willextend the Citation boundaries rightup to 4,000nm at a cost of $26m.

Cessna has also been listening toits operators: “Our customers werepleased when we increased the

range of the Latitude from 2,000 to2,300 nautical miles early this year,but we need to stay competitive in

the marketplace and as we talkedwith more customers getting to2,500 nautical miles wasimperative,” said Bob Gibbs, vpinternational sales, South America.The Latitude is scheduled for its firstflight in mid-2014.

The Citation Longitude will bepowered by two Silvercrest engines.Scott Ernest, president and ceo of Cessna, says: “The Longitude sets itself apart with the largestCitation cabin, intercontinentalrange and a price point unmatchedby other business jets with similarperformance.

“This super mid-size jet sets anew standard for cabin efficiency,connectivity and stylish comfort.”Entry into service is expected in 2017.

Tyrolean Jet Services’ G200 is availablefor worldwide charter.

Future modelsoffer largercabins andlonger range

Aircraft on the horizon: Citation Latitude and Longitude


and systems, the Legacy scores highlywith Dremel for its “amazing three-zone passenger cabin, the bestbaggage space in its category,acceptable range, and crew andpassenger-friendly equipment.

“If we consider today’s marketprices, then the investment in a newLegacy 600/650 is high,” he says. “Butused, at a few years old, the Legacy600 could be the best buy in anaviator’s life! Used market prices are well below the real operationalvalue and your commercial potential.The Legacy 600 is built for the charter market.”

He does have one word ofwarning, though. “This is a complexbusiness jet, not for beginnerswithout corporate or commercialexperience. It’s not a ‘one man band’aircraft. You need an aviationorganisation team behind you.”

The Legacy would benefit, hebelieves, from a new anduncomplicated water supply systemfor galley and toilets, the latestmodern e-charts and avionics, and alighter passenger and maintenance-friendly interior of seats, sofas andsidewalls like the BMW Design in theLegacy 500.

Dremel proposes that the Legacy600/650 will be eclipsed by a risingnew star – its younger modernbrother the Legacy 500, which willhave lower operating costs and toptechnology. “But if a good Embraer is replaced with a better Embraer,then Embraer is still a winner, isn’t it?”he concludes.

Depreciating value is a concern forLegacy 600 operator Ammr Shaladi ofVibroair Flugservice, who believesthat his asset may have fallen by up to35 per cent. But he is satisfied withevery other aspect of the aircraft: “It isclear and easy to operate, with nicerange and relaibility in terms ofmaintenance,” he reports.

A final, anonymous, owner gavehis verdict on the aircraft, reportingsatisfaction overall, with the widecabin a positive feature, and the costof spare parts the negative.

CHALLENGER 300

There are single Challenger 300sflying in Saudi Arabia, Mauritius andSouth Africa, but otherwise the fleetin our region is firmly centred onEurope and Russia. It is notablypopular in Germany.

They are mainly operated in onesor twos, but there is a substantial fleetof six in the hands of Amira Air inAustria (see front cover story). This islikely to be surpassed in the future as NetJets has recently placed anorder for up to 150 of the type, andsome of these are heading for theEuropean fleet.

Operators reporting back in oursurvey, such as Guy Arend of PremiairSA, are very satisfied with the aircraft,with one anonymous reader praisingits overall balance of price,capabilities, cabin and cost ofoperation, while being lessenthusiastic about its noise levelsand windows.

SOVEREIGN

Eight years have passed since theintroduction to service of Cessna’sCitation Sovereign, and in that time ithas found favour all around Europe,but especially in Germany andTurkey. There is one in Jordan andone in Saudi Arabia, and the Africancontinent boasts four in South Africaand no fewer than ten in Egypt. Thelatter is host to the largest fleet in ourregion; the five Sovereigns flown bySmart Aviation Company include thefirst to have been equipped formedevac operations.

At the recent NBAA ConventionCessna displayed an enhanced modelfor the first time, with increasedrange, updated technologies andimproved capabilities. This featuresGarmin G5000 avionics, rangeincreased by 150nm, Pratt & WhitneyPW306D engines, new cabinamenities including the integratedCessna Clarity cabin managementsystem, in addition to improved seatdesign, improved short runwayperformance, integrated automaticthrottles, winglets and improvedground cooling performance.

Line flow has already started onthe New Citation Sovereign, and entry into service is expected in theearly third quarter of 2013. The New Sovereign will also be availablewith a utility configuration, withoptions to carry payload, people,

AW119 enters the digital eraAgustaWestland has launched theAW119Kx, the latest evolution of itssingle engine helicopter, withGarmin G1000H integrated flightdeck and the avionics includingsynthetic vision, moving map,highway in the sky and obstacle/terrain avoidance systems, toimprove situational awareness andincrease safety. Certification of theAW119Kx is scheduled in the firstquarter of 2013.

More King Airs can havevision enhancedAstronics Corporation has receivedan amended STC expanding thenumber of King Air aircraft that canbe equipped with the AstronicsMax-Viz-1500 enhanced visionsystem to include all King Airmodels equipped with any video-capable multi function display.

The system permits pilots to seeclearly at night and up to eight to 10times farther than the unaidedhuman eye in many conditions ofobscured visibility.

Gulfstream boosts supportGulfstream Product Support hascontinued to add capabilitiesaround the world, while preparingfor the entry-into-service of twonew aircraft, the G650 and G280.

Gulfstream has strengthened itscustomer support in Europe byadding a Field and AirborneSupport Team (FAST) member inParis. The maintenance engineer isbased at Le Bourget, and is the fifthon the continent.

Ascend certified for fivemore aircraftRockwell Collins’ Ascend AircraftInformation Manager, the securedata transfer and maintenancemanagement system for Pro Line 4,Pro Line 21 and Pro Line Fusion-equipped aircraft, was recentlycertified for Cessna CJ1+, CJ2+, CJ3,CJ4 and Hawker Beechcraft B200series King Air aircraft. Thecompany expects to announceadditional AIM certifications forCitation XLS+ and Premier I/IAaircraft by the end of the year.

Airbus introduces ACJ318EnhancedAirbus has begun offeringcustomers the ACJ318 Enhanced,with new features and a catalogueof optional extras. It has moreelegant cabin decor, new seats andhigh-definition in-flightentertainment, with optional fuel-saving Sharklets, a shower and acinema lounge.

Bombardier and CAE trainin AmsterdamBombardier and CAE are toestablish a second Bombardier-dedicated training centre inAmsterdam, scheduled to open in2014. Bombardier has alsoappointed CAE as the authorisedtraining provider for business jetpilot and maintenance training inEurope, and named CAE asworldwide ATP for Global 5000,6000, 7000 and 8000 jets.

The facility will begin by offeringpilot and maintenance training onGlobal 5000 and 6000 aircraftequipped with the Vision FlightDeck, and then expand progressivelybased on demand. When fully

A IRCRAFT NEWS . . .

Together, these features shouldtranslate to a range of 6,325nm, 14per cent more than the BBJ 2. TheMAX 8 will share the same cabinsize with today’s BBJ 2. The MAX 9will have a 6,255 nm range with aneven larger cabin. Plans for a BBJMAX 7 are being studied.

GippsAERO appoints EASGippsAERO, the utility aircraftmanuacturer, has signed anagreement today appointingEuropean Aircraft Sales as itsauthorised dealer for Denmark,Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania. Bjarne Jorsal,co-owner of EAS, says: “We areexcited about the opportunities inour region for GippsAERO and itsunique product.”

HondaJet production beginsHonda Aircraft Company hascommenced production of theHondaJet.

“An assembly line is in place,major aircraft componentsincluding the fuselage and winghave been produced, and we havestarted assembly of the firstcustomer aircraft,” says presidentand ceo Michimasa Fujino. Thecompany recently completed thefirst in a series of remote testing tovalidate the HondaJet aircraft’sperformance under extremetemperatures. Hot-weather flighttests were conducted in Yuma,Arizona, and included critical casetests for both aircraft systems andinfrastructure.

To assist in remote locationtesting of the HondaJet, a 42-footcustom telemetry vehicle enteredservice in October. The truck wasdesigned to duplicate the telemetrycapabilities at Honda Aircraft’s worldheadquarters in Greensboro, NC,and is a fully self-contained systemused to monitor aircraft data duringflight testing. The truck has sixworkstations for analysts to monitorreal-time test data within a 200nautical mile range of the aircraftand allows year-round operation atremote sites.

Cessna recommits to JetAviation servicesCessna has renewed theappointment of Jet Aviation’soperations in Dusseldorf, Germany,and Zurich, Switzerland, as Citationauthorised service facilities.

Joe Hepburn, Cessna senior vp,customer service, says: “With morethan 1,000 Citations operating inEurope, our focus is on providingcurrent and future customers withthe best aftermarket support in theindustry. Jet Aviation has been aneffective customer support partnerfor Cessna.”

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Bombardier’s Challenger programme hasreached a significant milestone with theentry into service of the 200th 605.

Martin Spiegl of Imperial Jet Europe provides a valuable European perspective as amember of Bombardier’s advisory board.

The AW119Kx was unveiled at the Air Medical Transport Conference in Seattle.


equipped, it will offer Level D full-flight simulators and an integratedsuite of flight training devices andadvanced classroom settings toprovide both pilot and maintenancetraining for multiple Bombardierbusiness aircraft platforms.

Legacy 500 prototype nearsfirst flightAs the first prototype of the Legacy500 midsize jet completes prep-aration for its maiden flight,expected in a matter of weeks,Embraer Executive Jets continueswork to ensure the programme willbe mature when the aircraft entersservice in 2014. Meanwhile, thesecond and third Legacy 500prototypes continue ground testing.

“The Legacy 500 will have allproduct support in place worldwidebefore entry into service,” saysEdson Carlos Mallaco, vp, customersupport and services. “This is part ofour effort to offer high level support.One of our goals is to have Embraer-owned and authorised servicecentres prepared to receive theLegacy 500 on its first day.”

Gulfstream G150 sets city-pair recordsGulfstream’s G150 has set four newcity-pair speed records, flying fromSavannah to Barbados; Barbados toCape Verde, Sal; Cape Verde toLibreville, Gabon; and Libreville toCape Town, South Africa. The 100thG150 has been delivered, and is nowoperating in Europe.

Dassault set to deliver500th Falcon 900Dassault’s 500th Falcon 900 is infinal assembly in Bordeaux-Merignac. The 900LX will initiallyserve as a demonstration aircraft,and is scheduled to be handed overin early summer 2013.

Since its first flight in September1984, the Falcon 900 series hasaccumulated more than 2.6 millionflight hours.

Latest BBJ saves fuelBoeing is to offer the BBJ MAX 8and the BBJ MAX 9, based on thelatest commercial 737 variants. TheMAX 8 will use CFM’s new LEAP-1Bengines and the Boeing-developedadvanced technology winglet.These will provide customers with a13 per cent fuel-use improvement.

“A few years old, theLegacy 600 couldbe the best buy inan aviator’s life!”

at a heavy cost in terms of down-timeand money. In other words, I wouldlike it – but the owner wouldn’t!”

Martin Spiegl of Imperial JetEurope benefits from the extra rangeof the Challenger 850ER. “There isloads of line maintenance availabledue to CRJ200 communality,” he says.“Field service representatives andtechnical support are very engaged,and dispatch reliability is up to airlinestandard, which is exceptional for thebusiness jet segment.”

The aircraft is very efficient, butheavy on the interior, which limits thepayload with full fuel, he adds, andexpensive spare parts likewindshields have different partnumbers than on the CRJ200,although they are the same parts.“This routes the spare parts businessback to Bombardier, as I cannot buyparts from big commercial airlines.and so the pricing stays high.

“It is a good aircraft with a greatcabin for reasonable money, if therange is not needed.”

ENVOY 3

The home of the Dornier 328 – fromwhich the Envoy 3 is an adaptation –is Germany, so it is no surprise thatthe largest population of the type islocated there.

Kristoffer Sundberg is the chartermanager at JoinJet A/S, the charterdivision of Sun-Air of Scandinavia.Sun-Air has a commercial fleet ofDornier 328s in airline configuration,and this is a positive benefit forJoinJet and its Envoy 3.

“328 Support are very expensiveand slow to deal with. So it is to our great advantage that we have one of the biggest spare parts stocksin the world for the Dornier 328 jet,”he explains.

“As we have bought our Envoy atthe right time in the market we dobelieve it is a great value for money


or both, depending on therequirements of the mission.

Capt John Bean of The Private JetCompany welcomes the introductionof the Garmin flightdeck, as he is nota fan of the Honeywell system. Hebelieves the current Sovereign “is afantastic all-rounder, extremelysuitable for long or short flights.”

FALCON 50

Out of production for some four yearsnow, Falcon 50s remain in servicearound Europe and Africa, as well asin the UAE. They are popular withgovernments especially, and flown inthis role in France, Gabon, Libya,Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, SouthAfrica and Sudan.

European operators will soon beable to take advantage of animportant retrofit upgrade, in theform of performance-enhancingwinglets. The FAA granted STCapproval for the Aviation Partners Incwinglets in September following an18-month development programmeand exhaustive flight testing.

The first Falcon 50 equipped withblended winglets was on show atEBACE earlier this year. It benefitsfrom drag reduction, andcorresponding range increase, of fiveper cent at Mach .80 and more thanseven per cent at long range cruise.

The aircraft arrived in Genevafrom Seattle’s Boeing Field with a stop

in Keflavik. Pilots Dave Hurley, BoCorby and John Reinhold reported asignificant improvement in initialcruise altitude and fuel burn on theinitial leg of the trip.

“We are excited to be showcasingthe rebirth of the Falcon 50,” says JoeClark, API founder and ceo. “Betweenblended winglets and the othermodern upgrades available for the 50we expect to see this airframe aroundfor a very long time to come.”

CHALLENGER 800

The Challenger 800 and its currentincarnation, the 850, are derived fromthe CRJ200 airliner, and have enteredservice around Europe and theMiddle East.

The leading operator is VistaJet inAustria with four of the type, but thereare others; Imperial Jet Europe,Kogalymavia in Russia, TAG andExecuJet.

Charles Will reports generalsatisfaction with the Challenger 850which he operates. It benefits from alarge and spacious cabin, but hasrelatively poor range and climbcapability: “My aircraft is the onlyChallenger 850 I know of not to have


Improved cabin comfort aboard theFalcon 2000LXS.

Productionbegins as 85stays on targetfor service next yearProduction of the new Learjet 85aircraft has officially begun as theprogramme successfully exited theaircraft level critical design review.Development and productionteams in Wichita, Kansas; Montréal,Québec; Belfast, Northern Ireland;and Querétaro, Mexico, are activelyengaged in the manufacturingvalidation phase.

“We have made solid progress,”said Ralph Acs, vp and gm, Learjet,Bombardier Business Aircraft. “Ourmanufacturing sites are ready,production has begun, we havebeen successfully building partsand we are ensuring that all qualitystandards are met for the Learjet 85aircraft’s entry into service in 2013.”

In Wichita, the first phase ofexpansion is complete and the siteis ready for the start of final

assembly. Phase two of theexpansion plan, which includesbuilding a new production flightfacility, is scheduled to begin in2012, while phase three – the paintfacility and new delivery centre – ison track to be completed in 2013.

Launched on October 30, 2007,with a customer-driven clean-sheetdesign, the Learjet 85 aircraft ispositioned between the midsizeLearjet 60 XR and the super midsizeChallenger 300 jets.

Ample under-seat storage.


the extra fuel tanks fitted in the rearbaggage area. So the range isrelatively poor for that size of aircraft;even less than the CRJ, from which itis derived, because it is so muchheavier (empty weight).

“Installing internal tanks on acompleted aircraft could be done, but

aircraft. But it would be veryexpensive to operate if we did nothave the support from our regionalairline with expertise in the 328 jet.”

Sundberg believes the bestattributes of the Envoy 3 are its cabin,low noise and baggage volume, whilethe negatives are slow speed and lowmaximum altitude. Long range fueltanks and the London Citymodification are desirable upgrades.

Earlier this year we also heardfrom Chris Tamerius Antrobus ofSwiss-Jet AG, about the Envoy 3 in itsoperation at the time. He was alsogenerally satisfied with the aircraft,but alluded to high replacement partprices and poor support for thelanding gear.

G200/GALAXY

About to be superceded by the entryinto service of the Gulfstream G280(see sidebar story), the G200 startedlife as the IAI Galaxy when it enteredoperations in 1999. Yet to find its wayinto African service, the aircraft isused in the UAE and around Europe.Austria and Switzerland are home toseveral each, while Spain hosts thelargest fleet operator in the region:Executive Airlines.

Tyrolean Jet Services operates a2011 factory-new G200 on its AOCfor worldwide charter. In its earlyhistory this aircraft has already beenoperated on various long range toursto the US, Canada, the Caribbean andeven to Brazil and Argentina.

The usual flight profile is moreEurope-related, where the TJS G200 isbeing operated on the “floating base”system, which works well in order toavoid too many ferry flights.

Gulfstream’s customer support isexcellent, the company says, andassists TJS’ own in-house CAMO andPart 145 maintenance facility. Theaircraft is reported to perform welland is supported by two captains, twoco-pilots and two cabin attendantson permanent positions.

CITATION X

There are more than 25 Citation Xaircraft around the EMEA region,from Angola to Finland. They aremost frequently solus aircraft of theirtype, but the German air forcetransport unit has three.

When the plans were drawn toimprove on the Citation X systemsand performance, that aircraft was tobe called the “Citation TEN”. Throughthe design and certification process,the Citation TEN has claimed the titleof world’s fastest business jet, butcustomers have told Cessna that theyprefer the new aircraft retain theCitation X name.

“You can see customer inputpresent throughout the entireprocess,” says Roxanne Bernstein,senior vp of marketing. “We’veimplemented customer input withvarious designs, we value customerfeedback with services, and we alsolisten to the customer when it comesto guidance with naming our aircraft.Customers value the performanceand system improvements with the updated aircraft, the fact that the New Citation X is the world’sfastest business jet with a top speed ofMach 0.935, and they value theoriginal name. So Cessna has decidedthat, moving forward, this aircraft willbe called the New Citation X.” ■

Aircraft on the horizon: Learjet 85

Global Business Jet Yearbook

Handbook of Business Aviationin Europe

Handbook of Business Aviationin Asia Pacific

The reference book for long range business jetowners and operators worldwide.www.gbjyearbook.com

The reference book for fixed wing and rotarybusiness aircraft owners and operators in theAsia Pacific region. www.handbook.aero

The reference book for fixed wing and rotarybusiness aircraft owners and operators in Europeand the Middle East. www.handbook.aero

Essential reading wherever you are


Air Chef becomes AirCulinaire WorldwideBusiness aviation inflight cateringprovider Air Chef Holdings, LLC,announced that it has rebrandedall of its divisions under one newname, Air Culinaire Worldwide.“Before our rebrand, we haddifferent names that were knownfor separate things by our clients,”says president Paul Schweitzer.

Jeppesen streamlinesonline servicesJeppesen has introduced an onlinedestination to manage criticalinformation, from installmanagement to Jeppesen flightplanning and other product access.

The MyJeppesen.com gatewayserves as the launch point for thenew FlitePlan Online flightplanning solution for businessaviation operators and allows usersto view and manage JeppViewsubscription installations perdevice and generate usage reports.Operators are able to accesspremium technical support,receive chart change notices andview chart cycle calendarinformation through the site’smultiple-application panel display.

WFS launches AscentWorld Fuel Services has launchedthe Ascent global fuel brand forFBOs, with a new logo andenhanced programmes andbenefits such as reliable fuelsupply, equipment leasing, creditcard processing, the AllianceContract Fuel Card Program, theFlyBuys Reward Program, FBOmarketing assistance, personneltraining solutions and productliability insurance protection.

Innotech-Execaire arrivesin the UKInnotech-Execaire Aviation Grouphas opened an international salesand customer support office atInflite’s Jet Centre at Stanstedairport. The office will provide in-service maintenance salessupport, as well as completecapabilities for pre-owned aircraftsales and acquisition.

Jet-Care adds engine trendoptionsJet-Care has launched three newengine trend programmes as partof its Gas Path Analysis engineportfolio. The programmes, for thePW305 and PW307 as well as theCFE738 engines, will affordoperators the opportunity to useJet-Care beyond the engineprogrammes already in place.

“Following a recent customersatisfaction survey we received asignificant number of inquiriesfrom operators who have recentlyacquired Falcon 7X aircraft, askingif they could continue trendmonitoring with Jet-Care for theirnew engines” said md David Glass.

The GPA service targets thedetection of engine core deterior-ation and associated faults bymonitoring and trending enginedata therefore enabling clients tomonitor the health of theiraircraft engines.

London City joins Avfuel London City Airport Jet Centre is tojoin Avfuel’s network of brandedFBOs, offering fuel savings through

Avfuel Contract Fuel and theAVTRIP pilot rewards programme.

Axel Ienna, director, corporateaviation for London City airport,says: “We’re a competitive businessand have clear business goals;enhancing the service we offer tocustomers and stakeholders,polishing the passenger experienceand attracting new customers fromoutside our traditional catchmentarea, which are amply served andpromoted by our place in Avfuel’sglobal network.”

Marshall appoints Poveyfor aircraft salesMarshall Aerospace is creating adedicated aircraft sales andbrokerage business, and hasappointed Howard Povey as salesdirector. He will be based atCambridge and brings more than25 years’ of professional aviationexperience with particularexpertise in aircraft sales, customersupport and business developmentgleaned at Hawker Beechcraft,Raytheon Aircraft Company andBAE Systems.

The business is alreadymarketing its first aircraft for saleon behalf of a UK owner, a 2008King Air C90GTi.

The announcement of the newbusiness arm comes as Steve Jonesassumes responsibility for allbusiness aviation-related activitiesat Marshall Aerospace, includingthe overall responsibility for thedevelopment of business aviationstrategy, the management ofhangars and ramp facilities and theFBO which is currently franchisedoperationally to ExecuJet.

Nigeria’s first FBO calls onUS expertiseEvergreen Apple Nigeria, the firstfully fledged FBO and MRO forbusiness jets in Nigeria, is to workclosely with Banyan Air Service, theFlorida FBO operator. The partner-ship will see Banyan transferringits experience and skills to EAN bysharing knowledge, resources andcontacts with the aim ofsupporting and developing EAN’scustomer focused service strategy.

Says Segun Demuren, ceo ofEAN: “We are a fledgling businessand the first in the market torespond to the needs of a growingbusiness aviation fraternity in ourcountry. We are delighted to startsharing best practice and resourceswith Banyan as we evolve and finetune our operation.”

OPERAT IONS NEWS . . .

You have to be resilient, optimisticand super-efficient to be in businessaviation in Italy.

The country is back in recessionand expected to remain so throughnext year, and has a governmentforced to raise taxes wherever it can to reduce an unmanageabledeficit. There are taxes on privateaircraft either registered in Italy or domiciled in the country for 45days and based on the aircraftweight; and there are taxes oncommercial flights based on a flatfee per passenger.

According to EBAN’s distributiondata there are currently 647 businessaircraft on the register (jets,turboprops, turbine helicopter andcabin-class twins), and this compareswith 703 back when we did our firstreview of Italy in 1992.

This lamentable lack of growth inthe sector is not just a result ofweeding out the ageing piston twins;there are now 126 business jetscompared to 188 two decades ago.Could Italy be the only country inEurope with a smaller jet fleet than 20years ago?

So the based operators are havinga hard time, but that is not the wholepicture. In fact, business aviationmovements at Italian airports haveheld up fairly well during the pastthree years. There was a suddendecline of about ten per cent in 2009but, since then, Eurocontrol figuresreveal that the number of businessaviation movements are stable ataround 185 per day.

Milan Linate and Rome Ciampinoremain by far the most populardestinations with over 30 movementsa day. Business aviation traffic atTurin airport has suffered most, andis currently under half of the 2006level, while Olbia in northern Sardiniahas maintained its traffic with littledecline over recent years at all.

One of the longest-standingoperators in the country, preparing tocelebrate its 30th anniversary nextyear, is Interjet Italy. It was foundedin Bologna to provide fast transportfor Mr Cremonini, owner of theCremonini Group’s canned beef, fresh

meats, highway and train, restaurant,ham production and exportbusinesses. “We started with a PiperNavajo, then a Citation I, then for 18 years a Falcon 10,” says CaptMaurizio Tampellini.

“Since 1993 we have had an ItalianAOC so we can work for othercompanies and spread the fixed costs.From 2005 to today we have owned aHawker 800 XP2, which is equippedwith API winglets and was the first ofits type to be EASA certified.

“Our activity connects Europe,Asia and Africa, and our longestflights this year were weekly tripsto Maputo, Luanda, Almaty andAstana,” he adds.

“The most recent aircraft is a KingAir 350 – in our fleet since February –to fulfill short to medium trips whenwe are far away with our Hawker.”

The recent economic conditionshave forced the company to realignits activities. “In the past 15 years weflew roughy 500 to 550 hours eachyear with the Falcon 10 and later withthe Hawker, but from 2009 until todayour activity has dropped to 330-370hours,” reports Tampellini. “This isdown by 45 per cent due to the worldcrisis and I don’t know when businesswill recover, so we have reduced ourcrew to just two pilots instead of four as previously.

“The most important employeehere is our maintenance manager,Giuseppe Fiaccabrino, an energeticman doing everything in the hangarand office, and on the aircraft. Hefixes everything.”

Another of Italy’s business jetoperators is Rome Ciampino-basedAir One Executive with its fleet ofFalcons: 20, 2000 and 2000LX.

“We are involved more and morein price competition and decreases tomeet the expectations of our clients,”

Taxation and recession are majorhurdles for Italy’s business aviators


Interjet Italy’s Captain Maurizio Tampellini and maintenance manager Giuseppe Fiaccabrino in Astana, with a receptionist at theAstana Grand Hotel in typical Kazakh costume.

Major business aviation airports*

1. Milan Linate LIML LIN2.Rome Ciampino LIRA CIA3.Naples Capodichino LIRN NAP4.Milan Malpensa LIMC MXP5.Torino Caselle LIMF TRN

* ranked by the number of handler, charter,maintenance, sales and training organisationsbased at each.

Leading fixed-wing charter operators**

1. Eurofly Service2. Miniliner3. Aliven4. K-air5. Icaro

Leading helicopter charter operators**

1. Inaer Italia2. Airgreen 2. Elifriulia4. Elilombarda5. Air Corporate

** ranked by number of aircraft for charter

Leading maintenance centres***

1. Centro Tecnico Aeronautico2. Helicopters Italia3. Airgreen4. Eli-Fly5. Helico

*** ranked by number of aircraft types covered

Data extracted from the Handbook

of Business Aviation in Europe,

and the EBAN reader roster.

Business aviationin Italy by

the numbers70 business aviation airports

119 business charter operators

78 business aircraftmaintenance organisations

I 647 business aircraft onthe Italian register

ITALYREGIONALREVIEW

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“The market ismoving towards lastminute bookings”

President Banyan Air Service DonCampion and Segun Demuren,managing director and ceo ofEvergreen Apple Nigeria, seal theirpartnership.


says ceo Rocco N Cellucci.“Furthermore, the market is movingtowards last minute bookings, soadvance booking policies areextremely difficult to implement.”

He is pleased with the Falcons:“The overall performance isextremely satisfactory, leading us tocontinue with this family of aircraft.In particular, our clients prefer theFalcons to other aircraft for theirflight performance and comfort.Basically this is a benefit that frequentflyers are willing to pay for.”

Cellucci has noticed significanteffects from the recent downturn:Increasing aircraft sales, with nosubstitution with other aircraft; pricereductions on charter sales;increasing exploitation of empty legsales; more last minute requests andheavy shopping by clients; andincreasing tax pressure from thelatest luxury tax. “All this is connectedto the credit crunch and lower growthexpectations in the near future,” he says.

“The most important team playeris the team spirit of every singleemployee of the company. All focusedon empowering the company targetsand expectations.”

A more positive outlook isreported by Alessandro Papis atElilombarda Srl, who has recentlywon a multi-year contract foroffshore helicopter activity in Italy forthe ENI Group. In September itbrought into service a pair ofAW109SP helicopters believed to be

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the first of the type to be equippedand configured for this type ofoffshore role.

Elilombarda has also extended its AOC to fixed wing operations,basing a Citation Encore+ at MilanLinate airport.

Maggiorino Acuto, president of Air Service Center, is more typical,reporting that flight hours havedecreased for his fleet of sevenEurocopter AS350 and one AgustaAW109. Flying a variety of passenger,survey, photography, aerial works,sightseeing and training missions,Acuto’s main priority is to survive the crisis.

Roberta Fidora, sales executive forExecutive Blue, says that its pair of

home-produced Piaggio Avantis arecarrying out business, leisure, freightand emergency medical flights fromtheir respective bases at Milan Linateand Rome Ciampino.

“Executive Blue is the generalaviation department of BluePanorama Airlines,” she explains. “Westarted in 2004 with one Avanti basedin Rome and in 2009 we increased thefleet with the second. We consider thetwo airport locations strategic forbusiness flights in Italy, all theMediterranean area, the northernand eastern European countries.

“Recently we flew to an incredibleplace in Spain which is a gamereserve and the only available airportdid not provide fuel and other basics.The organisation of the entire flightwas a challenge for all our team fromthe beginning to the end.

“When the flight was over andpassengers were satisfied and wefinally reached our goal we were allvery happy.

“These flights are important for us.Every flight is tailor made and has adifferent story to tell, but fromcomplicated and intricate flights thestaff’s skills and knowledge improve.”

In the past year, Executive Blue hasincreased its revenue and flyinghours. “The result in terms of revenueis an increase of 14 per cent. Butpredicting final months of 2012 isdifficult, and even more so for theupcoming year,” adds Fidora.

“Italy has been badly affected bythe economical and financial crisisand traffic statistics have been

negative throughout the year. Lastbut not least the introduction of theluxury passenger tax by the Italiangovernment last May has notimproved the situation. The result hasbeen a definite change in clients’activity. Many Italian customers thatflew GA occasionally in the past forleisure have just found alternativesolutions. Nowadays leisure clientsmainly arrive from the easterncountries, particularly Russia and thecountries in the Balkan area, and flyto all the famous Italian holiday spots.

“Our main clients are businessclients of major Italian companiesand Italian and international brokers,which we consider important andrelevant intermediaries.”

Executive Blue has dedicatedoffices at both base cities, in Milancity centre and at Rome Ciampinoairport. “We are extremely sensitive tothe customer’s needs and to themarket demand. To increase businessin this field, major attention has to begiven to all the smallest details. Ourflights are tailor made and not one issimilar to the other! We like toconsider ourselves artisans of luxury.”

From luxury tolaw-enforcement:The Italian government earlier thisyear placed an order for two AW139twin helicopters, partially funded bythe EU FRONTEX programme aimedat supporting coordination anddevelopment of the European Union’sborder management.

Also included in the contract was acomprehensive support and trainingpackage for crews and maintenancepersonnel, plus options for anadditional six helicopters to beexercised within late 2012/early 2013.These aircraft will be used to performa range of duties including lawenforcement, border patrol and otherpublic utility applications.

Rocco Cellucci of Air One Executive believes customers are attracted by his all-Falcon fleet.

The two helicopters on order areexpected to be delivered in the firsthalf of 2013 and based at Pratica diMare Airbase, close to Rome.

The AW139 has also been chosenby and is in service with the ItalianCoast Guard, Guardia di Finanza(Customs and Border protection) andthe Italian Air Force.

The Italian Police joining the listof Italian government’s operators ofthe AW139 will enable it to benefitfrom the advantages of existinglogistics, support and operationalsynergies in delivering rescue andpatrol missions across the nation.The Italian Police AW139 config-uration will also feature HD FLIR,satellite communication system,searchlight and mission console.

For a final overview of the Italianbusiness aviation scene we consultedTom Engelhard, Air Partner’s head ofprivate jets for continental Europe.

“The business aviation marketgenerally is experiencing achallenging time at the moment,largely due to the impact of themacro-economic environment.However, the Italian market is beingespecially hard hit with theintroduction of a ‘luxury tax’; in theyear to date, business aviation isdown 9 per cent in Italy, compared tothe European average which is downfour per cent.

“Air Partner’s Italian office,however, has been defying the widerindustry trends. Bookings haveremained relatively stable at aroundthe same level as last year. Thecompany’s JetCard has proven to be aparticularly popular product; clientspay an upfront fee and, unlike otherschemes, there are no hidden oradditional costs – in Italy, this meansthere is no further luxury tax to pay onadditional costs.

“Popular holiday destinations are,as ever, the south of France, Sicily andSardinia. On the corporate side,eastern Europe is becoming anincreasingly popular destination, asbusinesses expand their offering inthat region. In particular, Air Partnerhas seen growing demand for itsservices in Russia and the former CIS,with the development of new ‘hubs’for private jet activity.” ■

One of the country’s longest-standing operators, Interjet Italy is nearly 30 years old.

The 2012/13 EBAN Handbook ofBusiness Aviation in Europe is out now, and gives details of many more Italy charteroperators. It also lists businessaviation facilities and servicesincluding airports, FBOs andmaintenance centres.

The details can be accessedonline through a search of aircraftoperated or the airport bases. Formore information please visitwww.handbook.aero

Comprehensive data for Italy online

free-of-charge

Executive Blue’s two Piaggio Avantis arestrategically located.

ITALYREGIONALREVIEW


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Amira Air targets US brokers with its expanding charter fleet

Chester-based charter operator Ambassador Direct has addedtwo managed King Airs to its fleet; a 250 and a C90GTx. HowardPovey, at that time regional sales director at Hawker BeechcraftCorporation (now sales director, Marshall Aerospace), is picturedhere with directors Geoff Benton, Andrew Jones and KeithBarrington. See full story on page 2.

AfBAAannouncesleadership

group

Vienna-based Amira Air isexpecting further additions toits extensive charter fleet, andhas been promoting its servicesto US brokers by making a firstappearance at the NBAAconvention, hosted on theAvinode booth.

The first new arrival will be a Citation Excel expected in the next few weeks, while an additional Challenger 300and 605 are to be added to the fleet during the first quarterof 2013.

The company says it has

noticed a growing demandfrom US clients wishing tocharter aircraft to travel to andthroughout Europe, and thiswas especially noticeablethroughout this summer. Byexhibiting at NBAA Amira Air is anticipating that thisbusiness will increase further,especially as it allowed thecompany to engage indiscussions with clients andbrokers, and demonstrate itsfleet of aircraft.

For non-stop transatlanticservices the company can offer

two Global Express charteraircraft, one of them is a brandnew Global 5000 Vision ownedby Niki Lauda, the Formula 1racing champion. In additionthe company offers a Hawker400XP as well as a CJ2+ forcharter flights.

Amira Air decided tostrengthen its presence in theUS to grow and intensifyexisting business relations andhas set itself the task ofbecoming the “operator ofchoice in Europe” for statesidebrokers and charter clients.

One factor that has helpedAmira Air build businessrelationships with Americanand Canadian clients is thefleet of Challenger 300 aircraftthe company operates.

The aircraft, it says, areparticularly suited to flightsinto Europe. Having a fleet ofsix Challenger 300 aircraftavailable for charter flightsmeans that Amira Air is thelargest charter operator of thetype in Europe.

See our Super Midsize Jetfeature on pages 8-12.

The African Business AviationAssociation (AfBAA) haslaunched four new membershipcategories as well as detailing itsfounding members.

AfBAA already has fully fundedcommitment from 18 out of 20founding members, includinginternational and Africanbusinesses, and is now workingthrough a selection process tofinalise the last two.

“We noted that a number ofcompanies we would havewelcomed as founding memberswere unable to apply originally fora variety of reasons.

“As we value their input andthe potential support they canoffer, AfBAA will now encouragethem to apply for ‘launchmember’ status,” says TarekRagheb, founder and chairman.In addition, interested parties willbe able to apply for the newly-formed ‘normal’ and ‘affiliate’membership types.

As the association looks to thefuture, a new leadership grouphas been formed which featuresleading figureheads from Africanbusiness aviation nominated bythe founding members. Theboard will be led by Ragheb, withIvor Ichikowitz of ParamountGroup, South Africa, as vicechairman and treasurer, who willbe supported by four sub-committees each with their ownremit and elected chairperson.

Overseeing the association’soperations will be Rady Fahmy,former programme director,newly promoted to the role ofexecutive director.

Ambassadorbrings in

a brace ofKing Airs

ISSUE 231 NOVEMBER 2012

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Bernhard Wipfler, chiefmarketing officer of Amira Air,says the NBAA conventionprovided a great opportunity tosee existing customers andintroduce its services topotential new clients.

Pages 13-14

Italy regionalreview

Pages 8-12

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Documents

charter clients

nbaa amira air

charter flightsmeans

amira air targets us

fleet ofsix challenger

clients andbrokers

andthroughout europe

aircraftthe company