European Business Air News June 2013

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ISSUE 237 JUNE 2013

BETTER SUPPORT,BETTER SOLUTIONS,BETTER FLIGHT PLANNING...

SIMPLY BETTER

S K Y P L A N

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Heli-Link bringsthe EC155 toSwitzerland

Zurich-based business charter operatorHeli-Link, sister company to Jet-Link andnow subsidiary company of DC Aviationof Germany, has taken delivery of a 2008-build EC155B1, configured witheight vip seats. It is the first of the type tobe registered in Switzerland and will beavailable for third party charter withimmediate effect, joining an existing EC-120B in the fleet.

Heli-Link has been in business for over 20 years and has been the officialhelicopter partner to the WEF in Davos for more than 10 years. “We aredelighted to be adding this new EC155B1to our charter fleet,” comments foundingceo Hanspeter Candrian. “Heli Asset,which brokered the sale, did a terrific job in facilitating the sale of the heli-copter to us.”

The boutique company remains fullyautonomous following the ownershipchange, but its recent co-operation withDC Aviation means that it can now offer widened charter services on aircraftwith a European operator’s certificate to complement its long-established Swiss AOC.

Heli-Link was founded in 1990 byformer Swissair captain Candrian tooperate helicopter charters. By 1997 itsaw strong demand for a wide range ofservices culminating in the launch of Jet-Link AG for the fixed wing businessaviation sector. Today, Jet-Link operates afleet of Falcon 7x and Learjet 45 aircraft. Itundertakes its own executive handling atZurich airport. In March this year thecompany was sold to DC Aviation.

Heli Asset was founded by EmmanuelDupuy in mid-2011. Its salesprofessionals are organised by helicoptermodel, with each being expert in theirrespective markets.

Roving entrepreneur selects efficient Eclipse for travel throughout Africa

South African businessman KobusDicks has taken delivery of an Eclipsejet, the first to be operated anywhere in Africa. “I am extremely pleased withthe efficiency and speed of my Eclipse,” he says. “My business takes methroughout the country on a weeklybasis, and I’m able to visit multiplefacilities in a truly advanced single pilotaircraft that has wholly surpassed my expectations.”

Eclipse Aerospace and NationalAirways Corporation, Eclipse’sdistributor for Southern Africa, workedto obtain the aircraft’s type certificatefrom the South African CAA, followingits first appearance in Africa at the AAD

show at Waterkloof in September lastyear. It is the 46th country in which theEclipse is certified for use.

SimCom Training Centers, locatedin Florida, has been approved as theEclipse simulator training service bythe SACAA. Francois Naude, the firstSouth African instructor to be rated onthe Eclipse, and Colin Fletcher fromNAC both attended the FAA and SACAAapproved Eclipse OEM pilot trainingprogramme in Chicago, Illinois.

JP Fourie, NAC’s director of fixedwing sales, says: “It has been anabsolute delight to work with theEclipse team to make this a reality. Weare now perfectly positioned to serviceour customers in Africa and SouthAfrica with a product that is top of itsclass, and fully supported by Eclipse

Aerospace, who excel in meeting andexceeding customer expectations.”

Ken Ross, Eclipse Aerospacepresident of global services, comments:“We are excited to welcome KobusDicks as the first Eclipse Jet owner, not just in South Africa but on theAfrican continent.”

National Airways Corporation wasestablished in 1946 and has become thelargest general aviation company inAfrica. From its headquarters atLanseria airport in Johannesburg, NACoperates a South African network ofoffices in Cape Town, Durban, GrandCentral airport, Wonderboom airportand Rand airport.

JP Fourie of NAC, with Eclipse ownerKobus Dicks, Ken Ross, Michael Martinand Saverio Bellomo of Eclipse Aerospace.

Mark Wilson, president of NetJets Europe, and ErnestEdwards, president of Embraer Executive Jets, celebrate thefact that NetJets will be operating the Phenom 300 in Europeby early next year. The fractional operator is also to addBombardier’s latest revelation – the Challenger 350 – to itsworldwide fleet. See full story on page 4.

NetJets addsPhenoms to the

European mix

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ME & MY AIRCRAFT

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2 JUNE 2013 EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

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Beechcraft’s Richard Emery (left) and vp sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa Scott Plumb (right) hand over the Baron G58 toSaxonAir’s Chris Mace and Alex Durand.

SaxonAir adds flexible Baron to mixed fleetNorwich airport-based SaxonAir tookdelivery of a new Beechcraft BaronG58 at EBACE in Geneva.

The operator plans to use theaircraft for company transportationas well as making it available forcharter. “We were looking primarilyfor a company aircraft that could alsofill a niche area in our charter fleet,”says charter ceo Alex Durand.“Operating a mixed jet and helicopterfleet efficiently and most effectivelyrequires crew and support services tobe travelling between the aircraftlocations, and the Baron G58 allowsus to do this, providing speed,comfort and maximum flexibility.”

SaxonAir has now secured basefacilities at London Biggin Hill andCannes in the south of France as partof plans to facilitate future aircraftmanagement growth.

“The Baron is ideal for executivetransport and charter operations and

will be a great addition to SaxonAir’sfleet,” says Richard Emery, Beechcraftpresident, Europe, Middle East, Africaand Asia Pacific regions. “Thecraftsmanship appeals to pilots andpassengers, with a premium cabinthat provides the best ride of anypiston engine aircraft. But moreimportant than style and comfort, theBaron G58 is a powerful and safeaircraft offering shorter trip times andlower operating costs.”

The G58’s flight deck includes fullyintegrated Garmin G1000 avionicswith a GFC 700 flight control systemand GWX 68 colour weather radar.

A new worldwide AOC will nowallow the company’s jet fleet toexpand its area of operation into newand lucrative business aviationmarkets concentrating on Africa, theMiddle East and Russia.

Christopher Mace, groupcommercial director, says: “The new

licence capability will increase ourarea of operation into new emergingmarkets, perfect for our long-rangeHawker 900XP midsize jet. It alsoenables us to offer worldwide supportfor managed aircraft clients.”

SaxonAir’s clients include manyblue chip companies, individual bus-iness people, sports teams, musicians,the offshore energy industry and localprivate families. However, Mace adds: “It’s not all champagne andcaviar. This misconception oftenmeans that the true value andaccessibility of business aviationflights can be overlooked. Of course,luxuries can always be available on-board if requested.”

The current charter fleet nowconsists of five jet and turbopropaircraft, from light to midsize, andtwo helicopters. This fleet is operatedfrom Norwich, bases around Londonand also Greece.

Key account managers offer ExecuJet customerscomprehensive support

ExecuJet Europe is offering a keyaccount manager service for aircraftmanagement clients which willchannel all departmental issues suchas operations, charter, maintenance,completions and accounting throughone dedicated contact.

Eight key account managers arebased in locations including Zurich,Geneva, London, Moscow and Kiev.The team is headed up by Europeandirector of account managementAndreas Pfisterer who has been withExecuJet Europe for almost 10 years.

Gerrit Basson, md, says: “This is asignificant investment on our part,but takes our customer service to newindustry levels. Our clients nowreceive a highly personalised serviceresembling a boutique private bankerapproach, where their key accountmanagers support them across allservices related to their aircraft.

“The service is being well acceptedand our customers are very satisfied.We look forward to expanding ourteam as our fleet grows.”

In addition, ExecuJet is adding

a range of aircraft to its Europeanmanaged and charter fleet, includinga Dassault Falcon 7X and aBombardier Challenger 300, bothbeing based in Copenhagen andavailable for charter, plus twomanaged Gulfstream G550s based in Switzerland.

Separately, CAE has signed amulti-year contract renewal withExecuJet Aviation Group for businessaviation training on more than 40aircraft types including models fromBombardier, Cessna, Dassault,Gulfstream, Hawker Beechcraft,Boeing, Airbus and Embraer.

ExecuJet pilots from the US,Europe, the Middle East, Africa andAustralia will train at CAE centres inlocations worldwide.

“We are very pleased with the highquality instruction and flexibleservice our pilots are receiving at CAEcentres worldwide,” says QuintinCairncross, group flight ops director.“We have come to rely on CAE for thetraining and safe operations that wepride ourselves on.”

German air ambulance specialist andvvip jet operator FAI (FlightAmbulance International) rent-a-jetAG has settled on Al Bateen Executiveairport as its preferred stop-overairport in the Middle East region.

Operated by Abu Dhabi AirportsCompany, the airport will have twofully dedicated air ambulanceaircraft, a Learjet 60 and Challenger604, based at its facilities and servedby German medical teams.

FAI selected Al Bateen due to itsability to serve increasing clientdemand from the region, the Far Eastand Asia. Yousif Hassan Al Hammadi,general manager, says: “With itsworld class vip services, 24-houroperational schedule and close

proximity to leading medical facilitiesin the heart of Abu Dhabi, Al Bateenis the ideal stop-over for FAI’s medical service.”

Earlier this year it hosted the AbuDhabi Air Expo 2013 and reports thatthe total value of sales reached inexcess of AED three billion, with13,000 visitors and more than 160exhibitors in attendance.

Headquartered in Nuremburg, FAIis a global leader in medicalevacuation and transport. It alsooperates one of Europe’s largest fleetsof business jets, and one of theworld’s largest Learjet fleets. Aircraftmanagement and CAMO services areavailable to aircraft owners withinthe UAE.

ExecuJet Europe introduced members of its key account manager team at EBACE.From left are Vladimir Velebit, Christian Mölleney, managing director GerritBasson, Alex Shkurin, European director of account management Andreas Pfistererand Sergey Sheshenya.

FAI chooses Al Bateen forMiddle East stopovers

Corporatejets sponsors golf and tennis starsCorporatejets has agreed sponsorships with a golf player and with Spanishtennis player David Marrero who will now use a drinking cup with theoperator’s logo. The company will fly him on personal and official trips, and willbe able to interview him on-board the aircraft. The agreement was signedduring the celebration of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell Trofeo Conde deGodó, one of the most important events in the ATP circuit, under the watchfulgaze of the participants and guests at the event.

David Marrero was born in Gran Canaria and is a Barcelona resident. He hasdeveloped his career as a professional since 2001, standing out especially in the field of doubles, where he has won seven titles and has contested anothersix ATP finals. He and his doubles partner Fernando Verdasco are currentlyranked number five in the world.

Corporatejets has also signed a collaboration agreement with online systemFly Victor.

With its acquisition of a secondNextant 400XT, Czech charteroperator Time Air has become thefirst European Nextant fleet operator.

Martin Pražský, md, says: “Theaircraft has been an incrediblypopular addition to our charterservice offering due to its lowoperating cost and outstandingdispatch reliability. We have flown600 hours in the first nine months,and demand increases month over month.

“We had very high expectationsand the aircraft has met them. It isthe perfect jet for the charter market.In addition, customer support hasbeen superb.”

With its range of 2,003 nm,Nextant Aerospace believes the400XTi is ideally suited to theEuropean market, where it has madea strong sales debut. “It is about halfthe price of its competitors, withsignificantly lower maintenance andoperating costs,” says the company.Its full factory warranty is backed by a worldwide network of ownedand authorised service centres andthe world’s largest inventory ofBeechjet 400 rotable parts. Now fully EASA-certified, demand for the low cost jet is expected to groweven further.

“This second order from Time Airis a great endorsement for theNextant 400XTi and its appeal to the

European charter market,” says JayHeublein, Nextant’s evp global salesand marketing. “Pražský had greatvision early on of the potential for the

400XT. He made that vision a realityand proved the aircraft’s value to thecharter market.”

The Nextant 400XTi model is a

completely-rebuilt Beechjet 400A/XPwith Williams FJ44-3AP engines andthe Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21integrated avionics suite.

JUNE 2013 3EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS

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Freight: combining passengers

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Business aviation in

SwitzerlandPUBLISHED JULY 9

Time Air md Martin Pražský, centre, celebrates with Nextant’s vp for the eastern hemisphere Peter Walker, Jay Heublein for globalsales and marketing, president Sean McGeough and Time Air ground ops manager Vladislav Prokop.

Pair of Nextants are a first for visionary Time Air

Various emergency scenarios were trialled using the Ka-226T.

In preparation for the 2014 WinterOlympic Games in Sochi, a Ka-226Tlight multipurpose helicopterdeveloped by the Russian Helicopterscompany has completed a series ofsuccessful trial SAR missions.

Test flights of the aircraft equippedwith a medical module took place inthe Krasnaya Polyana region nearSochi. Flights were conducted withthe rescue service of RosengineeringOperation which provides services for the maintenance of ski resorts, senior engineers from RussianHelicopters’ flight test facility andmedical personnel from the SouthernRegional Center for EmergencyMedicine. Head doctor Igor Deryuginnoted the comfort and safety ofloading a victim onboard and that themedical module: “Allows full-scalemedical help inflight, includingextended resuscitation proceduresand necessary invasive procedures.”

Pilot Yury Timofeev and co-pilotPavel Kalinin conducted the testflights according to the some of themore likely scenarios that may occurduring the games. An evacuation ofmock victims with moderate to severeinjuries was conducted, with aninflight resuscitation practised in themedical module. Landing on skislopes and rough mountainousterrain was rehearsed, as was loadingrescue teams with mock victims, allwith the help of on-board equipment.

The Ka-226T with TurbomecaArrius 2G1 engine sports a module-based construction and can be used as a medevac, patrol or airborne insertion helicopter. Modernpilot navigation equipment allows theKa-226T to manoeuvre in denseurban areas and mountainous terrain,while the lack of a tail rotor and its compact size allow it to land onsmall helipads.

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Ka-226T tries out successfullyfor Winter Olympics

Embraer’s enhanced Legacy 600 jetwill enter service first in Germany inthe second half of this year when itjoins the fleet of Air Hamburg.Highlight features are a revised cabininterior and new Honeywell PrimusElite avionics.

“Air Hamburg started receivingrequests for charter flights todestinations that were out of reach forour current fleet,” says ceo FlorisHelmers. “Our limited baggagecapacity and range made the stepinto the super-midsize categorynecessary to fulfill customer needs.After evaluating the market for newaircraft the Legacy 600 was the best choice.”

The aircraft offers threecomfortable cabin zones for up to 14

passengers, with Honeywell OvationSelect cabin management system,high-definition video, blu-ray playerand a 3D moving map. In additionEmbraer has improved the cabinacoustics comfort with a 5 dB SILnoise reduction, better interiorstorage and added a new, wirelesshandset Iridium telephone system.The company is also offering restyledseats with side-pocket storage and greater swivel movement in thethird zone.

The Legacy 600 can fly with 14passengers, under NBAA IFRconditions, non-stop from Hamburgto Moscow, or from Hamburg toDubai. It can also achieve Hamburgto Delhi or to Gander with fourpassengers on-board.

Air Hamburg books firstenhanced Legacy 600

London Executive Aviation hasopened its first international office inAthens, Greece, and joined up withthe AirClub consortium of majorEuropean charter operators.

The latest addition to the LEA fleet,a Citation XLS, is now based in Athens and is available for charter.The new office is being managed byKimon Daniilidis, LEA’s businessdevelopment manager, south eastEurope and the Middle East, who hasmore than 20 years’ experience in theGreek business aviation industry. Heis responsible for managing theaircraft, supporting customersand developing the new office, with afocus on new business opportunities.

Daniilidis says: “In spite of thecurrent economic climate in Greece,the demand for private aircraftcharter remains strong and now is anideal time for LEA to establish apresence in the country. By basing theCitation XLS in Athens, not only isLEA well positioned to serve theGreek market, but also the Balkans,Turkey and the Middle East, all ofwhich are emerging business aviationmarkets with lots of potential incharter and aircraft management.”

George Galanopoulos, managingdirector, adds: “The opening of thisnew office marks a significantmilestone in LEA’s strategy to widenthe scope of its private charter andmanagement services. Thanks to ourconsiderable experience of managingaircraft on behalf of owners based inthe likes of Russia and Estonia, we arevery well placed to extend ourexpertise to new markets.

“In addition to the aircraft we nowhave based in Athens, we arecurrently talking to a number of

existing and potential businessaircraft owners in the region, with aview to adding their aircraft to our airoperator’s certificate.”

LEA is the first UK operator to joinup with AirClub. Chief executivePatrick Margetson-Rushmore says:“Through the sharing of principlesand processes, we look forward toplaying an important role in furtherimproving standards and enhancingthe overall customer experience.

“Our diverse range of aircraft, fromthe Citation Mustang and Phenom300, to the Legacy 650 and Falcon2000LX, complements the AirClub

fleet and will help to ensure that wecan collectively serve the needs ofevery business aviation client.”

LEA becomes the ninth member ofAirClub, which was founded inOctober 2012 with the mission ofsetting new industry standardsthrough its alliance model. ChristianHatje, chairman of AirClub andPrivatAir’s svp business aviation, says:“Our vision is clear: To be the mostadvanced, leading global alliance ofcorporate jet operators. Our widevariety of operators and expertsmakes us stronger than any otherplayer in the industry.”

The announcement was made atEBACE. Hatje adds: “From the outset,it was clear that AirClub needed apartner in the UK, so we are morethan happy to announce that ourfriends at LEA are joining the allianceand that AirClub now represents afleet of more than 127 aircraft.

“As a premium player in theindustry and a well-respectedoperator in the UK, LEA not onlyshares the AirClub values, but itsgreat fleet is the perfect supplementfor AirClub. Soon we will welcomebusiness jet operators from theMiddle East, Asia and the Americas.”


Delivery to all UK airports,24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Tel: +44 (0) 1582 [email protected]

LEA’s decision to join AirClub was announced at EBACE.

LEA stretches its wings to Greece and beyond

Bespoke ‘Signature Series’ variants ofthe Phenom 300 will be operating for NetJets Europe during next year,and the newly-launched BombardierChallenger 350 may not be far behind it.

The Phenom 300 will become thefirst light cabin Signature Seriesaircraft to enter the Europeanmarket, following the delivery of thefirst aircraft to the company’s US fleetduring May. The first to arrive inEurope is expected in early 2014 withadditional aircraft to arrive over thenext few years.

“We are delighted that NetJetsEurope will be receiving the SignatureSeries Phenom 300,” says MarkWilson, NetJets Europe president.“The high performance aircraft isideally suited to our Europeancustomers for safety, reliability,interior comfort and operatingefficiency. It will expand on theunparalleled offering and capabilitiesof the NetJets Europe fleet.”

“The NetJets order, one of thelargest in our history, is a significantmilestone for us,” says ErnestEdwards, president, EmbraerExecutive Jets. “It is a validation ofour mission to raise the bar in the

business aviation industry andintroduce technology and amenitiesnormally found in larger, moreexpensive executive jets to eachsegment of the corporate aviationindustry. We are eager to reinforcethe partnership we have forged withNetJets Europe to deliver its uniqueSignature Series Phenom 300 in thenear future.”

Meanwhile NetJets was alsorevealed as the international launchpartner of the new BombardierChallenger 350 aircraft at a specialevent at the EBACE show.

“We are excited about the additionof our exclusive Challenger 350aircraft to our fleet and the

tremendous value this aircraft willbring to our unmatched globalcapabilities and, most importantly,to our customers,” says NetJetschairman and ceo Jordan B Hansell.

“This distinctive super midsizeaircraft will deliver an experiencethat meets our customers’ travel andcomfort requirements. The inflightexperience is exceptional and unlikeany other. The aircraft hasan exceptionally quiet cabin allowingboth serenity and conversation,soft, hand crafted leathers,meticulously designed woodfinishes, an inflight enter-tainment system offering choices forevery taste, and a single servicebeverage maker, all designedspecifically by NetJets.”

Hansell adds: “The high designwas all in an effort to allow ourcustomers to relax and enjoy their flight whether for work orfamily. This state-of-the art jet’scabin, designed in partnership withBombardier Aerospace, will provideour discerning customers the best flight experience, along with the safety and reliability they expect from the worldwide leader inprivate aviation.”

NetJets looks to make its mark withPhenoms and Challengers in 2014

The first Embraer Lineage 1000 inBelgium, sold to an undisclosedprivate customer, is to be operated byFlyingGroup and available for third-party charter. Delivery is scheduledfor the second half of 2013.

“We are delighted to introduce the Lineage 1000, which boasts acabin volume up to two-and-a-halftimes larger than traditionalcorporate jets in this category,” saysBernard van Milders, ceo ofFlyingGroup. “The aircraft will joinour fleet to complete our currentaircraft portfolio and will allow us tooffer for the first time an ultra-largeaircraft which definitely meets ourcustomers’ expectations.”

Embraer says that the Lineage1000 is the only business jet in itscategory providing up to 19passengers with five distinct andspacious cabin zones. Onboardamenities may include a queen-sizebed, en-suite shower and completeaudio and entertainment systems. Apressurised walk-in aft baggage area,which is the largest in its category, isconveniently accessible throughoutthe flight.

The Lineage has the ability to serveLondon City airport, from where itcan fly non-stop services to Moscow,Istanbul, Cairo or the Canary Islands,or with one stop to Los Angeles, Tokyoand Hong Kong.

It can fly from Geneva to Dubaiwith 19 passengers.

Belgium-basedLineage will

offer five-zonecomfort

NetJet’s Challenger 350 boasts a quietcabin and hand crafted leather seats.

François-Xavier Moutel, ceo of Abalone Group, with the TBM850 Elite.

The Abalone Group, a Nantes-basedemployment agency company, hastaken delivery of the latest Daher-Socata TBM850 Elite turbopropaircraft, and will use it for long-distance trips with companyexecutives and managers.

“We have been working on thisproject for the past year inconjunction with our businessdevelopment plan, with the fullunderstanding that while regulartrips are needed, they are time-consuming and create stress andfatigue,” explains Sacha Moutel,project manager at the AbaloneGroup. “The TBM 850 Elite will help

us increase our productivity, bringingthe best in private aircraft traveltogether with rapid en-route timesand highly cost-efficient operations.”

Moutel points out that a corporateaircraft ensures access to cities whichare under-served or not serviced at allby scheduled direct commercialflights, and opens small airports thatare convenient and closer to the final destination.

“We are proud that a dynamiccompany such as the Abalone Grouphas selected our TBM 850 Elite for itscorporate transportation needs,” saysNicolas Chabbert, the senior vp ofDaher-Socata’s aircraft division.

Productivity boost draws Frenchbusiness to the TBM850

JUNE 2013 5EUROPEAN BUSINESS AIR NEWS 5

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Stephane Jolin, director of maintenance, and Jean-Claude Bonneville, chairman of Air King Jetwith JSSI’s Jean Jacques Poirier and Neil Book.

Air King Jet, a Geneva-basedprivate flight operation, hasenrolled its new Global 6000aircraft’s Rolls-Royce enginesonto the JSSI PlatinumProgram and added coveragefor the Honeywell APU.

“We also have two otherBombardier aircraft on JSSIprogrammes so we have seen

the value the programmesbring to our operation,” Jean-Claude Bonneville, chairmanof Air King Jet comments.

“JSSI goes beyondproviding budget stability bydelivering exceptionalservice. We get the flexibilityof choosing the maintenancefacility we prefer and benefit

from JSSI’s substantial buyingpower as one of the largestpurchasers of businessaviation heavy maintenancein the industry.”

Bonneville has workedwith JSSI for many years, ashis previous Falcon aircrafthave been enrolled onprogrammes.

Air King Jet aims for budget stability

Steffen Fries and MHS Aviation’s Learjet 60.

Visitors to EBACE had the chance to stepaboard MHS Aviation’s Learjet 60, althoughdemand for the company’s refurbishedChallenger 604 meant that it was too busy on aseries of charter flights to attend.

Attendance at EBACE highlighted thecompany’s increased activity in the chartermarket and it has seen charter flight demand goup by 35 per cent over the last year.

Speaking at the show Steffen Fries, ceo, said:“We see this as an excellent event to showcaseour Learjet 60. We are finding that demand forthe aircraft is growing and feel that its presenceon the static display enables visitors to reallysee and experience what it is to fly with us.”

The aircraft is equipped with a brand newinterior and is one of MHS Aviation’s mostpopular. It is crewed for 365 days a year and, asno owner approval is required, it can beavailable at very short notice.

Learjet 60 givesdemand for MHS’services a boost

An aspiring racing driver has taken the first steptowards making his competitive debut byemerging victorious in Jota Aviation’s ‘Broker toRacer Challenge’ karting event.

New for 2013, the challenge will transform aprivate aviation broker into a fully-fledgedracing driver with the help of Le Mans 24 Hoursoutfit Jota Sport. The 100 per cent funded prizeincludes a programme of driver tuition, ARDSracing licence application, personal fitnessassessment and training with support fromperformance progress lab Zer06, and their firstever race at a major British circuit.

Brokers registered their interest for the eventvia email before 40 participants were selected atrandom. The challenge took place at BuckmorePark, one of Britain’s premier karting venues,with drivers competing in practice, heats and awinner-takes-all grand finale.

And while a friendly atmosphere prevailedthroughout the evening, the on-trackcompetition was turned up a notch as thechance to swap karts for cars drew nearer.

Following a thrilling decider, victory wassecured by Ed Gillet, cargo account manager atAir Charter Service, who triumphed in a closelyfought contest with Jet Hire Direct’s RichardWorthington. Gillet will now begin preparationsto trade one of Buckmore Park’s karts for a high-powered racing car, with entry into an eventlate in the 2013 season planned for Jota'sinaugural broker-turned-racer.

Meanwhile, Jota Aviation has added aRaisbeck 200 King Air to its fleet. Providingsuperior comfort thanks to greater cabin roomfor hand luggage and catering facilities, as wellas wing lockers for expanded baggage space,the upgraded aircraft will allow Jota Aviation tocarry up to seven passengers at faster speedsand across greater distances. It has noise-reducing four-bladed propellers, dual aft bodystrakes to decrease cabin vibration and aninflight information screen. It will be based atSouthend airport.

“The addition of the Raisbeck King Air 200 toour fleet allows us to offer a wider range ofservices to our ever-growing client base,”comments commercial director Andy Green.

“As well as vip charter, we are able to providerapid reaction services to the oil and gas,medical, automotive, and AOG markets. I ampleased to say that the new 200 enhances bothour capabilities and availability in these areas.”

Jota aims to turncharter broker into

a racing driver


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AfBAA unveils Expo in MarrakechThe African Business AviationAssociation is to host its ownexhibition, in conjunction with theMarrakech Airshow in April 2014. Itis expected to cover 50,000 sq m,with an expansive static displaysituated adjacent to the runway toenable demonstration flights forpotential customers.

This will be the first time that theMorrocan show will have anintegrated business aviationcomponent. Frédéric Le Hénaff,exhibition director, says: “While thecommercial side of aviation hasbeen struggling on the Africancontinent, the business aircraftmarket is expanding rapidly. We seeAfrican business aviation attractinginvestors and interest from acrossthe globe.”

Dassault overhauls Falconspares pricingSome 18,500 more spare parts arebeing re-priced by Dassault. “Asmuch as we’ve reduced prices, theperception is still that in someinstances they remain too high,”says Jacques Chauvet, senior vp ofcustomer service. “Nearly everyonehas an example of a part whosesize, technology or material ofconstruction suggests one level ofprice but the invoice turns out to bequite expensive, leaving thecustomer perplexed.”

Prices will now take into accountcustomer expectations as well asproduction costs, a concept whichhas its roots in the car industry.

Gilmour heads Air BPDavid Gilmour has moved from cooto chief executive of Air BP,replacing Andy Holmes. “We willcontinue to invest in our operations

and infrastructure to support theneeds of our commercial, militaryand general aviation customersaround the globe,” he says.

Royal Jet joins the eliteRoyal Jet at Abu Dhabi has becomethe second FBO in the Middle Eastto carry the Air Elite servicedesignation. The network nowincludes 30 FBO locationsworldwide, and each must meet anumber of airport, facility andservice quality standards to qualifyfor membership. “We are veryproud to welcome Royal Jet to theAir Elite network. The quality of its facility and its reputation makesit a perfect fit,” says MichaelClementi, president aviation atWorld Fuel Services.

Jetex and Honeywell team upA partnership agreement will allowJetex and Honeywell Global DataCenter customers to access bothcompanies’ services from thefourth quarter of this year.

Jetex will resell Honeywell’s flightsupport services, including aspecialised offering for its FlightSentinel dispatching and datalink

capabilities. Honeywell customerswill benefit from Jetex’s interna-tional trip planning services, local24-hour support for flight logisticsand after-trip concierge care.

Embraer expands supportEmbraer has expanded itsauthorised service centre networkin Europe and the Middle East. JetAviation Basel and Cologne-basedNayak Aircraft Services have beenappointed to provide line and basemaintenance for the Legacy 600and 650, while RUAG, based inOberpfaffenhofen, and already aLegacy 600 and Legacy 650 line and base maintenance facility, has also been appointed for theLineage 1000.

Inflite The Jet Centre at Stansted,Nayak and ExecuJet in Dubai (UAE)will be authorised for the Legacy500 and 450.

TAG adds Sion to networkTAG Aviation has opened itspassenger, FBO/handling andaircraft maintenance centre at Sionairport, near Lake Geneva. Itfeatures a passenger terminal withthree vip salons and a dedicatedpilot lounge, 3,200 sq m hangar and12,000 sqm of aircraft parking.

Gulfstream sets up Londondesign centreGulfstream will open a sales anddesign centre in London in Juneand has appointed threeindependent sales representatives:Tim Leacock Aircraft Sales in theUK, ATP Aviation in Ankara, Turkey,and Loyd’s Aviation Group inSlovakia and the Czech Republic.The company has also positionedPete Buresh, its regional vp forinternational aircraft sales/Africa,in Cape Town.

The London sales and designcentre will give European, Africanand other international customersaccess to the acquisition and designstages of a Gulfstream business jet.

CAE adds GulfstreamtrainingCAE is to add GulfstreamG450/G550 training at its Londoncentre from 2014.

Schiphol gains more indoorparkingMaintenance providers JetSupportnow has access to an additional8,000 sq m indoor aircraft parkinghangar, formerly used by Martinair,at congested Amsterdam Schipholairport. The hangar will be usedonly for the company’smaintenance customer aircraft.

OPERAT IONS NEWS . . .

Jim Allmon hands over the second Caravan XP42A performance upgrade to Heath Haley.

Frédéric Le Hénaff of the Marrakech Airshow, ceo of Morocco’s Dahlia Jets Hind ElAchchabi, and AfBAA chairman Tarek Ragheb announce the first AfBAA Expo.

Skydive Dubai has received a secondBlackhawk-modified Caravan 208Bfor its skydiving activities in thedesert conditions of Dubai.

Chief pilot Heath Haley believesthe region is on its way to becomingthe world’s best skydiving resort. Headds: “We are in the process ofredefining the skydiving experience.From scratch, we have been hard atwork creating the single mostincredible dropzone in the world,right in the heart of Dubai. Sincepurchasing our first XP poweredCaravan 208B from Blackhawk, I have

noticed a major jump in mybusiness.”

President and ceo of BlackhawkModifications Jim Allmon says: “I ambeyond pleased that we can provideSkydive Dubai with its second XP42Aperformance upgrade. Operators likethese are the reason why Blackhawkdesigned this package. The extremelyhot summers in Dubai are the perfectmatch for the XP42 upgrade to theCaravan. While others are groundeddue to the heat, the Blackhawkequipped 208B is flying missions,making money.”

VistaJet has enrolled its fleet of Global5000 and 6000 aircraft onto the JetSupport Services Inc (JSSI) hourly costmaintenance programmes, in anagreement valued at more thanUS$205m. The 50 aircraft are part ofVistaJet’s largest order in aviationhistory placed in November last year.

“Having our engines and APUs on aJSSI maintenance programme iscritical to the VistaJet business model,”says founder and chairman ThomasFlohr. “In addition to providing budget stability, JSSI adds anotherdimension of service to the stand-ard maintenance programme. Wecurrently have two Global aircraft andour AugustaWestland helicopterenrolled with JSSI, and are delighted toincrease our business with them asour worldwide fleet grows.”

The Platinum engine programmefor the Rolls-Royce BR710A2-20 thatpowers the Global 5000 and Global6000 aircraft offers all-inclusive,hourly cost maintenance to providebudget stability.

The programme for the HoneywellRE220 will cover scheduled andunscheduled events for VistaJet’s APUs,as well as life limited components.Unlike other APU programmes, there is no buy-in requirement and one annual payment.

In a separate deal, ABS Jets willhandle all VistaJet aircraft flying in andout of the Czech and Slovak republics.The in-country partnership aims togive VistaJet customers and crew aseamless transition from the aircraft totheir onward destination.

“Our standards, aircraft andoutlook reflect our commitment toproviding the very best experience foranyone travelling with us,” says ABSJets ceo Vladimir Petak. “I look forwardto welcoming many VistaJet aircraft toour facilities.”

Ian Moore, VistaJet cco, adds: “Wehave every confidence that theextremely high standards ourcustomers are accustomed to in thecabin will be extended on the ground.”

VistaJet signs up 50 aircraftfor engine support

Modified Caravan takes the heat of Dubai in its stride

ABS Jet’s Vladimir Petak: welcomingVistaJet’s clients.

Michael Clementi, president of aviationat World Fuel Services with ShaneO’Hare, ceo of Royal Jet.


EBAA’s Brian Humphries hands over Tyrol Air Ambulance’s platinum award to Manfred Helldoppler and flight ops manager KarlBaumgartner. © Darrin Vanselow.

Four European companies have beenrecognised for their safe operations asrecipients of the EBAA Safety of FlightAwards, presented at May’s EBACE.The award highlights a continuedfocus on maintaining and improvingsafety best practices in thecompanies’ flight departments.

Two companies, Robert BoschGmbH Corporate Aviation and TyrolAir Ambulance, were given the topplatinum award for achieving at least50 years or 100,000 hours of safe flying.

Tyrol md Manfred Helldoppler saysthis is the first time an air ambulancecompany has received the platinum

award, adding: “In 2010 and 2011 oursafety records were recognised withsilver and gold awards. We are reallyproud that we were able todemonstrate our excellent standardsagain this year. Our company madesafety an important part of theorganisational culture.”

VistaJet received the gold awardfor achieving 40 years or 80,000 hoursof safe flying while FAI rent-a-jet AGwas given the bronze award for atleast 20 years or 40,000 hours withoutan accident.

EBAA president Brian Humphriessays: “I believe it is important that,

during each year’s EBACE event, wenot only work to enhance ourapproach to business aviation safety,but also take a moment to recognisecompanies with a long-standingcommitment to safety, as shown intheir decades-long records for safelight. That’s why EBAA created theseawards, and we’re delighted torecognise these companies.”

Bosch is a leading supplier oftechnology and services, filing several patents every day andpromoting new inventions in areasranging from automotive technologyto power tools.

Decades of safe flying bring awardrecognition for Bosch and Tyrol

Ornulf Hilarius and Michael Kuhn join forces on aircraft refurbishment.

Stuttgart-based operator DC Aviationis branching out into refurbishmentand cabin modernisation through anagreement to join forces with OHSAviation Services.

“In the initial stage we will beopening a cabin shop at DC Aviationand offering our services jointly toexternal customers as well,” explainsOrnulf Hilarius, ceo at Berlin’s OHS,experts in refurbishing and fittingexecutive jet cabins.

The goal of the partnership is tohave interior work carried out to highquality standards directly by anexpert on site. DC Aviation expects

this broadening of its portfolio tofurther extend its position as a leaderfor quality.

“The cooperation with OHSunderlines the high standards ofquality that we demand of ourexecutive jets. Moreover, this meanswe can combine the time formaintenance work ideally with workon the interior and reduceturnaround times. This not onlyrepresents an advantage in terms oftime and economy for our customersbut is also a perfect complement toour portfolio”, says DC Aviation ceoMichael Kuhn.

DC Aviation and OHS set up shop to deliver cabin refurbishments

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Air Charter Scotland has added a firstCitation CJ3 to its substantial CitationCJ2 fleet. The aircraft wasmanufactured in 2007 and is nowavailable for charter.

The aircraft has a range of 1,875 nm,enabling trips such as Luton to theCanary Islands, Larnaka and Moscowwith ease. The longer cabin providesextra space, allowing additional legroom for a more comfortable flight.“We have a satellite telephone onboard, as well as Airshow for passengerconvenience,” says ground operationsdirector Derek Thomson.

This year has been an expansionaryone so far for Air Charter Scotland,which recently gained FAA Part 129approval for its operations within theUS. It has also added a Challenger 601to its fleet, which supplements itsexisting fleet of Legacy 650, GulfstreamG200 and Citations.

The Challenger was delivered inMarch, has nine seats and is based atStansted airport.

ExpandingACS passessafety audit

PrivatAir has signed up to become auser of FL3XX operations software,which should be in service by Augustthis year, replacing its own in-housedeveloped system.

The FL3XX online system doesfront and back office sales, optimisesresources, manages workflows, andchecks legality of operations. Auto-managed processes enable PrivatAirto focus on personal care of eachcustomer, no matter how complexand last minute.

Christian Hatje, senior vp ofPrivatAir, says: “The FL3XX processunloads our sales team from mosttrivial work: the information isautomatically pre-selected for eachcustomer and data entry isstreamlined. Prices are created on thefly, based on gross margincalculations to ensure each bookingis profitable.

“We do not spend any more timemanually editing data to producequotes and bookings. Every bookingrequest/charter is tracked in realtime. All our team members can opena booking and see its full history aswell as the conversation with ourcustomer. Our team, spread acrosscountries and in different shifts, cansee who did what, when, andeffortlessly take it from there.”

The automated FL3XX systemdiminishes repetitive sales andoperational tasks, and is claimed todecrease the overall workload byaround 50 per cent and eliminatehuman errors. “Our customers nowbenefit from a state-of-the-art service in terms of response time,accuracy and overall flightperformance.” adds Hatje.

Paolo Sommariva, ceo of FL3XX,says: “A forward-thinking airline like PrivatAir shall reap the full value of our system. With FL3XX, itwill shorten its internal processesand enable utlra-fast sales andoperations. The management willhave one-click, real-time reportingenabling better decision making.Customers will access online, real-time information concerningtheir flights.”

PrivatAir has its headquarters inGeneva and operating bases inFrankfurt, Geneva and Brazzaville(Congo). It is a member of AirClub,whose systems can “talk” to any kindof charter/ops system.

PrivatAir signs up for time-savingoperationssoftware

Austria-based Citation Mustangoperator GlobeAir has provided theservices of its aircraft to participantsof exclusive supercar event The Run To Monaco.

During this year’s run, 30 driversand their co-drivers made their wayfrom London to Monaco in time forthe Grand Prix on May 26, a journey ofapproximately 1,500km.

With GlobeAir as official private jetpartner, contestants were able to flyonwards after the Grand Prix fromnearby St Tropez, an airport typicallyinaccessible to traditional airlinesand other business jets, aboardGlobeAir’s Mustangs.

Mauro de Rosa, cmo, says: “Wewere excited to be part of such anexhilarating, high profile event.There’s a strong synergy between ourtwo companies, and we at GlobeAirshare many values with theparticipants.

“We believe this event is a uniqueopportunity for like-minded people tomeet and share their passion,something we ourselves get to do inour work every day, and we were giventhe opportunity to offer our servicesto facilitate travel for participants.

“Although The Run to Monaco isthe only motor industry event thatGlobeAir will attend this year, 2013 isanother active year – our companywill be involved in all sorts of eventsfrom lifestyle to sailing,” de Rosa adds.

GlobeAir believes that asponsorship such as that of The Runto Monaco offers it a greatopportunity to be in contact with agroup of prospective customers thatshare a similar lifestyle and

passion. Says marketing managerSaskia Mehring: “We are of courseexpecting and hoping to gain a solidamount of business from asponsorship like this, however, thereturn on investment is not simple tocalculate immediately. The real valuelies within the relationship you buildwith the customers over the years and not in selling just one single flightto them.”

The run’s founder and ceo ChrisWelch adds: “Bringing a privateaviation partner into the mix offers usthe possibility to provide an extraelement of luxury, which ourparticipants expect from us.”

GlobeAir founder and ceoBernhard Fragner believes a shift inthe charter market towards very lightjets has worked in the company’sfavour and is the reason why it endedlast year on a high. “We bet on theright horse at the right time,” he says.“For our future the shift in the chartermarket means we will base our salesstrategy on expert views, such as thatof Richard Koe from WINGX, as well asthe expectation that the chartermarket will continue to change in ourfavour.”

WINGX provides intelligence onbusiness aviation and managingdirector Koe reveals: “We have taken alook at the VLJ and a peer group oflight jets, in terms of fleetdevelopment and flight activity since2008, and several highlights show up.Across this fleet, VLJs have increasedtheir share of activity by almost 10times in the last five years, even whileoverall European charter activity hassubsided since 2008.”

Supercar drivers offeredMustang experience

Derek Thomson, director of Glasgow-based Air Charter Scotland, accepts aplaque marking the company’s newly-achieved Wyvern Wingman safety auditstatus.


The business twin turbopropmarketplace is one whichBeechcraft has had sown up sincebusiness aviation was a boy in 1964,with its ubiquitous King Air line-up.And with the company’s future nowlooking brighter than in recent yearsthis dominance is likely to continue.

Its special mission King Air 350ERdemonstrator aircraft is in the midstof a worldwide year-long tour of morethan 15 countries on six continents,and will fly an estimated 80,000 miles.

“We discovered through a similartour last year that the best way todemonstrate the performance,versatility and low operating costs ofthe King Air 350ER is to take theaircraft around the world,” said Dan Keady, Beechcraft senior vp,special missions. “Experiencing the aircraft first hand makes it easyfor governments, military andcommercial customers to see why theKing Air is the ideal aircraft to addressthe unique challenges of most special mission operations.” Theaircraft will be on show at the Paris airshow this month and the Dubai AirShow in November.

More than 7,000 King Airs areoperated in 127 countries around the world and have surpassed 60million total flight hours. Around 700of these ply their trade with EBANreaders around Europe, the MiddleEast, Russia and Africa.

In terms of business aviation the main competition for the King Air in current production is thePiaggio Avanti, which the Italianmanufacturer continues to refineeach year.

Most recently Piaggio Aeroapproved a revised maintenance

programme with extended inspectionintervals which, together with thecancellation of the previouslyrequired daily check and monthlyinspection, represents a reduction ofup to 18 per cent in the maintenanceman-hours for the aircraft.

“The approval of the newmaintenance programme has beenenabled following an extensive studyof reliability data gathered over 800thousand flight hours, accumulatedby the worldwide fleet of P180 aircraftin a variety of mission profiles,” saysPaolo Ferreri, vp of worldwidecustomer support. “We areconsistently seeking ways to providesavings for our aircraft operatorsaround the world and are confidentthese extended maintenance timeswill do just that.”

For utility and challengingenvironments, the Let L410 is still inserial production some 50 years afterits original conception. At the end ofApril certification of the new H80-200engine and AV 725 propeller used onthe L 410 UVP E20 aircraft wasfinished. The new power plant willstart serial production and replacethe existing GE M601-E engines andpropellers.

The 50th aircraft produced by

Czech manufacturer AircraftIndustries since 2005, when thecompany was taken over by a newowner and gained its currentcompany name, has been delivered.More than half of these have gone tothe Russian Federation, and this mostrecent example went to theautonomous Republic of Komi in thenorth part of the Federation. It is thethird aircraft for this customer, andwill be used not only for standardregional transport of passengers, butalso equipped with a kit forparatroopers and a sanitary kit for aflying ambulance.

For this report we asked ourreaders with direct experience of twinturboprops to assess the good andbad points according to their owndirect personal experience. Weincluded every type of aircraft in thesector, including those no longerproduced but still in regular service.

BEECHCRAFT 1900

On the cusp between businessaircraft and commuter airliner, theBeechcraft 1900 is highly popularthroughout Africa. There are a dozenor more operators in South Africa,four in Kenya and three in each ofAlgeria, Angola and Botswana.

Helmuth Rame of AirTraffic inKenya has experience of the Beech1900C and D models, and declareshimself to be very satisfied with theavailable support for the aircraft. “Weconsider Beech support to be theindustry’s best,” he says. “We havevery few delays or cancellations, andit is very good when flying in and outof runways which are longer than1,500 metres. It has good range versus

The turboprop faithful sing the praisesof rugged workhorses everywhere

Copious quantities of baggage can be carried aboard the Super King Air 350i.

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payload. We use it for trips between600 and 900 nm. It has a cargo pod soit is not necessary to carry all theluggage inside the cabin.”

He does concede that too manyspare parts are now ‘specialproductions’ and therefore difficult toget and with long delivery times. Butthe worst things, he says, are themissing toilet: “There are few withinstalled toilets, but this should be astandard add-on from Beechcraft,”and the fact that it cannot be fittedwith an auto-pilot.

Otherwise, Rame’s only lament isthat the aircraft is no longer inproduction and therefore verydifficult to get hold of – especially the1900D. He wishes production couldbe restarted.

BEECHCRAFT KING AIR 200

There are nearly 200 Beech King Air90 series aircraft in operation aroundour region, centred on large fleets inFrance and Germany, and the baby ofthe range is still available factory newin the guise of the C90GTx. Thereremain a handful of Beech 100s inservice too, but the main workhorseof the King Air line up continues to bethe 200 series.

There are no fewer than 500 ofthese throughout Europe, the MiddleEast and Africa. The mainpopulations fly from the UK, Franceand Germany, but there are eightoperators of the type in Angola and adozen in South Africa. Thegovernments of Botswana, BurkinaFaso, Morocco, Senegal and Togo areamong those putting the King Air 200to public service.

One respondent to our survey hasexperience of the King Air 200 in aflight inspection role, and reports thatit is a very capable airframe, althoughthe avionics and traffic avoidance inparticular are now quite dated andrequire upgrade to work safely insome areas. He points out that thereare plenty of EASA part 145

You can load theaircraft with full

seats and tanks fullDr Gert Kroll/King Air 300

Dvorak brings his financeexperience to ABS Jets

ABS Jets has appointed MichalDvorak to the role of chief financialofficer. He joins the company fromKPMG Czech Republic where he was supervisor of the commercialaudit department. During his timethere he carried out audits on anumber of aviation companies,gaining experience andunderstanding of what makes asuccessful aircraft operator.

In his role at ABS Jets, Dvorak willtake on responsibilities for many ofthe company’s financial activities,including audits and financialstatements.

Speaking about his appointment,Dvorak says: “This is a greatopportunity for me, the chance towork in a company that permits me towork in two fields which are of greatinterest to me – finance and aviation.I look forward to the opportunity ofgaining new experiences in theaviation sector.”

Nacho Isla of Flightline.

Michal Dvorak, ABS Jets cfo.

Jet Aviation has added 23 aircraft to its global management fleet to date this year, three of which areavailable for charter. The additionsinclude seven in Europe, two in theMiddle East, two in Africa, four in Asiaand eight in the US. Those availablefor charter include a Falcon 900EXbased in Geneva.

“We have expanded our fleet to provide our clients with moreoptions for charter services,” saysClaudio Peer, vp of sales for aircraftmanagement and charter in EMEAand Asia.

Ideal for transoceanic andtranscontinental trips, the Falcon hasa cabin that comfortably seats up to14 passengers, featuring a phone andfax, AirShow and entertainmentsystems, and it is equipped with six beds. With a range of 7,800 km it is optimal for trips to New York,Recife, Dakar, Harare, Delhi, Moscowand Irkutsk.

Jet Aviation addsto European

charter line-up


maintenance organisations in theEMEA region, except for the MiddleEast which does cause some issues.“It’s rugged enough for thedemanding environment we operatein,” he concludes.

Patrick Margetson-Rushmore ofLondon Executive Aviation agreesthat the aircraft is rugged, able to “goplaces” and has plenty of space. Thedown-side, he says, is the price, but:“We have been operating King Airs forover 16 years. They are a verycompetent workhorse.”

Gwyndaf Williams ofHaverfordwest Air Charter Services(FlyWales) says the King Air 200scores highly for reliability, short fieldperformance and endurance, and heis very satisfied with the availablemaintenance support. As for how toimprove it, simply add Garminavionics, he says.

Lisa Humphries of Capital AirCharter has experience of a fleet ofKing Air 200s and is equally positive.“We have found them to be the mostcost efficient and adaptable aircraftfor our customers,” she says.

Reliability, modest fuelconsumption, payload capability andtakeoff/landing performance are thehighlights for Captain Frank Achnerof Star Wings Dortmund. His onlywish would be for more speed.

The current production model isthe King Air 250, which hascomposite winglets and propellerswhich, Beechcraft says, deliverssubstantial improvements in takeoffperformance while actuallyincreasing speed, range and climb.

SUPER KING AIR 300

The largest current production modelKing Air is the 350i, also available inan extended range variant.

More than 20 of the hundred-plus300 series King Airs in operationaround our region are this latestmodel, which has proved verypopular in emerging markets. Forexample, there are almost as manyoperators of the King Air 300 series inAngola (six) as in Germany (seven). Itcan be found in numbers in the UKand France, but also in countriesaround the Middle East such as SaudiArabia, and the UAE.

Dispatch reliability of around 95per cent has left Dr Gert Kroll of MikeFly very satisfied, although he reportsthat spare parts supply cansometimes be slow and expensive.The aircraft was purchased factory-new and had the most problemsduring the first 700 flight hours.

“It is very reliable and easy to fly.You can load the aircraft with fullseats and tanks full,” he says.

Jaroslav Malinsky of VR JET has

mixed feelings about the 350i whichwas on his fleet until the end of last

year. “The aircraft itself is state-of-the-art, in respect to the flight crew

and more importantly to thepassengers. Some of the features and

equipment which we had on board,you would expect in a mid-size jetupwards, not in a turboprop.

“Eight full leather heated seatswith individual controls were superb,and the electric shading system andon board entertainment madetravelling a real pleasure.” Theproblems, he says, were with thelimited baggage space with a full loadand, more importantly, with the cabinheating system, which causedconsiderable down-time.

Hans-Rudolf Woehrl of IntroVerwaltungs and Eric Rechtsteiner ofAir Independence both declarethemselves satisfied with everyaspect of their King Air 350s.

Christopher Mace of SaxonAirCharter says: “The King Air series ofaircraft are very reliable and there are several key maintenancecompanies with good capabilityavailable in the UK. However, thephase inspection programme doesmean inspections are due every 200 hours, which are considerably

You get an awful lot of aircraft

for your moneyEmre Dursun/Jetstream 31

Continued on next page

Alex Gazzé of Kin Avia, seen here on the far left of the group.

Me & My Aircraftthroughout 2013

AUGUSTLong-range and large jets

NOVEMBERVery light jets

We are keen to hear your views.Log in at www.ebanmagazine.comand you will find voting forms foreach type in your fleet. It takesmoments to complete, and themore replies we receive the betterour final reports will be. Your usernumber and pin is on the back ofthe mailing sheet included withyour magazine.

Make your opinion count!


more frequent than the more modernjet aircraft manufacturers.

“The King Air has always been aproven workhorse, the PT6 enginesare very reliable and the airframebuilt well. The 350 has a superbpayload/range profile, with plenty ofroom for baggage – it just does the jobwell. Of course turboprops are letdown by speed, but gain in runwayperformance and efficiency.

“We flew eight people with golfclubs and bags from Carlisle to Palmafor a weekend and a family of ninefrom Edinburgh to Cannes. Theaircraft is very adaptable.”

He does, however, point out thatthe King Air 350 is “Performance A”and therefore does not enjoy theshort runway benefits to the extentthat the 200 series does.

The wing lockers on the 350 allowfor a lot more baggage, skis and golfclubs to be carried alongside the largerear baggage area, he adds.

CESSNA 425

Cessna’s twin turboprops live onaround our region, in the form ofabout twenty 425 Conquest Is and adozen 441 Conquest IIs. The types arepopular in Namibia, but mostprevalent in Germany.

One EBAN reader with experienceof the Conquest I with 136A turbinesresponded to our survey in glowingterms: “It can fly in and out of smallairfields and is fast. More practicalthan the small jets but with jet speeds.It is quiet to operate and verycomfortable for passengers. Theworst thing is the luggage capacity.”

DORNIER DO228

The majority of the world fleet ofDornier 228s have not flown far fromthe nest, and are in operation in theirnative country, Germany. There is asprinkling of other operators aroundEurope, in Finland, the Netherlands,Norway, Portugal and the UK.

In Kenya, AirTraffic has a fleet ofthree, in 19 passenger configurationand offering the largest cargocapacity in its fleet. Helmuth Ramepraises the “fantastic” reliability ofthe aircraft, but has reservationswhen it comes to maintenancesupport: “RUAG do not provide spareparts at a reasonable price comparedto the world market prices. Manyparts are produced in the US wherethey often can be obtained for lessthan half the price. All originalDornier parts produced in Europe arenearly impossible to buy at all.”

He finds that the Do228 covers thewhole spectrum of operations inAfrica. “No other aircraft type has thisflexibility of range, runway lengthsand number of passengers,” he adds.

EMBRAER EMB-120

The Embraer Brasilia still enjoysconsiderable popularity in France,with no fewer than five differentoperators there, mainly on regionalairline services. There are also two

operators in Moldova.Meanwhile in Spain, EBAN reader

Nacho Isla of Flightline responded toour survey to express his satisfactionwith the aircraft. “We do our ownmaintenance and we offermaintenance to third parties,” hesays, “and find that it is the best andmost reliable aircraft for 30 seats andthe best commuter machine.”

JETSTREAM 31/41

A direct competitor to the Brasilia,albeit rather more numerous, is theJetstream 31 and 41 series. These areused by regional airlines, businessoperators and private owners in theUK and Scandinavia mainly, but alsothroughout Europe and Africa.Proflight Zambia and NRH in SouthAfrica have substantial fleets.

Turkey boasts one operator,Redstar Aviation, and Emre Dursanreports that its Super 31 model is usedin medevac and passenger roles. “We

have at the moment a great baseengineering team paired with areliable Part 145 organisation.However, due to the relative rarity ofthe aircraft, spares are not alwaysreadily available.

“Apart from a few minor issues,our reliability with the type has beenacceptable. So long as the aircraft isoperated within its optimum range, itis guaranteed that it will be the most

competitive in its class. However,when stretched to long range it willsuffer when compared against themid-range jet aircraft.

“These aircraft are very under-valued and you get an awful lot ofaircraft for your money. The cabin isone of the largest and most spaciousin its class, with ample headroomeven when standing. When used inthe medevac/casevac role, the cabinis even more roomy allowing formedical crew to work withconsiderable ease,” he says.

Reduced efficiency on long-rangemissions, and sub-standard STOLperformance, are issues for Redstar,but in general Dursan is happy withthe aircraft: “An upgraded avionicspackage is desirable, but not neededon the late model 32s. The Super31/3200 model has more powerfulengines and many issues with the

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The Let 410 is well suited to harsh environments.

The Redstar team pose with its Jetstream just before it flew to Nevsehir for a mission.

original aircraft have been solved.“All in all, it is a good all-round

aircraft. Our pilots like it and it isbuilt very solidly which makes it verydurable and a clear choice whenoperating in harsher climates. Aroomy cabin and cockpit is a rarity in its class and makes it a favouritefor passengers and crew alike,”Dursan concludes.

LET 410UVP

EBAN’s readers are responsible forover 170 Let 410 aircraft of variousmodels. The type has made very fewinroads into western Europeanfleets, but is prolific in easternEurope, the Ukraine and throughoutAfrica – where its rugged nature ismuch appreciated.

It is a niche aircraft able tocomfortably transport 18 passengersin a roomy cabin and from shortrunways, says one respondent to oursurvey, adding that time-consumingairframe inspections and the lack ofa transparent pricing policy for bothaircraft and parts are problems.

The largest single fleet of Let 410aircraft is in the hands of Air-Tec,whose Jan Rehousek is an expert onthe type: “The L410 UVP does notmeet western certifications and onlya few remain in operation. The L410UVP-E20 is available as newproduction and a new L410 NG isbeing developed.

“It is robust, reliable, very welladapted for remote operations andespecially on unpaved runways.”

Air-Tec recently signed anagreement with GE Aviation todevelop an engine upgrade for theL410 aircraft. Under the programme,Air-Tec will replace the current M601engine that powers its aircaft withGE’s new H75 engine.

“Air-Tec is the largest M601operator and has a deepunderstanding of the engine andaircraft,” says Jim Stoker, presidentand managing executive of GEAviation Czech. “The engine upgradeto the new H75 engine will enhancethe performance of the L410 aircraftand bring many benefits tocustomers."

“We see great opportunities withthe H75-powered L410 aircraft in ourown fleet as well as aircraft operatingin the African and Latin Americanregions, and we look forward todeveloping this new engine upgradeprogramme,” adds Rehousek.

Customers can upgrade from a

Paul Bristow, engineering director ofGama Support Services, has beenaround King Airs since way back inthe 1980s, when he and a colleagueran Plymouth Executive Aviation,which at the time was an authorisedBeechcraft service centre in the westof the UK.

In 1984, Gama ceo MarwenKhalek flew into Plymouth with hisKing Air and a second long-standingrelationship was born, which led toan invitation to join the Gama Groupin 2000, the company becomingGama Support Services in 2002.

Bringing the story up to date,GSS is now located within Gama’sFarnborough head offices but with asatellite base at Fairoaks and alsonow at Glasgow.

The company specialises in theKing Air and Baron range and theacquired expertise over the yearshad led to the company being ableto make significant improvements tothe aircraft.

For example, GSS developed amodification for the PT6A engineinstallation on both the King Air 200and 300 series aircraft which hasintroduced a drain tube for theexhaust duct. This becamenecessary after an engine re-designresulted in the potential for water toremain in the duct after compressorwashing, with the very realpossibility of front reductiongearbox casing corrosion if theexisting drain plug is not removed.

A compressor wash used to takehalf an hour but following enginemodification was now averagingthree hours due to having to removethe cowlings to gain access toremove the exhaust gas drain plug.The GSS solution added a drain tubewhich eliminated the need toremove the cowlings during enginewash, saving time, money andreducing wear and tear.

Bristow suggests that the sharedvision that he enjoys with Marwen

Khalek has been key to GSS’ssuccess, as has the engineeringdivision's role in looking afterGama’s own King Air fleet.

Most recently, the Scottish AirAmbulance contract has created aneed for 24-hour call-out and amore robust AOG facility, whichthen becomes available to otherKing Air operators.

Looking forward, Bristow saysthere has been a huge resurgence inspecial missions and is enthusiasticabout the new look Beechcraftorganisation – which has recentlyled to GSS once again becoming an authorised Beechcraft servicecentre for King Air, Baron andBonanza aircraft.

And is there anything else thatthe King Air expert still wants to do?Yes, he says he'd like to undertake acentre section change on a King Air.Although, as this is such a major job,he doesn't think it is going tohappen soon.

Bristow approaches thirty years of specialistservice and improvements to King Airs

Continued from previous page

differential pressure, which isespecially important for patients onmedevac missions.

Short maintenance intervals, thelanding gear and insufficiently robustdoor seals came in for criticism.“Piaggio Aero Industries is trying tointroduce some innovations; a bettermaintenance schedule plan (seeearlier in this report), availability ofspare parts and maintenance,technical documentation and some modifications,” says ourcorrespondent. “These steps are inthe right direction. Only, as anoperator, we need them quicker.”

PIPER PA-31T

Piper last produced a twin turbine-powered aircraft some 20 years ago in1993, but the PA-31T Cheyenne I/IIand PA-42 Cheyenne III/IV remain inwidespread use today. There are goodnumbers in Germany, France andSwitzerland, while individualexamples have found homes inCameroon, Ivory Coast and Namibia.

The fact that it is an ageing typeinevitably means that the cost of

unscheduled maintenance isincreasing, says Michael Fuchs.However, he remains very satisfiedwith his Cheyenne II which is “verycheap to operate and capable forshort runways.”

Other correspondents areconcerned about the ongoingavailability of spare parts.

METRO/MERLIN

The Fairchild Swearingen Merlin/Metro series is in widespread usearound Europe, and enjoys particularpopularity in Spain.

Nacho Isla of Flightline reflects onhis company’s fleet of five Metros:“There is not another type of aircraftwhich can do the same for the samemoney and with the same service.”

Bruno Sorensen of North Flyingcannot find fault with the SA227DMetro 23, the model which MiltSintakis of SwiftAir Helias believeswould be the ideal upgrade path from

his earlier variant.“It is the fastest in its class, and an

ideal cargo aircraft,” says Sintakis,who also recognises one problemwith the aircraft in terms of fuel leaks.

SHORTS SC7 SKYVAN

According to EBAN’s reader data onlythree Shorts Skyvans remain inservice in Europe; one inLuxembourg and two in Austria.

Thomas Lewetz of Pink AviationServices replied to our survey topraise his for its operating costs,payload and rear ramp. His onlycriticism – its “apperance like a box.”

SHORTS SD3-60

Shorts’ rather larger and more recentmodel, the SD3-60 can still be found in Germany, the UK, SouthAfrica and Denmark.

One reader described the SD3-60as a robust, versatile aircraft whichsuffers from having an infinite list oflife-limited components.

TWIN COMMANDER

There is a good scattering of turbine-powered Twin Commanders aroundEurope, including about ten in theUK. The type is much more prolific inthe US, where there is an activecommunity of owners and operators.

A recent Twin CommanderUniversity gathering in Arizona gavean award to Propulsion Internationalfor its Group Maintenance Plan forthe Honeywell TPE-331 engineseries.

Twin Commander president MattIsley says: “The Twin Commander isunique in that it has such a widerange of mission capabilities. We arelooking for ways to help our diverseowner group control costs whileensuring the safety and reliability ofthese great aircraft.

“The Propulsion InternationalGMP is a great option forCommander operators seeking toreduce their engine maintenancecosts and protect themselves fromunexpected maintenance expenses.”

Entering its third decade, the TwinCommander University is hostedevery other year by TwinCommander Aircraft. The eventbrings together owners, operators,service centres, manufacturers andancillary service providers toexchange ideas and insights intoimproving the owner/operatorexperience. ■


M601 engine to the H75 without anymajor modifications to the aircraft.The engine upgrade programme willprovide increased temperaturemargin, improved fuel efficiency andextended time between overhaul.

The H75, which GE Aviationlaunched last year, is rated at 750shaft horsepower for takeoff andmaximum continuous operation andis aimed at the agricultural,commuter, utility and businessturboprop aircraft segments. EASAcertified the H75 engine last yearwith the FAA type certificationanticipated this year.

Air-Tec is the largest L410 fleetoperator in Africa. As well as being anaircraft operator, it also sells andleases L410/420 aircraft for regionalairlines, aid agencies and NGOs, oilexploration companies and clientsrequiring smaller aircraft. Based inPort-Louis, Mauritius, Air-Tec hasbranches in France, the CzechRepublic and South Africa.

Also based in Africa, in theDemocratic Republic of Congo, isAlex Gazzé of Kin Avia.

“We are in contact with LetAircraft Industries and GeneralElectric for the engines. We havethree Ukrainian engineers with ushere in Kinshasa,” he says.

“We are very satisfied withdispatch reliability. It has been sixyears since we started operating ourfive Let 410 UVP-E and, except forminor incidents, we have had almostno delays due to technical problems.

“I believe that the Let 410 UVP-E isthe right aircraft to operate in such anenvironment as the DR of Congo,with runway and airstrips not alwaysin very good condition. The Let 410UVP-E shows its strength,manoeuvrability and ease ofoperation. There is nothing toocomplicated with the systems, noautopilot, no pressurisation, and it iseasy to maintain. The operating costis acceptable for the kind of operationwe do. Two regular flights per day andsome charter flights.

“The best things about it are the 18seat capacity, ability to land onairstrips with grass runways, andstrong landing gear. It is perfect tooperate in Africa.

“The worst is its speed, at 165 ktssometimes it’s difficult to competewith a King Air going to the sameairport on charter flight,” he says.

Being based in a hot locationmeans that air conditioning hasconsiderable appeal as a possibleupgrade, but this is balanced againstthe need to keep systems simple toensure reliability. Kin Avia operatesregular services not exceeding onehour 15 minutes flight time, and for charter flights can cover all of the Congo.

P180 AVANTI

The number of Piaggio Avantis inservice in the EMEA region is fastapproaching 100 – which is testa-ment to the aircraft’s appeal, giventhe bankruptcy of the original Piaggiomanufacturing company and theunconventional design of the Avanti itself.

The Italian government has beenhelpful in ordering the aircraft for itsforestry department, but there arealso corporate examples in service allover Europe as well as in Jordan,Kuwait and the UAE.

One EBAN reader and Avantiowner reports that the cabin is roomyand that the cabin has good

Happy Learjet 75 debutsHappy Design Studio provided thelivery for the first appearance ofthe Learjet 75, at the EBACE showin Geneva. The aircraft features theBombardier Vision Flight Deckwith an interior influenced by itsbigger stablemate, the Learjet 85. Itis capable of flying more than2,000 nm between Geneva andCairo non-stop.

Beechcraft appoints Okoliin sub-Saharan AfricaBeechcraft has appointed KingsleyOkoli as regional sales director forBeechcraft products in sub-Saharan Africa, based in Nigeria.Okoli was an F-16 crew chief andlater a fighter squadron logisticsreadiness officer for the US AirForce.

Eurocopter bringselegance to the EC175Eurocopter has unveiled its EC175helicopter in its executive and vipversions created by PederEidsgaard of Pegasus Design,whose reputation results from hiswork on business jets and superyachts. The EC175 vip is offered inthree different styles, all accom-modating six to eight passengers.One is inspired by modern sportcars, another by French flair, andthe third is more classical, inspiredby the grand villas of Europe.

400XTi auto-throttle saves fuelNextant has launched its latestremanufactured aircraft model,the 400XTi, which will continue toretail at $4.95 million, with a newauto-throttle to save fuel andreduce pilot workload.

Jet Aviation Geneva is toprovide maintenance services forNextant aircraft across Europe.

Fifth HondaJet fliesThe fifth FAA conformingHondaJet, equipped with aproduction interior matching the

final customer aircraft, hassuccessfully completed its firstflight. The HondaJet is priced at$4.5 million.

TBM owners gather in MallorcaThe TBM Owners and PilotsAssociation brought together anaudience of 76 participants atMallorca, Spain, for its Europeanchapter’s annual convention inMay. A total of 23 TBM aircrafttouched down at Son Bonet andPalma airports, carrying partici-pants from Australia, Austria,Bulgaria, France, Germany, theNetherlands, Poland, Portugal,Sweden, Switzerland, the UK andthe US.

Piper adds G1000 toSeneca VPiper has received type certificateapproval from the FAA toincorporate the Garmin G1000avionics suite into new twin-engine Seneca V aircraft modelsfor delivery beginning this year.

The most recent softwaresupports a three display suite asstandard and displays weatherincluding METARs, TAFs andwinds aloft, with an optional GSR56 transceiver. Radar and satelliteimagery are also available forwestern Europe.

Legacy 500 lands inEuropeEmbraer debuted the midsizeLegacy 500 jet prototype at theEBACE show in Geneva. Embraersays that the Legacy 500 is the firstmidsize jet with a six foot highstand-up cabin and a wet galley.The company expects that, alongwith the 450, it will outsell all itsother business jet designs.

Citation M2 has wingsThe first production Citation M2has reached the milestone of wingand fuselage mating. Certificationis expected in the second half of2013.

A IRCRAFT NEWS . . .

The PC-24 will be versatile enough for diverse and remote operations.

Extended inspection intervals have been welcomed by Avanti owners.

No autopilot, nopressurisation, easy

to maintainAlex Gazzé/Let 410

Pilatus reveals the ‘versatile’ PC-24Pilatus Aircraft were at the EBACE show to reveal the much awaited PC-24, dubbed the world’s first ‘super versatile jet’. It will have the ability touse very short runways, paved or unpaved, and a cargo door as standard.It also boasts a spacious cabin which can be configured to individualrequirements. Built in response to PC-12 operators’ requests for asimilarly rugged aircraft with greater speed and range, the PC-24 cabininterior will be available in an executive layout with 6-8 passenger seats,a commuter setup with room for up to 10 passengers, or even combi-versions with ample space for passengers and cargo, as well as specialinstallations for emergency medical flights. The prototype roll-out isscheduled for the third quarter of 2014, and maiden flight towards theend of that year. Certification is planned for early 2017 and the firstaircraft will be delivered immediately thereafter. The list price (pricebasis 2017) is around USD 8.9 million.


Chapman Freebornembarks on global brokerinitiativeChapman Freeborn is launching aninitiative to help operators andfellow charter brokers tap into itslocal knowledge and expertiseworldwide, whenever they findthemselves entering a territory thatis unfamiliar, challenging, or toorestrictive financially.

Partners will be contractuallyprotected by a non-competeclause. Alex Berry, groupmarketing and sales director(pictured), says: “We are not goingto compete with local brokers inlocal markets for the sake of acouple of hundred dollars, yet this is quite commonplace in thewider industry.”

Chapman Freeborn observesthat there are now thousands ofcharter brokers, and that number isgrowing continually. An increasingnumber are single or two personoperations with limited overheads,often with niche expertise. “It isimportant in an industry wherethere is no regulation, that thesesmall players have somewherereputable to turn to for advice,”says Berry.

PrivateFly.com launchesphoto competitionPrivate aviation charter networkPrivateFly.com has launched itsPrivate Jet Photography Awards2013. The contest will be judged byan expert panel, in five categories.Entries are invited from bothamateur and professionalphotographers.

The overall winner will receive a cash prize of £1,000, with a prizeof £250 awarded to the winner ineach category.

Training day addressesvital charter issuesThe latest BACA/BBGA jointtraining day in April covered avariety of topics including illegalchartering, bribery, Air PassengerDuty, aviation law and onlinebooking.

Marc Bailey, chief executive ofBBGA, admitted that ‘illegalcharters’, which may cost theindustry £2 billion a year, can bedifficult to define but explainedthat there is now an industryworking party actively pursuing theissue with the CAA.

Three speakers from ASB Law

covered air law and aviationconventions, contracting and legalpitfalls, and bribery and corruptionlaw. Simon Amos, from ASB Law,explained that one person’s‘facilitation payment’ can beanother person’s ‘bribe’, and thatdifferent countries’ enforcementauthorities can regard the sameactions quite differently.

ACI partners withemergency evacuationexpertsAir Charter International haspartnered with the UAE-headquartered risk assessmentcompany Special Security DefenceServices to become its exclusiveaviation provider for airevacuation services.

ACI reports an increasingnumber of unusual, risk associatedor dangerous cargo charters. Inearly April it assisted the rescueteam of a damaged vessel,containing a large amount of steel,that was sinking off the coast ofOman. The situation required a lowlevel aerial survey to establish thenext operational steps and ACIsourced a Hawker 800 with a crewthat were able to fly at very lowaltitude to establish the extent ofdamage. Special permits wereneeded from the Oman CivilAviation authority to approve thelow altitude survey.

Oryx shows brokers theLondon sightsOryx Jet recently held a charterbroker open day at Rizon Jet’sfacilities at Biggin Hill airport. Adraw took place for the chance tosee London from the air on one of AV8 Oryx Helicopters’ sight-seeing flights.

In May, the four prize winnerstook to the skies over London fromAV8’s base at Rochester Airport ona one-hour flight aboard aEurocopter EC120. Flying over theQueen Elizabeth Bridge atDartford, the flight followed theRiver Thames, with views of the O2Arena, Greenwich and CanaryWharf, St Paul’s Cathedral,Westminster and the London Eye,and London’s newest skyscraperThe Shard.

www.cha r t e r b r oke r. a e r o

Oil reserves and a resulting largeeconomic surplus have, over theyears, provided Norway with arelatively benign and stableeconomic outlook. Characterised byhigh wages and high prices, thecountry is not a member of the EUbut still has a strong focus oninternational trade.

Norway has never had a largebusiness jet fleet. When EBAN firstfocused here in 1994 there were justseven, and the register today stillboasts only 11. However, when itcomes to utility applications forturboprops and helicopters Norwayleads the world. The nation bristleswith King Airs of all varieties, CessnaCaravans and a host of diverse rotaryequipment from Ecureuil up toSikorsky S-92.

A number of the businessoperators in Norway have beenaround for many years, and BergenAir Transport is a good example. It iscelebrating 15 years of operationsand reports that its flight hoursduring the past few years have beensteadily increasing following a fewyears of decline caused by reducedaccess to assignments.

The company has a pair of KingAirs, but branched out into jetoperations when it picked up aCitation CJ2+ at the Cessna factory inWichita in June 2010. “The CJ2+ is apristine aircraft and performsoutstandingly – better than themanufacturer’s book numbers,” saysGeir Hellsten accountable managerand manager of flight operations.

It is the Citation which is leadingthe increase in flight hours, and so thecompany is focusing on developingits jet operations. “Last summer wesold our King Air 350 and flew it fromBergen to Singapore, a great trip forthe King Air 350,” adds Hellsten.

This leaves two King Airs on thefleet: “Our Beech 200s are configuredas commuter aircraft capable ofcarrying 12 passengers and twopilots. Both are equipped with thecargo pod and are capable of carryingthe luggage separated from the cabin,which makes them also approved forthe scheduled flights which we rundaily between Bergen and the BluesCity, Notodden.”

Bergen Air Transport is open for alltypes of aerial business; passenger,

freight, air ambulance/medevac,survey and surveillance, aerial works,sightseeing and leisure, andhazardous freight.

Hellsten reports that the companyis relatively small, having 10employees. “Every one of these is animportant part of our organisationand daily tasks. However, ourmanager of ground operations KarinHusa deserves a special mentionbased on the fact that she runs thecompany on a daily basis in a soft anda very professional way since joiningthe business in January 2012.”

Looking to the future, Bergen AirTransport is focusing on upcomingregulation changes and has alreadyprepared for the new requirementsthrough continuous work andgradual implementation during thelast three years. It will fully integrateits Safety Management System duringthe coming year.

Hesnes Air has been able toexpand its jet repertoire as a result ofwinning a major public healthcontract. “Since April 2012 we havehad a contract for flying all donorteams for Oslo Universitetssykehus,the largest donor hospital in Europe,”reports Benedicte Heyerdahl,manager of marketing and operationsfor the company. “In order to performthese flights we acquired our secondCitation Encore 560 and, of course,employed more pilots.

“This second Encore is stationedat Gardermoen and is ready to fly atshort notice day and night. Both theaircraft and the pilots are performingexcellently.”

In addition to this contract,Hesnes Air is operating all kinds ofcharter flights across Europe. It saysthat the market has been a bit slowduring the early months of 2013, butthat it believes business will pick upduring the rest of the year.

“With our King Air B200 we also dosome cargo flights, especially for the oil and gas industry in Norwayand the UK,” says Heyerdahl. “Thismonth we signed a contract with oneof Norway’s largest power linecompanies to do maintenance on its power lines with our helicopter, inco-operation with PegasusHelicopter. For our inland businessthis means a great deal.”

Hesnes Air has three bases, at

Scandinavia’s challenginggeography and climate keep

charter operators busy

Blom ASA manager of flight operations Jahn Morten Pettersen demonstrates the hands-on approach essential for successfulsmaller operators.

Major business aviation airports*

1. Oslo Gardermoen ENGM OSL2. Stavanger Sola ENZV SVG3. Sandefjord Torp ENTO TRF4. Bergen Flesland ENBR BGO5. Bodo ENBO BOOI

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

Leading fixed-wing charter operators**

1. Lufttransport2. Airwing3. Hesnes Air4. BenAir

Leading helicopter charter operators**

1. Airlift2. Helitrans3. Lufttransport4. HeliScan5. Fjellfly

** ranked by number of aircraft for charter

Leading maintenance companies***

1. Airlift2. BenAir

Leading TRTO training companies***

1. Airlift2. Lufttransport3. European Helicopter Center

*** ranked by number of aircraft types covered

Data extracted from the Handbook

of Business Aviation, and

the EBAN reader roster.

Business aviationin Norway by the numbers

55 business aviation airports

33 business charter operators

LN 236 business aircraft onthe Norwegian register

NORWAYREGIONALREVIEW

13 business aircraftmaintenance organisations

During recent yearswe have laser-

scanned the entirecountry of Sweden

Sightseeing tour winners KristinaBunce, charter manager with 365Aviation, Steve Finch, directoroperator relationships with Fly Victor,PrivateFly’s Alex Nott, and Sophie(representing partner Michael Cooper,marketing partnerships with ChapmanFreeborn).

Chapman Freeborn’s Alex Berry.


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Gardermoen, Moss Rygge and Torp,and flies passenger, freight, airambulance/medevac, photography/film, aerial works and sightseeing/leisure services.

“In Hesnes Air we do believe themost important members of our teamare our pilots. They are in closecontact with our customers and it isimperative that they practise a highdegree of service, in addition to flightsafety, which of course is the mostimportant factor.

“Our captains and co-pilots arehighly trained and motivated toperform excellently on every flight,and we do get positive feedback fromcustomers that they appreciate theeffort and extra service they provide,”concludes Heyerdahl.

Jahn Morten Pettersen is settlingin as manager of flight operations and chief pilot at Blom ASA, followingthe retirement of Jon Wold during last year.

The specialist company’s servicesare always in demand. “We arecurrently in the last phase finishingoff two large LIDAR projects inSweden and Finland,” says Pettersen.“During recent years we have laser-scanned the entire country of Swedenfor the Swedish Land Survey, which isused in flood management andinfrastructure planning among otherthings. The result will give Swedishauthorities a complete terrain model

of the entire country.“We are also involved in mapping

for forestry, which is a developing andinteresting market with manyopportunities.”

Pettersen adds: “We bought aPiper Navajo in 2012. This aircraft waspreviously registered in Finland, butis now one of five Navajos servingBlom out from Rakkestad airport inNorway. Needless to say, all ouraircraft spend a lot of time stationedat other airports across the Nordiccountries and northern Europe. The nature of the mapping industry is that we have to fly where modern3D maps and new accurategeographical Information is needed.The aircraft are often stationed for

weeks or months at different airports,and only return to our home base forregular maintenance.”

Recently, Blom found itselfmapping flood damage for theNorwegian Water Resources andEnergy Directorate. The project wasflown as close to highest water level aspossible, both to visualise waterstandings and different property andenvironmental damage. “It’s valuablefor the government to have highresolution, geo-referred images inprocessing this event and also forfuture risk planning,” says Pettersen.

Due to the nature of its operations,Blom is rather dependent on goodweather to complete its projects. Thisis a challenge with short and rainy

summers quite common throughoutits sphere of operations. But, it says,the actual number of flying hours peraircraft has been quite stable overrecent years: “We are very proud tosee that our efficiency andproduction have improvedconsiderably in the limited weatherwindows and optimal flightconditions we have seen lately. Someof the improvement is due to thetechnological development and morehigh-tech and proven technology, buta lot of the improvement is alsodirectly related to optimisation of allour internal workflows andprocedures. We believe this trend willcontinue and as climate changecontinues to represent such achallenge, our clients need to knowthat we are a reliable and efficientproducer that gets the job done!”

Pettersen hesitates to nominateany one member of the Blom crewwho plays an especially crucial role,but reports that the efforts of groundoperations manager Kyrre Johansenare very valuable. “He works longdays, especially throughout themapping season, working with ourflight crews to optimise our daily data capture. He follows up eachaircraft, flight crews, projects, airportsand flight permits. Needless to say,he has good colleagues and staffunder his management to help himperform so well.’ ■

The 2013/14 Handbook of BusinessAviation, Europe, Russia, Middle Eastand Africa Edition, was published inMay, and gives details of many moreNorwegian charter operators. It alsolists business aviation facilities andservices including airports, FBOsand maintenance centres.

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

Comprehensive data for Norway online

free-of-charge

Blom ASA’s assignments tend to be weather-dependent but flying hours have remainedstable over recent years.

Cambridge show lays down the challengeto bowling charter professionals

UK and European business aviationcharter operators are invited to fly into BGAD13 and take part in thePrivateFly BGAD Bowling Challenge.

The challenge, organised by onlineprivate charter network PrivateFly,will take place at the UK Business andGeneral Aviation Day, September17th at Cambridge Airport. It pitsteams against each other in a veryBritish version of ten pin bowling.

PrivateFly ceo Adam Twidell says:“This is a great opportunity to rewardyour team by taking them toCambridge for the day – and whatbetter way to increase your profilewith brokers than to show themround your aircraft in person? Thebowling challenge will be a bit ofcompetitive fun and a great way tonetwork with others in the industry.”

Aircraft operators are encouragedto fly their aircraft into Cambridge,where they will be parked up on thestatic aircraft display, to be viewed by

charter brokers and industryprofessionals who attend BGAD intheir hundreds.

Aircraft carrying teams committedto fly in and take part in the bowlingchallenge will not pay any landing orhandling fees during their stay. Or ifyou want to just visit and not showyour aircraft, you will benefit from a50 per cent reduction on standardfees at Cambridge Airport.

New European focusFor the first time it will be possible forvisitors to BGAD13 to fly in directly toCambridge using Darwin Airline’sdirect codeshare flights from Paris,Amsterdam, Milan and Geneva,which commence in September.

David Surley, head of business androute development at CambridgeAirport, told EBAN: “Cambridge is theUK's fastest growing city and leadingthe way at an international level in

fields such as bio-tech, life sciencesand research, attracting companieslike AstraZeneca to locate their worldheadquarters here.

“The people and businesses of ourregion will benefit greatly from thedaily connections to Amsterdam andParis CDG, which are majorinternational hubs connecting theSkyTeam cluster led by Air France andKLM, but also from three weeklyservices to Geneva, Darwin Airline’sown operational hub, as well as Milan Malpensa. It is important tonote that all flights will be code-shared with the Italian flag carrierAlitalia. Collectively, with at least 50weekly flights to and from Europe,this brings exceptional connectivityto Cambridge – one of Britain’s mosticonic cities as well as one of its mostsuccessful economic centres.”

Full details on BGAD13, plus thelatest exhibitors and news, are postedon the web site at www.bgad.aero

PrivateFly ceo Adam Twidell, BGAD’s Mark Ranger and Cambridge Airport business development manager Jon Harper warm up forthe bowling challenge.

NORWAYREGIONALREVIEW

TJS embarks on extensive expansion of the fleetTyrolean Jet Services has announced another milestone in the company’sgrowth with the addition of two Airbus ACJ319s and a Gulfstream G550 forcommercial operation. According to ceo Martin Lener, this is the mostextensive expansion since the company’s establishment in 1978. “Thisremarkable fleet enlargement in the vvip segment will encourage our continuedbusiness development, even in potentially unstable economic times,” he says.“This is another milestone in our organic and sustainable growth as Austria’slongest established business operator.”


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Batch 2+ upgrade, New paint 2012, 9pax interior. Contact: Thierry HugueninTel: +49 911 36009 375 or +1 561 7711322 FAI rent-a-jet AG. Web: www.rent-a-jet.de. Email: [email protected]

Learjet 60

1998, 1998. New to market. Only 2,170hours. Beautifully maintained byBritish private owner from new.Engines ESP Gold. Collins Pro-lineavionics. 8 pax. 3 Rotor brakes/tyrepressure sensors. Phase A/B/C/D dueApril 2014. US $2.65m. Roger Stainton,tel: +44 7785 245400 JetFlight Ltd.Email: [email protected]

CESSNA

340A

1979, HB-LSM, T/T 1,600 hours: S/N0701. Always hangared. Engines TSN:1250 SIDs inspections done. Over all invery good condition . USD 160000.-ex.VAT For more details Tel +41 52 74230 28 Email: [email protected]

Global Business Jet Yearbook

Handbook of Business Aviation Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa

Handbook of Business Aviation Asia and 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 Europe,Russia, Middle East and Africa.

www.handbook.aero

The reference book for fixed wing and rotary businessaircraft owners and operators in the Asia and Pacificregion. New edition out July 2013.

www.handbook.aero

You can now place jobadvertisements free of charge onthe EBAN web site – part of ourextensive web portal whichreceives around 25,000 uniquevisitors every month.

These text adverts are cross referenced to informationon your company from theHandbook of Business

Aviation, so that candidatesinterested in applying are fully briefed before sending in their application.

To find out more about thisnew service, or to book a positionto appear in EBAN magazine,please contact Tricia Rotheramon +44 (0) 1279 714516 [email protected]

Free job ads on EBAN web site

LIKE YOUR AIRCRAFT, PAINT MUST PERFORM.

Learn More: www.hawkerbeechcraftservices.com

THERE’S MORE TO PAINT THAN MEETS THE EYE.

MAINTENANCE MODIFICATIONS AVIONICS INTERIOR PAINT

European Business Air News June 2013

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Transcript of European Business Air News June 2013