Business & Commercial Aviation

JetSuiteX has begun selling seats for charter service to and from Santa Monica, California. Flights begin Feb. 6 to Las Vegas, San Jose and San Diego County airports.

For as little as $10 million, you can buy a Legacy 650, an aircraft that can fly eight passengers from London to New York, Beijing to Moscow, Singapore to Sydney or Sao Paulo to Miami.

Dassault Aviation netted orders for just 21 Falcons in 2016, further confirming a sluggish business jet market.

This year's NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference, Feb. 7-10 in Fort Worth, is expected to draw more than 2,800 schedulers, dispatchers, pilots and exhibitors.

In December, FAA issued its final rule on the new Part 23 which is intended to reduce the time and cost to certificate aircraft under 19,000 lb.

Tamarack Aerospace has received an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate for its active winglet system for Cessna CJ series jets.

Austro Engine GmbH, a division of Diamond Aircraft Group, has reached 1 million flight hours for its AE300 jet fuel aviation engine.

In the world of business aviation, getting there safely and efficiently is the product of many partnerships, most notably those of schedulers, dispatchers and pilots.

Piper Aircraft has taken a firm order for 50 Piper Archer single-engine aircraft from China Air Shuttle. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2017.

With more than 400 letters of intent in hand for its new Model 505 Jet Ranger X, Bell Helicopter is working fast to convert those into purchase orders, after the five-seater was awarded type certification by Transport Canada in late December.

The biggest challenge for any business aircraft manufacturer is determining how much space and comfort plus amenities to dedicate to the crew and passengers. For ultra-long-range business jets, these factors are magnified by the amount of time these aircraft spend aloft.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving Flytenow, an online flight-sharing service that wanted the high court to overturn lower court decisions that supported FAA's prohibition of the activity.

The pilot shortage is real and growing and that means the professional pilot force is “out there,” doing the job at hand. It would be tragic if the best and brightest of those were too busy flying to mentor the next generation.

Italian helicopter maker Leonardo-Finmeccanica is finding eager buyers among the Chinese. The company reports that it has sold more than 180 helicopters of various types to operators there.

It looks like the gap in Embraer's business jet lineup—an entry in the ultra-long-range category—will not be filled any time soon. Speaking to an editorial roundtable of Aviation Week Network editors in Washington in December, Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, president and CEO of the Brazilian aircraft maker, said a recent assessment of the marketplace revealed that the Legacy 450 and 500 “can cover 98.5% of the business jet missions in the world.

The Muskoka Region is a Canadian jewel, a place thick with forest, pristine lakes, and vacation homes old and new.

Astronics Max-Viz, a division of Astronics Corp., was awarded certification for its Max-Viz 1200 Enhanced Vision System for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Three recent government reports—one commissioned by the architects for FAA change and two by the stalwarts of the status quo—will fuel battles over ATC privatization efforts.

Cirrus Aircraft has launched the G6, the latest upgrade of its SR series of single-engine piston aircraft. The new models feature Garmin's Cirrus Perspective+ flight deck.

Jet-A and avgas per-gallon fuel prices—January 2017

Questions for Talaat Captan, founder and CEO of Air Hollywood

AirFlyte has changed its name to Rectrix MRO. The rebranding stems from the 2013 acquisition of AirFlyte by Rectrix and reflects the company's corporate MRO services and presents a united brand.

Ed Bolen believes total control of the ATC system is the force majeure behind the airlines' long-held wish to create and dominate an air traffic control corporation supported by user fees. For several decades, some of the big airlines have tried to seize control of the ATC system and the revenues that fund it, the NBAA president and CEO told BCA. "We believe that they want to use that control for their exclusive benefit."

Indicative of the community's growing importance to China, business aircraft operators have joined to form the Beijing Business Aviation Association.

Piper Aircraft has received a type certificate for its single-engine M600 from Transport Canada, so the company now can deliver the aircraft to the Canadian market.