The Weekly of Business Aviation

By Graham Warwick
Bell has flight tested a different configuration for its Autonomous Pod Transport unmanned cargo aircraft to show that the vehicle design is flexible and can be scaled and customized for potential customers.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Transporting passengers between London City and London Heathrow Airports is one potential application of urban air mobility in the UK that will be studied by a consortium led by Eve, the spinoff from EmbraerX.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Angus Batey
In purely financial terms, it is not one of the biggest deals of the decade. But Gama Aviation’s acquisition of Trenton, New Jersey-based Jet East Corporate Aviation may highlight one way out of the post-COVID-19 doldrums for business aviation MRO.
MRO

By Graham Warwick
Vehicle developers ranging from Airbus to startup Ascendance Flight Technologies are among 30 companies that have been selected to participate in urban air mobility testing in Paris beginning in June.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Molly McMillin
Private jet travel bookings are expected to return to 2019 levels in 2021, although private business travel is expected to rise to 85% of 2019 levels, according to predictions by European-based Air Charter Service.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Molly McMillin
The number of used business jets for sale in January declined 18% compared to a year ago, while average list prices decreased 11%, according to a report by Jefferies Group.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bill Carey
The location of a drone operator should be made available to police but not to the public, the National Business Aviation Association says in a Jan. 19 critique of the FAA’s new Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft final rule.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Alan Dron
Canada’s Conair Group, which describes itself as operating the world’s largest privately owned fixed-wing fleet of firefighting aircraft, has bought 11 De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 aircraft for conversion to firefighting aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bill Carey
Counting drones among his final priorities as U.S. president, Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 18 that directs the heads of federal agencies to determine if they have legal authority to stop using, acquiring or funding the purchase of foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Molly McMillin
The pre-owned helicopter market continued to recover in the fourth quarter of 2020, although sales remained below those in 2019, largely due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the fourth-quarter 2020 Heli Market Trends report by Aero Asset, based in Toronto.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Electric motor developer MagniX is consolidating its global operations near Everett, Washington state. Electric aircraft startup Eviation, a sister company of MagniX, is building a final assembly, flight test and delivery center in Arlington, just north of Everett.
Emerging Technologies

By Michael Bruno
Leading Tier 1 supplier Spirit AeroSystems and the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) have inaugurated a new kind of federally backed, discounted-rate lending for aerospace suppliers—beginning with a $40 million transaction based on receivables from Spirit’s lower-tier providers.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain

By Graham Warwick
Advanced air mobility, electric aircraft and hypersonic flight are the focus of the latest academic research projects to be funded under NASA’s University Leadership Initiative.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
With no certainty that a suitable unleaded alternative can ever be developed, the FAA must lead a broad-based and sustained commitment by government and the aviation community to reduce lead emissions from gasoline-powered aircraft, concludes a new report by the National Academies.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Molly McMillin
Honda Aircraft Co. has opened a new Wing Production and Service Parts Facility at its headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, for more efficient production, the company says.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Molly McMillin
The National Business Aviation Association is applauding a final IRS rule clarifying federal excise tax obligations for aircraft management companies and aircraft owners, following passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Bill Carey
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new testing requirements for COVID-19 that apply to private aviation as well as airline passengers arriving in the U.S. from foreign countries.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Molly McMillin
Avfuel Corp. has formed a partnership with Neste to create a continuous supply of sustainable aviation fuel in the U.S.
Airports, FBOs & Suppliers

By Molly McMillin
Italian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam is repurposing a P2012 utility twin-piston-engine aircraft for COVID-19 vaccine transportation to carry products to remote areas.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Retired Airbus CEO Thomas Enders has joined the board of Lilium, adding the weight of his reputation to the German startup’s ambitious plans to launch a regional air mobility service by 2025.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Lindsay Bjerregaard
General Motors’ urban air mobility aspirations have been confirmed following CEO Mary Barra’s keynote on Jan. 12 at CES 2021.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Helen Massy-Beresford
The UK has tightened up its COVID-19 travel restrictions, imposing the requirement of a negative test for the virus on all arrivals in addition to mandatory quarantines for those coming from states not on its “travel corridor” list.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Graham Warwick
Archer said the agreement supports its vision of being a leader in the first wave of urban air mobility providers with the goal of beginning passenger services by 2024.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Angus Batey
With the UK entering its third full national lockdown on Jan. 6 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, private charter flights have all but stopped.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Molly McMillin
Signature Aviation, which operates Signature Flight Support, the world’s largest FBO chain, has accepted a cash offer of $4.63 billion from Global Infrastructure Partners for the business, the company said Jan. 11.
Airports, FBOs & Suppliers