On June 19, 2013, largely unnoticed by the 3,000+ journalists attending the 2013 Paris Air Show, an event took place on the Daher-Socata stand that marked a significant milestone in European business aviation. On that day au Bourget, the French civil aviation authority, DGAC, issued the first Air Operators Certificate permitting single-engine public transport flights in IFR conditions. Previously, passenger-carrying SE-IFR flights had been forbidden throughout the European Union.

VistaJet is keeping its fleet of 40 aircraft at an average age of two years as it takes delivery of five more Global aircraft and up to 20 more Challengers this year. VistaJet’s fleet has grown to more than 40 aircraft as the operator added five Bombardier Globals, valued at more than $250 million, to its fleet in the first quarter. Four of the Globals joined the fleet in March alone.

Brian Humphries, president of the EBAA (and formerly its CEO) and probably the best-known face and most-liked business aviation personality in Europe, says he is considering not standing for re-election next March. “I’ll see what they say at the board meeting, but my intention at the moment is not to stand next year,” he told ShowNews.

EBAS is celebrating the anniversary of its relocation to the Diamond Hangar at London Stansted Airport with the arrival of its first 8C inspection on a Bombardier Global Express business jet. The 10-year inspection represents a significant milestone for the company, requiring detailed overhaul and assessment of current airframe, landing gear and engine conditions. In addition, EBAS will upgrade the Global’s avionics installation to incorporate full Batch 3 and FANS-1/A+ compatibility so as to ensure compliance with future navigation and communication standards.

The African Business Aviation Association, which is celebrating its second birthday this month, has made extraordinary progress since launch under the leadership of its founder and chairman Tarek Ragheb. Show News caught up with Ragheb in Cairo just before EBACE. Apart from AfBAA’s never-ending job of liaising and lobbying with committees from the 54 African Union countries, he is concentrating on widening the nucleus of successful business aviation clusters within countries that are already performing well.

SyberJet continues to progress on its efforts to bring the SJ30i and SJ30x with a production certificate and delivery center groundbreaking. SyberJet secured its production certificate from FAA’s San Antonio Manufacturing District Office, marking the next step in the company’s quest to return the SJ30 – now the SJ30i – to market. Receipt of production certificate clears the company to manufacture, certify and deliver the aircraft.

Tony Coe, chairman of the Baltic Air Charter Association since early 2013, has driven policies and practices while positioning BACA at the forefront of key issues that impact the air charter industry. BACA is the world’s largest air charter organization, formed in 1949 and closely associated with London’s famous Baltic Exchange. The work carried out by Coe and the BACA council has already led to an increase of 10% in the membership in a very short time.

Former Embraer Executive Jets president Ernest “Ernie” Edwards is keeping his hand in the business aviation market with the formation of a new leasing firm, Veling Tayara Limited. Edwards, a long-time business aviation executive, late last year retired from Embraer after building its Executive Jets unit into one of the largest business jet manufacturers.