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.

Austria’s International Jet Management has obtained a landmark decision from the European Court of Justice – a ruling with major implications for the free movement of air traffic into Germany. The legal dispute lasted five years, with the European Court of Justice making its final ruling in favour of IJM on March 18.

The results of a survey conducted by the Baltic Air Charter Association indicate that BACA members are confident that business conditions will improve during 2014. Of those responding, 66.7% said they believe private jet charter revenue will increase in 2014 while 29% believe it will be flat. Only 4.3% said the anticipate a decline compared to 2013. Most growth is expected to be from existing clients flying more frequently.

ABS Jets, an executive jet operator with bases at Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague and Bratislava in the Slovak Republic, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. At start-up ABS had 32 employees operating two managed aircraft, a Cessna Citation Bravo and an Embraer Legacy 600. Today the firm has grown into one of the major players in European business aviation. ABS employs more than 200 skilled professionals and operates a managed fleet of 12 aircraft, says CEO Vladimir Petak, with a 13th aircraft – a Legacy 650 – due in a few months.