Business Aviation

Reigate (UK); 16th May 2023: As part of the expansion plan in the Middle East, ACC Aviation has appointed Hassan Chamas to head the company’s charter offering throughout the region. Hassan previously held senior positions at prominent operators and aviation companies across the US, Europe and the Middle East and brings a wealth of experience to the business. Joining ACC’s consulting and leasing departments already established in the region, Hassan will be working closely with ACC’s charter departments in Europe and United States to grow the company’s client and supplier footprint across the Middle East. At his appointment, Hassan said,”I am delighted to join the highly respected team at ACC Aviation and to begin a new chapter in my career. Thanks to the unparalleled knowledge and skill set of ACC’s global teams, I am confident that we can further develop the charter business here in Dubai and in the wider region.” Based in ACC’s Dubai office located in the Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZA), Hassan’s immediate focus will be on bolstering the company’s offering for existing clients before laying plans for regional development and future growth. Richard Smith, ACC Aviation Air Charter Director, added,”ACC Aviation’s global charter business has grown rapidly in the last few years. With Hassan Chamas joining the team, we will further strengthen our aviation networks and breadth of experience. Our growing client base relies on a great understanding of how to execute charters safely and seamlessly while delivering fantastic customer service. We are excited to bring Hassan into the team and to help him build on the recent success we have seen.”

1st March 2023, Dublin: Avia Solutions, the aviation business group, has become an Irish-based company. Following the transfer of its controlling headquarters to Ireland, Dublin, the group also became the second largest Irish-registered aviation business behind aviation giant Ryanair. “Moving the company’s controlling headquarters to Ireland was a strategically important step for us in terms of our further development plans,” explains Jonas Janukenas, CEO of Avia Solutions Group. “Ireland is known as the hub of aviation. A large number of aviation companies are located here, hence, being closer to the aviation community we will be able to implement the group’s development plans faster and maintain market leadership.” According to Janukenas, the company’s financial instruments on the Dublin Stock Exchange have been purchased by the world’s largest institutional investors from the USA and Europe, so this was also one of the reasons for choosing Ireland. The group has offices spanning all across the world: Ireland, Lithuania, the US, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Australia and Asia Pacific.Avia Solutions Group is the world’s leading and largest ACMI (aircraft leasing, maintenance and insurance) services group with a fleet of more than 165 aircraft. The group also provides various aviation services, such as aircraft maintenance, pilot and crew training, ground handling, and others. Avia Solutions Group employs more than 11,000 highly skilled aviation professionals across different regions of the world.

WICHITA, Kansas : 20th Feb 2023: Textron Aviation announced that it will now offer a gravel kit for its new twin-engine, large-utility Cessna SkyCourier turboprop that gives customers the flexibility to operate their aircraft in and out of unimproved runways around the world. First deliveries of the SkyCourier with the installed option will commence later this month. The Cessna SkyCourier is designed and manufactured by Textron Aviation Inc.The clean-sheet design aircraft achieved Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification in March 2022 with first deliveries following just two months later. “Cessna aircraft have been moving people and critically-needed goods in and out of remote areas for decades, and this new capability allows SkyCourier customers to operate in some of the world’s most demanding environments,” said Lannie O’Bannion, senior vice president of Sales and Flight Operations. “The addition of this new gravel kit greatly enhances the already rugged reliability of the SkyCourier.” This additional option for the SkyCourier paves the way for further use in global markets by a variety of customers, including government agencies, law enforcement and militaries, air ambulance operators, freight haulers, corporations and humanitarian organizations. The Cessna SkyCourier twin-engine, high-wing turboprop offers a combination of performance and lower operating costs for air freight, passenger and special mission operators. In addition to the freighter version, there is a 19-passenger variant of the SkyCourier that includes separate crew and passenger entries for smooth boarding, as well as large cabin windows for natural light and views. Both configurations offer single-point pressure refueling to enable faster turnarounds.

The stakeholders of Business Aviation in India who operates aircrafts under Non Scheduled Operators Permit (NSOP) wants the government should give them the status of an organised industry so that their issues can also be kept at par with the scheduled operators. In a candid interview, Gp. Capt. R K Bali (Retd.) Managing Director, Business Aircraft Operators Association( BAOA), talks with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor, Aviation World about the key initiatives taken by his body with the MOCA which is yielding good results, but still some loose screws need to be tightened and requires prompt attention by the policy makers and regulators for holistic growth of the sector. How do you analyze the business aviation market post pandemic? What steps are being taken for the sector to grow up to its potential? After the pandemic there is so much growth, so much of demand that the charter or the private flying that we need to tap on this demand and going forward to optimize the business aviation which I means to charter the aircraft, to own the aircraft, for making business more efficient , more cost effective. And, one way of doing that is seeing that the growth is as per the potential which can only be achieved if we do some consolidation in the industry. And one thing which we are recently doing & accepted by the ministry on 10th October 2022 was the fractional ownership which is just quite a different model than what it was earlier . We have seen what lessons even US has learnt from it . Because they have started somewhere in 2004 and 2005.We have recently issued guidelines and see that going forward. These are: (i) Fractional Ownership: Through fractional ownership, one can reduce the cost of owning & operating the aircraft. Thereby, more growth will take place because people will be spending less money on the aircraft which they use to do it before. (ii) Rationalization of Taxes: The custom duty or import duty which is very high on private owning , that is 28 % + 3% cess, which adds to 31 %. We have already taken up by the ministry and they are quite convinced because there has been hardly any import. There is no point having such a high tax barrier that doesn’t allow the aircraft to be owned in the private category. Our recommendation to the ministry is to rationalize it and make it 12 % while for NSOP its 5 % which is ok. So, this is the change that we are trying to bring. (iii) Affordability of Airport Charges: The business aviation operates all over India as chartered or private operation under NSOP, they have so far been levied really unaffordable airport charges. We have taken it up and another step forward in this direction. By ministry agreeing and issuing directive to all the airports and AERA to make it itemized and we are further working on it to make sure that even the itemized charges are very reasonable and affordable. Though, the AERA adopts a soft touch approach to decide charges but they have to be comparable as you know ground handling is still not a regulated industry anywhere in the world. I was working on it till it became regulated as the workers are unlicensed. We have approached AERA and the government to have the charges rationalized as per the labor rates of skilled and semi skilled available, so that these charges are rationalized. (iv) Infrastructure: First option which will become more important as our operations increase. So, for every new airport or modification or improvement of the airport, we have asked for separate General Aviation terminal to be made available for business aviation parking and which is there to happen especially at big airport. Till than, the government has agreed with our proposal to allow non-standard parking as per fees for which DGCA has also been told by the government to issue to accommodate more aircraft in non-standard bays so that safety concern are looked into and we are able to have more aircraft flying to destination to the busy airport where the business presently is going forward .We know that the business is going to come from tier 2 & tier 3 cities also. Right now, we are looking forward to have more FBOs coming up at those airports as we have also shared a concept on FBO with the ministry. So, hopefully in the next 5-10 years when all the things will be in place with fractional ownership , tax rationalization and affordability of airport charges , we are sure that business aviation will grow to its potential in the coming years. How do you see the concept of GIFT city and its benefits in long term? The GIFT city was formed around three years back and it’s a very good step. In fact, we were lacking in that and that ’why government has come up with that. It’s a big initiative in the ministry specially the earlier Senior Economic Advisor Madam Vandana Agarwal who was spearheading this. There are some teething problems about banks getting actively involved to get lease rates or interest rates at very competitive rates near to what existing around the world. So, we are working on it and recently conducted workshop on it held by GIFT city head in Delhi in which secretary Civil Aviation also participated. Rest things are being discussed and going forward I feel there is lot of traction taking place there. But going forward I see that in next 3-4 years, GIFT city will be playing a major role in getting the aircraft imported at the rate at which people will not have to depend on other countries like Ireland and such states where people have been leasing aircraft. It is going to take time and as of now we are in the initial stages. Any pertinent issue that you think still needs to be resolved at the ministerial level? I

Farnborough, UK, July 20, 2022: Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), the world’s largest regional aircraft leasing company, has agreed a memorandum of understanding to place the first two E190F passenger-to-freight conversions with Astral Aviation, based in Nairobi, Kenya. In May 2022, NAC and Embraer reached an agreement in principle to take up to 10 conversion slots for E190F/E195F, with first deliveries starting in 2024. The aircraft for conversion will come from NAC’s existing E190/E195 fleet. Sanjeev Gadhia, Founder & CEO Astral Aviation, said, “We are honored to be the launch operator of the Embraer 190F, which will be based in Astral’s Nairobi hub. It will operate on a combination of scheduled and charter flights on our intra-African network. The E-Jets are well known for their efficiency, flexibility and sustainability. We are confident that the E-Jet freighter platform will be a game-changing addition to our growing fleet. We are grateful to NAC and Embraer for choosing Astral to be the launch operator of the E-Jet Freighter.” Norman C.T. Liu, President & CEO of NAC, said “As a launch lessor for the E-Jet freighter conversion program, we are pleased to have executed a MoU to place two E190F aircraft with Astral Aviation, a leading cargo carrier servicing Africa. NAC aims to remain the leader in regional aviation and expand into larger narrow body aircraft, while building our full life cycle asset management capabilities.” Johann Bordais, President & CEO, Embraer Services & Support, said, “The response to Embraer’s P2F program, which was launched only in March of this year, has been incredible. NAC has already placed their first two aircraft, and it’s great to welcome yet another operator to our E-Jet family.”

Singapore, 16th February 2022: At the Singapore Airshow 2022, Aerodata AG Germany has ordered two Textron Aviation Beechcraft King Air 360 aircraft,equipping them for the flight inspection mission. These special mission aircraft will be owned and operated by the Airports Authority of India and based in Delhi. Aerodata is a privately owned company having its base at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport in Germany. Under its Flight Inspection System it provides AeroFIS for the inspection of all NAVAids and flight procedures that need calibration or validation. At the occasion, Bob Gibbs, vice president, Special Mission Sales, Textron Aviation said, “With the selection of the King Air 360 to replace their existing King Air B300s, we are honored that Aerodata and the Airport Authority of India has continued confidence in the Beechcraft King Air to perform this critical flight inspection mission. The Airport Authority of India will use the aircraft for inspection and calibration of en-route and terminal navigation aids throughout India.” Hans J. Stahl, President & CEO, Aerodata said,“With the purchase of these additional two King Air aircraft we further our long-term, fruitful relationship with the Airports Authority of India. With the Beechcraft King Air 360, we have chosen a state-of-the-art aircraft, fully compliant to the high-level requirements of the end user and will install the latest flight inspection system – AeroFIS.” From left to right: Chris Bogaars, Sales Director – Special Missions, Textron Aviation, Mareile Langhorst, Director Flight Inspection Systems, Aerodata AG and Thorsten Heinke, Senior Program Manager, Aerodata AG. In Pix: (L-R) Chris Bogaars, Sales Director – Special Missions, Textron Aviation, Mareile Langhorst, Director Flight Inspection Systems, Aerodata AG and Thorsten Heinke, Senior Program Manager, Aerodata AG.

UAE, Dubai, 26 January 2022: The RoyalJet Group – the Abu Dhabi owned and operated private aviation has expanded its fleet with the acquisition of another Boeing Business Jet. The purchase transaction was completed recently and this pristine, low time aircraft is currently undergoing technological and communications upgrades in Basel, Switzerland. It is expected to enter into service with RoyalJet and be available for charter globally in April 2022. Rob DiCastri, CEO at RoyalJet said: “Despite the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic, demand in the past 6 months has exceeded supply in our sector of the aviation industry and in our region. The overall health of the global private jet market has now been strong for an extended period of time, and growth is expected to continue.” “Fleet expansion, renewal and upgrade are integral elements of our ongoing customer experience transformation, allowing us to continue to provide an even more exceptional experience to our guests,” he added. This Boeing Business Jet boasts 23 passenger VVIP interior with a forward crew rest area for long journeys, an aft private master bedroom with private lavatory and shower, and a mid-cabin open plan VVIP lounge. It has been finished with state of the art materials and a custom configuration designed for functionality and maximum comfort and can sleep up to 12 in VVIP lie-flat seats and its queen sized bed.

Nagpur; August 19th: JetSetFleet Management Services IFSC Private, a leasing arm of JetSetGo Aviation, has become the first Indian leasing business to directly import an aircraft.The aircraft, a Hawker 800 XP, leased through GIFT City, IFSC was imported from the United Kingdom and towed into the MRO after landing at Nagpur airport. Parking and warehousing services were provided by Air India MRO. This aircraft was brought into the SEZ for the purpose of leasing, promoting MRO and offering other ancillary services in the region. This transaction is being hailed as the country’s first-ever after the Ministry of Finance established a framework for Aircraft Leasing and Tax SOPS were granted, to shift the leasing business from Ireland or other locations to Indian Territories. To lease out the aircraft, the Company is experimenting with a novel financing strategy wherein JetSetGo plans on using the ‘pay-as-you-go’ arrangement. Under this model, the Company gets compensated based on how much the aircraft flies. In addition to this, JetSetGo is also looking into revenue-sharing arrangements. Kanika Tekriwal, Founder & CEO, JetSetGo Aviation said, “With the import of the Hawker 800 XP, we are extremely proud to be the first Indian leasing company to bring an aircraft into the country directly. This is not just a big milestone for us as a business, but also a historic move for India’s aviation industry as a whole. We are thrilled to have been able to do this as it is a step forward towards putting India on the global aviation map and enabling many industry-firsts going forward. With this initiative, we want to ensure that the leasing of aircrafts becomes feasible in India. Furthermore, we are planning to bring in at least six aircrafts by the end of 2021-22, and by the end of 2022, we will also look at leasing planes to international locations.” The imported aircraft was provided a tax-free landing by the SEZ in Nagpur on Thursday, following which it was flown to Delhi to be delivered to Indo Pacific Aviation, which is an arm of JetSetGo.