Dubai-based Hadid International Services (Booth 6515) is paying increasing attention to the needs of business travelers in Africa, noting that it supported more than 6,000 flights in Africa in 2013 and has seen a 30% increase in the first quarter of this year.

Bell Helicopter has delivered a Bell 429 to Swiss operator Heli-Alps, which provides corporate transport, heli-skiing, sightseeing tours, aerial photography and other utility operations. It is the first VIP-configured Bell 429 to enter service in Switzerland, and was customized at the Bell Helicopter facility in Prague.

Are you sitting comfortably? You will be if you visit the Iacobucci HF Aerospace Booth 3623, where the Ferentino, Italy–based company is launching its new double- and single-shell seats for large VIP aircraft. Named Roma and Milano, respectively, both are fully electromechanically operated, with a wide range of movements managed by the actuator software. Configurations available at the touch of an armrest-mounted button go from full upright to full horizontal flat-bed position.

“We’ve brought the Biggin Hill JETS operation to stability,” says 328 Group CEO Dave Jackson. “The FBO has been divested to Signature Flight Support so that we can concentrate on MRO work,” he says. “We’ve seen an increase in traffic and 30%-plus of business is coming from new customers. We believe that the aircraft types covered at Biggin Hill complement our capabilities at our JETS Bournemouth operation.”

L-3 Platform Integration’s VIP and Head-of-State Completion Center has defined the five top “must-haves” that customers request on new VVIP completions: 1. Broadband Internet. “More than ever,” says L-3, “customers want high bandwidth throughout the aircraft.”

L-3’s Platform Integration unit reports a four-year extension of Organization Designation Authorization from the U.S. FAA, noting too that it’s been approved to modify the Boeing 787. The ODA allows L-3 to issue its own certificates of airworthiness and supplemental type certificates. The firm has made 50 VIP aircraft deliveries, of types ranging from the Boeing Business Jet to the Airbus ACJ340.

Landmark Aviation is increasing its presence in the U.K. with the acquisition of RSS Jet Center Limited. The acquisition gives Landmark three locations in the U.K. – London Luton, Manchester, and Glasgow Prestwick Airport. The newest Landmark Aviation bases expand the FBO chain’s reach in Europe to 13 locations, including ten in France.

The National Business Aviation Association and the Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) have extended their partnership for five more years, firmly planting ABACE – the Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition – at Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport through 2021. NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen and SAA VP Wang Jijie formally signed the extension during ABACE2014, following up on the first five­-year pact signed in June 2011.