EBACE 2014 Day 1 Briefs

Japan is beginning to make strides in improving access for business aviation, but Masaaki Kai, senior director general for the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), concedes the operations are still relatively few and more needs to be accomplished. The number of business aviation arrivals and departures in Japan topped 13,000 in 2013, up by nearly 1,300 from a year earlier. At Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, business aircraft traffic jumped by 30%. Nagoya Airport, which had fewer than 80 business aircraft arrivals, is preparing for a steady rise in traffic.

With Embraer’s business jet portfolio close to completion with the upcoming certification of its midsize Legacy 500 and mid-light Legacy 450, the Brazilian manufacturer is using EBACE to showcase its renewed focus on systems upgrades and improvements to the state-of-the-art interiors across its full range.

The worldwide business jet market is on course for a steady return to the good times but for one major ingredient – the lack of willing investors.

“We will see instant [online] pricing within the next few years,” says Adam Twiddell, the founder and CEO of online booking specialist PrivateFly. At the moment customers can get five quotes in five minutes if they are Europe- or U.S.-based but this only gives a market estimate of the price which still has to be confirmed by the aircraft’s operator.

Qatar Executive has strengthened its position as a provider of maintenance services for Bombardier aircraft in the Middle East following approval from the Bahrain Civil Aviation Authority to conduct line maintenance on Bombardier’s Challenger 604s/605s and Globals. The company recently received a similar approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands for Bombardier aircraft registered in the western Caribbean state.

The Press Office at London City Airport had a tough time in early April batting off a media assault that grew to epidemic proportions. It was caused by a report from the New Economics Foundation suggesting that London City Airport should be closed and re-developed for housing. NEF’s challenge: Does it make sense to locate an airport in such precious inner-city space? What if we reclaimed this historic site and built a new neighborhood, incorporating the best thinking about sustainable urban design?

Munich Executive Airport is open for business and all it takes is a phone call to fly there, says Johannes Graf von Shaesberg, chairman and CEO of Rheinland Air Service. The company operates the FBO and offers complete airport passenger and crew services. “The perception is that Oberpfenhoffen/Munich Executive is still restricted to based aircraft and limited to flights booked to visit businesses here,” von Shaesberg says. “This is no longer the case.”