Business Aviation

Faced with continuing delays in the development of the new Silvercrest jet engine from Safran, Dassault Aviation said on Wednesday the Falcon 5X program is cancelled. It will be replaced by a new Falcon jet with the same cross section, powered by engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada, with first deliveries in 2022. “There is […]

The FAA has responded to recent complaints from AOPA and others about rising costs and limited access at some FBOs at public-use airports, issuing a document that aims to clarify the issues. The six-page Q&A (PDF) spells out the various obligations of the FAA, the airport sponsors, the FBO and aeronautical users. “This is an […]

There are plenty of contenders for the point-to-point personal aircraft market but XTI is aiming its Trifan 600 at business aviation. VTOL with a 300-knot cruise at $350 an hour is the projection. view on YouTube

Erik Lindbergh has formed a new aerospace company, VerdeGo Aero, he announced on Wednesday in a news release. Lindbergh, who is well-known in GA as an advocate for new technology and as the grandson of Charles Lindbergh, will serve as president of the company, which will be based at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s MicaPlex incubator in […]

When the press release on Cessna’s new twin turboprop came pixeling into my inbox Tuesday morning, my first reaction was: a new skydiving airplane! Woo-hoo! This further proves that self-interest easily overpowers rational thought, but in a more sober moment, I realized that in aviation as in everything else, history repeats. Even without a piece […]

The Santa Monica Airport, which the city has long tried to shut down while the aviation community has rallied to keep it open, will close for 10 days this month so the single 4,973-foot runway can be shortened. The shutdown will begin on Dec.13 and conclude on Dec. 23, according to the airport website. The […]

Textron will build a new clean-sheet-design large-utility twin turboprop, and have it ready for delivery by 2020, the company announced on Tuesday. The new airplane was developed with launch customer FedEx Express, which has long depended on Cessna Caravans for its delivery fleet. The Cessna SkyCourier 408 will have almost twice the cargo space of […]

Airbus has created a new innovation center in Shenzhen, China, near Hong Kong, where it will pursue research that would enable a single pilot to fly commercial aircraft, according to Bloomberg News. Airbus Chief Technology Officer Paul Eremenko told Bloomberg this week, “We’re pursuing single-pilot operation as a potential option, and a lot of the […]

The latest model from Airbus, the A350-1000, is now certified by both the FAA and EASA, the company said on Wednesday. The airplane is a stretched version of the A350 XWB airliner. The 1000 features Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, adding more power than earlier versions, as well as main landing gear with six wheels. The […]

While regional airlines seem to be the hardest hit so far by the tightening supply of pilots, business aircraft operators are also feeling the pinch. As with the regionals, deep-pocketed larger airlines are outbidding smaller operators for the pool of experienced jet pilots and there is an inevitable result from that. “It’s really a buyers’ […]