News

Perhaps the most visible and significant change to occur in the industry during 2004 was the spring cleaning at the NBAA, in which new President and CEO Shelley Longmuir abruptly departed amid internal staff turmoil and dissatisfaction among board members, taking with her Bob Warren, the associations executive vice president and COO, who was hired […]

For business aviation, 2004 likely will be known as a year in which the industry withstood a number of challenges – internal and external – to emerge in at least as good a condition as when the year started. At the same time, other segments of the aviation industry did not fare as well; whether […]

…the next issue of AVweb‘s BizAVflash will be e-mailed to you on Dec. 29. Until then, enjoy the holidays!

In a quandary about what to get this holiday season for that “special someone”? Is money no object, but you don’t have 3.6 million yuan? If you can answer “yes” to both of these questions, then Bombardier Skyjet, a fractional ownership operation of Bombardier Aerospace operating Learjet 31, Learjet 60 or Challenger 604 aircraft, has […]

It was five years in development, but collective efforts by three Chinese organizations to design, assemble, and fly a new single-engine airplane came to fruition Dec. 7. The five-seat plane, dubbed “AC500” or “Air Car 500,” made its first flight in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province. The Nanjing Light Aircraft Company Ltd. and […]

Long-time NBAA staffer Bill Stine last week marked his 25th year with the association. Presently serving the association as director of international operations, Stine has been the association’s spokesman on matters involving international business aviation, communications, navigation and surveillance since 1979. He served as staff liaison for the NBAA International Operators Committee for six years, […]

While they were gearing up to open their new maintenance facility, the men and women at Cessna took a break on Dec. 1 to deliver the company’s first Citation CJ3. In presenting the keys to the first CJ3, Cessna marked the third new Citation model to enter service in 2004; earlier this year Cessna certified […]

The Helicopter Association International (HAI) last week announced that Elling Halvorson, chairman of Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, Inc., is the recipient of the association’s 2004 Lawrence D. Bell Award. The award will be presented Feb. 7, 2005, at HELI-EXPO in Anaheim, Calif., during HAI’s 44th annual “Salute to Excellence” awards ceremony. During his 37-year association […]

As AVweb reported Monday, Eclipse Aviation Corporation on Saturday rolled out its first certification flight test aircraft equipped with two Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PW610F turbofan engines. Eclipse 500, N503EA, is scheduled for its first flight by Dec. 31, 2004. Vern Raburn, Eclipse president and CEO, said, “Over the coming months, we will have […]

Gulfstream Aerospace this week announced that its London-Luton Airport-based service center received Part 145 approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Nov. 29. The new approval replaces the previous Joint Aviation Authorities repair station authorization and allows the U.K. facility to perform base and line maintenance activities. The Luton service was acquired by […]