AVIONICS STC
Avidyne and Southern Star Avionics have received supplemental type certification to retrofit the Envision integrated flight deck on the Cessna 400 series of piston twins. The aircraft becomes the fourth twin-engine model to be authorised to fly with Envision after the Beechcraft King Air 90 and 200 series and Cessna 441 Conquest II turboprop. About 5,000 Cessna 400 series aircraft were built between 1964 and 1985 so "the market potential for Envision is extraordinary", says Mobile, Alabama-based Southern Star.
LINEAR VIRGIN
US regional air taxi company Linear Air has become the first Eclipse 500 very light jet operator to join Virgin Charter's online charter operation, servicing customers throughout the northeast and mid-Atlantic states of the USA and eastern Canada. Virgin Charter was formerly launched to the US public earlier this month, following a 14-month period of evaluation and testing.
KINGFISHER HELICOPTER
Vijay Mallya, owner of India's Kingfisher Airlines is planning to hold talks with Mumbai-based helicopter charter company Global Vectra Helicorp as part of his plans to offer a helicopter charter service for high-end corporate customers. Sources close to Global Vectra have confirmed that discussions are set to begin with the UB Group which owns Kingfisher Airlines, but so far no further details are have been disclosed. Mallya has declared for some time his intention to launch a helicopter service to transport Kingfisher's first-class passengers from selected airports in India to nearby cities
MOBILE SERVICE
Cessna is offering Citation operators a new mobile service unit designed, it says, to save time and money on aircraft maintenance. The first unit truck is based at Cessna's San Antonio service centre. Three more units are in production and will be based on the East and West Coast USA.
Source: Flight International
