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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 1604.PDF
ExecuJet earns UAE approval KATE SARSFIELD/LONDON EXECUJET Aviation Group, the international aircraft char ter and management company, has received what is believed to be the first air operator's certificate (AOC) awarded by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority to a commer cial business aircraft operator in the United Arab Emirates. The approval comes comes less than six months after ExecuJet Middle East was set up to provide aircraft management and charter to the increasingly buoyant mar ket. Denzil White, managing director of the Dubai-based opera tion, says: "There is a grey charter market in the Middle East which can be exploited by those operators which want to avoid the costly and stringent requirements of an AOC operation. An aircraft could be made available in exchange for a fee [undetected by the authorities]." White believes this practice does not always offer a safe and effective means of transport for passengers as privately owned aircraft are not subjected to the same rigorous maintenance and service checks afforded to commercially operated aircraft. He adds: "We are target ing Western companies with busi ness interests in the region as well as high net worth individuals, who have previously not considered owning an aircraft. As a business aircraft operator with an AOC, we can corner the market". The Bombardier Aircraft sales agent will "sell and promote only" the Canadian manufacturer's busi ness jet line and has orders for a Learjet 45 and a mid-size Learjet 60 which will be delivered later this year. White notes: "Our fleet will consist of managed aircraft - we take care of everything from pilotage to maintenance. When we sell an aircraft to a customer we offer to buy back the excess capaci ty to sell on as charter." ExecuJet owns and manages 21 aircraft across its three bases, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Copenhagen, Denmark and Dubai. Denmark provides the operational headquarters for Bombardier's Flexjet Europe frac tional ownership programme, in which ExecuJet is a joint venture Extra banks on USA for growth EXTRA FLUGZEUGBAU plans to clinch US and UK approval for its Extra 400 touring aircraft by the fourth quarter of the year. The Diisseldorf, Germany- based manufacturer is marketing its six-seat piston single within the respective regions, with particular focus on the North American mar ket, which Extra believes will account for the bulk of its sales. Extra plans to establish a net work of sales and service centres across the region to support the marketing and distribution of the aircraft,. They will be added to its distributorship, St Augustine, Florida-based Aerosport. If successful in North America, Extra will double -400 production from around 20 aircraft a year in 2001to40ayearfrom2003. Jetcruzer authorised to fly at 30,000ft Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures' (AASI) Jetcruzer 500 turboprop has received US Federal Aviation Administration approval to fly at an altitude of 30,000ft (9,150m), after com pleting composite fuselage structure pressurisation tests. The Long Beach California- based company says: "Cruising at 30,000ft, pressurisation gives passengers a level of comfort similar to airliners," and also provides increased fuel efficien cy. AASI is "accelerating" final structure, systems and flight testing of the propjet in prepa ration for certification and first deliveries in the fourth quarter, nearly two years later then planned. The manufacturer has nearly 190 firm orders for its six- seat single, valued at $226 mil lion. Further sales are expected after the launch of its fractional ownership venture next year. General aviation pilots can get free weather GENERAL AVIATORS can get free UK weather forecast ing services from the World office.gov.uk/aviation. The Met commitment to promoting safer Office says: "It has always been our skies." Free weather data provi- intention to make as much weather sion, it says, has become possible Meteorological Centre (The Met forecast data freely available to the due to the reduced data delivery Office) website at http://www.met- GA sector as possible, as part of our costs afforded by the internet. partner. White quashes sugges tions that ExecuJet Middle East is a launch pad for further Flexjet expansion, believing the concept to be ill-suited to the region's culture and infrastructure. Fractional pioneer Executivejet established its Netjets Middle East programme with joint venture partner, National Air Services, ear lier this year. The Jeddah, Saudia Arabia-based operation has two Gulfstream IVSPs. A third GIVSP, and the first Raytheon Hawker 800XP and Dassualt Falcon 2000 will be added by the end of the year. Executive Jet notes. "We shall be adding betweeen 12 to 15 aircraft a year and plan have more than 60 aircraft in the Netjets Middle East fleet within five years". J NEWS IN BRIEF • HONEYWELL APPROVALS Honeywell has received US Federal Aviation Admini stration technical standard order (TSO) approval for its $10,000 Mark VI and Vffl enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) for turboprops and light jets. It expects TSO approval for the Bendix/King KGP 560 EGPWS for piston and light twins in the second quarter. The company has also re ceived TSO approval to adapt the RDR-4B radar to provide predictive windshear detec tion for business jets and regional aircraft. • INTEGRATED IFE Airshow has launched the iSYS Intelligent Cabin Sys tems to integrate the suppli er's in-flight entertainment (IFE) and information sys tems on business jets. ISYS combines the Airshow Net work news and weather ser vice; airborne satellite tv service, Airshow TV Inter national; Airshow 400 mov ing map; Airshow M@il e-mail service; and AirPlay audio and video system. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 23 - 29 May 2000 29
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