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Your essential weekly digest of International Business and Private Aviation Industry news
Washington, DC:
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has published the first quarter 2026 General Aviation Aircraft Shipment and Billing Report.
The results for the first three months of 2026, when compared to the same period in 2025, show increased shipments in the piston airplane and business jet sectors and an increase in the overall value of aircraft shipments.
Aircraft shipments through the first quarter of 2026, when compared to the same period in 2025, saw piston airplanes increase 6.4% with 381 units, turboprops decrease 3.1% with 124 units, and business jets increase 14.9% with 162 units.
The value of airplane deliveries through the first quarter of 2026 was $6.1bn, an increase of 19.1%.
Helicopter shipments through the first quarter of 2026, when compared to the same period in 2025, saw piston helicopters decrease by seven units to 47, and turbine helicopters decrease by 9.0% with 121 units. The value of civil-commercial helicopter deliveries was $789m.
full report
Burlington, Vermont:
US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has become the first Transportation Secretary in American history to fly in an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL).
Secretary Duffy’s historic flight, on Friday 29th May at BETA Technologies Vermont headquarters, marked an important milestone in development of these next generation aircraft.
eVTOLs are aircraft that have the potential to generate new jobs, connect communities, and strengthen American leadership in aviation.
To ensure American innovation leads the way, Secretary Duffy and the Federal Aviation Administration unveiled a new pilot program (eIPP) to begin testing advanced air mobility vehicles and their real-world applications out in the field.
The eight selected projects span 26 states and partner with leading aircraft manufacturers, operators, and state partners.
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Washington, DC:
The National Business Aviation Association recently released its latest NBAA Business Aviation Accident and Incident Analysis, examining 40 business aircraft safety events in the first three months of 2026, including six fatal accidents.
The analysis - offered exclusively as a benefit of NBAA membership - highlights several common areas of focus for industry safety managers and experts.
“While investigations into many of these events are ongoing and probable causes have yet to be determined, the data already points to the need for strict adherence to stabilized approach criteria, as well as heightened vigilance and enhanced ground control procedures in the airport ramp and runway environments,” said Mark Larsen, CAM, NBAA director of safety and flight operations.
Compiled using detailed data from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the web-based resource details 15 incidents and 25 accidents involving turbine-powered business aircraft during the first quarter of 2026.
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Hattiesburg, Mississippi:
Avflight Hattiesburg unveils state-of-the-art terminal
Avflight Corporation has opened a new 5,300-square-foot terminal at Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional Airport (KPIB), marking another milestone for its Hattiesburg operation, which joined the network in 2024.
Funded by an FAA Airport Infrastructure Grant, the project took 18 months to complete.
The facility features a passenger lobby, conference room, concierge services, and a pilot lounge with workspaces, bistro seating, a TV, recliners, and a private rest room.
The airport also offers multiple hangars capable of accommodating aircraft up to a Gulfstream G550, along with covered parking for based and transient aircraft.
Avflight recently enhanced the airport’s infrastructure with a new fuel storage system holding up to 24,000 gallons of jet fuel and 10,000 gallons of avgas, plus diesel and automotive fuel.
The system includes modern monitoring, overfill protection, and redundant pumping capabilities to improve reliability.
Orlando, Florida:
Signature Aviation has spearheaded a milestone moment for commercial aviation, completing three days of high-cadence electric flight demonstrations at Kissimmee Gateway Airport in Florida alongside partners BETA Technologies, Republic Airways, and Brickyard Connection.
Backed by newly installed ultra-fast charging infrastructure across six Florida airports, the demonstrations - conducted in the demanding heat of the Sunshine State - build on a successful winter campaign in Vermont and New York, and signal that electric regional air service is no longer a future ambition, but a commercial reality.
The back-to-back hot- and cold-weather demonstrations prove the readiness of electric commercial aviation to support cargo, logistics, passenger, and medical missions connecting Florida's major metropolitan areas with the regional airports that serve them.
Signature Aviation has taken a leadership position in bringing electric ground support infrastructure to the market worldwide.
As part of its Advanced Air Mobility strategy, the company is partnering with BETA to expand charging capabilities across Florida and beyond. Most recently commissioned at Kissimmee Gateway Airport was a BETA Charge Cube and Thermal Management System, which enables ultra-fast charging, despite hot and humid weather conditions.
BETA has charging infrastructure installed at six airports across the state, including Kissimmee Gateway Airport, Duke Field (Eglin Air Force Base Auxiliary) and Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview, Gainesville Regional Airport, Tallahassee International Airport, and Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport.
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Four Corners Aviation
Truman Cuthbert
Dallas-based Four Corners Aviation has added Truman Cuthbert to its charter sales team as Charter Sales Executive.
Cuthbert brings extensive experience in private aviation sales and charter brokerage, specializing in delivering tailored travel solutions for high-net-worth individuals, executives, athletes, and entertainment clientele.
With a strong background in aircraft charter sales, client relations, and trip management, he has built a reputation for providing exceptional service, discretion, and around-the-clock operational support.
Over the course of his career, Cuthbert has managed a wide range of domestic and international charter operations, overseeing every aspect of the client experience, from sourcing aircraft and negotiating contracts to coordinating logistics and ensuring seamless execution. His expertise in the private aviation market, combined with a client-first approach, has allowed him to develop lasting relationships and consistently exceed expectations in a highly competitive industry.
Cuthbert reports to Michael Banas, Vice President of Charter, and will focus on delivering customized private aviation solutions for Four Corners Aviation clients worldwide.
Avion Express
Vytenis Suklys
Avion Express, a leading global ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) operator, has announced the appointment of Vytenis Suklys as Chief Executive Officer, effective from 1st of June.
Vytenis Suklys brings a strong background in both airline business and financial management. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Avion Express, giving him deep familiarity with the company's operations and strategy.
Beyond aviation, he has accumulated broad experience within large logistics business group. In his new role, he will focus on strengthening operational performance and driving the company's continued growth across global markets.
Suklys succeeds Darius Kajokas who led the company for more than eight years, overseeing a period of exceptional growth, international expansion, and operational excellence.
Jonas Janukenas, CEO of Avia Solutions Group, said: "I am delighted to welcome Vytenis and trust his leadership. I would also like to thank Darius for his dedication and the strong foundation he leaves behind. As we look to the future, Avion Express remains a pivotal cornerstone of Avia Solutions Group's global growth strategy."
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WINGX Global Market Tracker:
Global bizjet growth steady near 4% as Monaco braces for peak demand
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Global bizjet activity grew at rate of 2.8% year-on-year in Week 22 (25-31 May), with the year-to-date figure through May (1 January-31 May) at +3.9% ahead of last year, a 0.2 percentage point increase compared to the +3.7% YTD trend reported last week (through 24 May), with the YTD figure remaining around 4% for much of the year (a continuation of the +4.4% seen in 2025 vs 2024).
While accounting for less than 1% of all bizjet sectors flown last week, South America was the standout growth market, with sectors up by 11.0% vs Week 22 2025, while North America accounted for 71% of traffic and expanded 5.5%.
Event Analysis: Monaco Grand Prix
Traffic Surge: Ahead of the June 5-7 Monaco Grand Prix weekend, WINGX data from the 2025 Grand Prix shows business jet activity at Nice Côte d’Azur (LFMN), the primary airport for Monaco business jet traffic, running at roughly twice the normal levels across the race weekend. Combined arrivals and departures averaged more than 260 movements per day from Thursday to Monday, up close to 110% compared to the typical 125-a-day week, and peaked at 301 on the Monday exodus, 2.4x the normal day.
full report
Wichita, Kansas:
Textron Aviation has rolled out the 500th Cessna Citation CJ4 - a CJ4 Gen2 - marking over a decade of strong demand for the popular single-pilot business jet.
The milestone comes ahead of the upcoming CJ4 Gen3, which is expected to receive FAA certification this year.
The rollout was celebrated with employees from across the Citation CJ4 production line, recognizing the team whose skill, precision and pride in their work are essential to every aircraft delivered.
more
Broomfield, Colorado:
Gogo has announced that US-based aircraft management, fractional ownership, jet cards, and charter services operator Airshare is equipping its fleet of Embraer Phenom 300s with the Gogo Galileo HDX system.
The upgrade delivers high-speed, low-latency connectivity across Airshare's Phenom fleet, enabling passengers and crew to email, stream, video conference, and browse simultaneously from anywhere they fly.
The decision followed a successful demonstration flight during which Airshare executives evaluated the system under real-world conditions.
more
Wichita, Kansas:
Textron Aviation has announced the completed expansion of its flight test hangar on the company’s East Wichita Campus, increasing capacity to support growing global demand for the Cessna SkyCourier and continued development activity across its turboprop portfolio.
The 57,000-square-foot expansion adds six new hangar bays on the north side of the facility, significantly increasing capacity for flight test operations as activity continues to accelerate for the twin-engine, large utility SkyCourier.
The expanded footprint will also support ongoing flight test and entry‑into‑service work for the Beechcraft Denali.
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Charleston, South Carolina:
Electra, the global leader in ultra-short hybrid-electric aviation, has announced the successful completion of the first urban demonstration of its Ultra Short airplane at the Columbus Street Terminal, offering a real-world look at how regional air travel can move beyond airports to become faster, simpler, and far more accessible.
Hosted by SC Ports during the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Americas, the flight highlights how Electra’s hybrid-electric propulsion and blown-lift technology enable takeoffs and landings in 150 feet or less, opening up entirely new places for air services to operate, called Ultra Short Access Points, like parking lots, rooftops, fields, and barges.
 more, plus video
By Gogo CEO, Chris Moore. |
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Gogo CEO Chris Moore explains why lead times are taking on critical importance for operators planning connectivity upgrades.
The MRO slot is booked for scheduled maintenance. The parts are in stock. The operator is taking advantage of the aircraft downtime for avionics updates and a minor cabin refurbishment.
Over the past few months, the aircraft’s legacy connectivity system has struggled to keep up with its passengers’ demands for video calls and streaming, and the principal has begun complaining.
Robust, high-performance connectivity is also a key selling point for charter customers and helps retain asset value. It makes complete sense to install a new antenna, cabling, router and cabin Wi-Fi while parts of the cabin are out for refurbishment.
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida:
VIP Completions and architecture studio partner YODEZEEN have won the 'Aviation Interior Design/VIP Completion' title at the International Yacht & Aviation (IY&AA) Awards for their Gulfstream G550 refurbishment project.
The IY&AA celebrate the world’s most innovative designs in luxury yachting and private aviation.
VIP Completions-YODEZEEN delivered this Gulfstream G550 in August of last year. The project transformed and completely revitalized the interior of this long-range business jet.
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Monaco:
Leading aircraft charter specialist, Air Charter Service, has opened an office in the sovereignty of Monaco, on the French Riviera, the company’s 43rd office globally.
The ACS Monaco launch team.
Alexandre Busila, ACS’s Regional Director of the Francophone market, commented: “Monaco is a natural choice for our new office, with an abundance of private jet users living in the principality, and the riviera region, many as clients of ours already.
"We have always felt that a local presence to our customers is essential, so it was a natural next step to have an office here."
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Melbourne, Florida:
Eve Air Mobility has announced the successful closeout of the hover & low speed flights block in the flight test campaign of its full scale engineering prototype.
The completed block generated high fidelity data and knowledge gains that continue to mature the program as Eve progresses toward transition flight testing.
The milestone reflects Eve’s disciplined building-block approach, which expands the flight envelope step by step and validates models, control laws and aircraft behavior against real world data before moving into more complex tests. Each completed block strengthens the technical foundation for the next, tightening the correlation between simulation predictions and flight behavior.
more
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Wichita, Kansas:
Textron Aviation reached a major development milestone in its next-generation light jet portfolio as the Cessna Citation M2 Gen3 prototype successfully completed its first flight.
The aircraft will now enter an expanded phase of flight testing as the company works toward FAA certification and a planned entry into service in 2027.
“The aircraft systems and software performed as intended throughout the flight, with all validation checks completed successfully, contributing to a smooth and uneventful flight,” said Tanner Towns, flight test engineer. “This flight confirms the strong foundation we’ve built as we move into the next phase of testing.”
The initial flight, piloted by Andrew Thorson and Towns, lasted 2.7 hours and focused on evaluating aircraft handling and key systems. The M2 Gen3 reached a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet and a maximum speed of 263 knots.
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Sydney, Australia:
ExecuJet MRO Services Australasia is expanding its Falcon maintenance capability in Sydney, with new investments in specialist tooling, training and technical resources to support upcoming Falcon 7X heavy maintenance work.
The company is preparing to undertake Falcon 7X C-checks, with work commencing in October 2026. C-checks on the Falcon 7X are the largest scheduled maintenance events and are due every eight years or every 4,000 cycles, whichever comes first.
As part of the preparation, ExecuJet is investing in additional Falcon 7X tooling and ground support equipment required for heavy maintenance checks. The company is also sending an additional two Sydney-based engineers to FlightSafety International in Paris for specialised Falcon 7X airframe and systems training, strengthening the technical depth of its local team.
In addition, it is recruiting an experienced Falcon 7X engineer from the Middle East to strengthen its Sydney team. The additional expertise will support the company’s expanding Falcon workload and help build long-term in-country capability for operators in Australia and the region.
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Prague, Czech Republic:
The Czech Ministry of Interior and Airbus Helicopters have signed a contract for 11 five-bladed H145 helicopters, marking a significant milestone in the modernisation of the Czech Republic’s public safety infrastructure.
These state-of-the-art multi-role aircraft will be operated by the Czech Police Aviation Service, serving as the backbone of its fleet for law enforcement, search and rescue, and emergency medical missions. The comprehensive agreement encompasses not only the delivery of the helicopters but also an extensive training and logistics package to ensure seamless operational integration.
The Czech Police Aviation Service is a long-standing operator of Airbus products, currently utilising a fleet that includes nine H135 family helicopters. This fleet will be replaced by the five-bladed H145, which will significantly enhance their tactical range and lifting capacity while streamlining maintenance through advanced digital systems.
“We are honoured that the Czech Ministry of Interior has chosen the H145 to support its vital missions. As the Czech police currently operate the H135, transitioning to the H145 is the logical next step in their fleet's evolution, allowing crews and maintenance teams to benefit from a high degree of commonality and ensure seamless operational readiness from day one,” said Thomas Hein, Head of Europe Region at Airbus Helicopters.
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Hamburg, Germany & Wichita, Kansas:
Textron Aviation and Hamburg-based charter operator Platoon Aviation have announced a multi-aircraft fleet purchase agreement that will position Platoon as the largest Cessna Citation Longitude fleet owner in Europe, with deliveries expected to begin in 2027.
The deal marks a significant expansion for Platoon, which specialises in on-demand private jet travel for business and leisure travellers requiring long-range capability and premium cabin comfort.
By building out its Longitude fleet, the company is making a clear statement about where it sees European business aviation heading - and its own place within it.
"Platoon Aviation is redefining what business aviation can look like in the next decade," said CEO Deniz Weißenborn. "The Citation Longitude fleet expansion reflects our commitment to building a future-proof, next-generation aviation platform that combines operational efficiency, sustainability and uncompromising comfort."
Lannie O'Bannion, Textron Aviation's senior vice president of Sales & Marketing, pointed to the Longitude's position in the market as central to the agreement's logic. "This agreement with Platoon Aviation underscores the Longitude's leadership in the super-midsize segment and the trust customers place in Cessna and our team," he said.
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Zurich, Switzerland:
Leading flight simulation training technology company, ELITE Simulation Solutions, has announced that it is actively developing and integrating advanced AI-driven Air Traffic Control (ATC) services across its entire portfolio of flight simulation devices to better reflect real-world aviation environments.
The introduction of intelligent, responsive AI ATC functionality represents a significant step forward in delivering highly immersive and comprehensive training experiences for pilots at all levels.
This new feature will enable student pilots and professional trainees to engage with dynamic, context-aware ATC interactions, closely replicating real-life communication, procedures, and decision-making scenarios.
By enhancing realism and situational awareness, ELITE aims to further bridge the gap between simulation and actual flight operations.
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Friedrichshafen:
AERO 2027, taking place from April 14th-17th, 2027, will feature a further developed concept designed to build on the great success of this year’s event.
In 2026, 860 exhibitors from 50 countries took part in the global leading trade show for general aviation, business aviation, and air sports. Around 37,000 visitors came to AERO in Friedrichshafen, with approximately half of them holding a pilot´s license.
In 2027, visitors will once again be able to experience the full diversity of the industry at AERO. Glider manufacturers and suppliers, who exhibit at the trade show every two years, will once again complement the 2027 event with the AERO Gliding Expo. Gliding has been an integral part of AERO for many years and, like few other segments, represents the enthusiasm, fascination, and tradition of air sports.
Helicopters will move closer to business aviation and flight schools with their relocation to hall A2. Ultralight helicopters will be presented alongside ultralight and LSA aircraft manufacturers in the B halls. This will showcase the diversity of air sports along the entire B axis of the exhibition grounds more prominently than it has in a long time.
Single- and twin-engine aircraft, which form the core of general aviation, will be located in halls A3-A6. In hall A7, start-ups and manufacturers of new propulsion systems, including hydrogen and electric technologies, as well as new aircraft concepts, will present their projects and programs.
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New Electra report projects direct point-to-point air travel will reach 1 million daily passengers within a decade
Bombardier to supply three Global 6500s for Australian Border Force maritime surveillance
Universal Aviation Madrid achieves IS-BAH Stage II
Signature breaks ground on hangar and office development at Roanoke-Blacksburg Airport
The ACA finalises 2026 intern selection with diverse group of aspiring young professionals
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A Sweet Shipment
This summer, while United passengers relax in their seats 35,000 feet in the air enjoying onboard service, hundreds of tons of vanilla will also be making a global trip for the third year in a row.
Long before vanilla became the flavor of birthday cakes, ice cream and coffee syrups, it was one of the world’s most rare spices. Originally cultivated by the Totonac people of present-day Mexico and later prized by European royalty, vanilla has traveled across oceans and trade routes for centuries.
Today, much of the world’s vanilla is grown on the tropical islands of Madagascar and Mauritius, where vanilla orchids are carefully planted and cured through a delicate process that can take months before the beans are ready to ship.
Once harvested, United Cargo then steps in for another part of the journey. After leaving Madagascar and Mauritius, shipments pass through Paris before being carefully transferred onto United flights bound for Chicago and Newark.This year alone, United Cargo has secured more than 280 tons of vanilla shipments, with hundreds more expected throughout the summer.
When vanilla (or any flavor) ice-cream itself ships (beyond the vanilla bean), it’s transported via United Cargo’s TempControl product, which ships temperature-sensitive freight around the world with precision.
Whether it’s a teaspoon in your favorite dessert or a splash in your morning coffee, vanilla feels like an everyday ingredient. However, getting that flavor from its origin to kitchens around the world takes a lot more than most people realize. |
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