Piaggio Avanti frax operator Avantair has a new owner–Alfred Rapetti–and in the middle of next year will relocate its headquarters from Caldwell, N.J. to Clearwater, Fla. The company originally opened the Florida facility this summer as a southeast maintenance and operations base. Avantair currently operates 21 Avantis and plans to double that number by the end of the year.
Charter and Fractional
News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.
October 24, 2006 - 12:21pm
An “informal” meeting between Platinum Jet Management and the FAA was rescheduled from November 1 to December 15 at the agency’s northeast regional office. The purpose of the gathering is to discuss the FAA’s proposed $1.86 million penalty against the company for its alleged violations in connection with the February 2 accident at Teterboro Airport, N.J., in which a Challenger 600 crashed following an aborted takeoff.
October 23, 2006 - 8:03am
At the EBACE gathering in Geneva earlier this year, the joint industry working group on business aircraft operations (IWG-BAO), which includes NBAA, the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), presented the initial findings of its work on corporate, fractional and commercial operations, with a view toward making a recommendation to the ECAC Task Force on fractional ownership.
October 23, 2006 - 7:09am
After months of negotiation, the Flying Group has obtained approval from the board of directors of Aeroports de Paris to convert the short-term lease at Euralair Airport Services to a long-term lease for 25 years.
The Flying Group will have a full-fledged base of operations at Le Bourget and will also be able to invest in new facilities and develop its business aviation activities at the airport.
October 20, 2006 - 12:04pm
Italian airline Blue Panorama has launched an executive charter division with a pair of Piaggio Avanti P.180 twin turboprops. Flown by the new Executive Blue subsidiary, the aircraft are based at Rome Ciampino Airport.
October 20, 2006 - 12:01pm
UK executive charter firm Bookajet is rebranding its operation under the name Club328 to emphasize its new fleet of AvCraft Dornier 328Jets and Envoy 3s. Last month, the Southampton-based company took delivery of the first of the eight aircraft it has ordered. All will feature a Club328 logo.
October 20, 2006 - 11:55am
The time has come, your boss tells you, to buy another aircraft. So you jump to the task, do your research and find just the aircraft the boss needs. But before she signs her name on the purchase contract, she calls you and asks, “Do you think we need title insurance?”
October 19, 2006 - 12:14pm
Travelers on Delta, Northwest and other airlines operating under bankruptcy protection might face longer lines, delays and fuller and less frequent flights, but it’s “business as usual” at Delta AirElite, according to a spokesman.
October 19, 2006 - 12:05pm
Contract talks between NetJets management and pilots broke down once again on September 12, three days shy of a scheduled 30-day marathon bargaining session. The pilots’ union negotiation committee said it walked out of the talks “because the company has continuously failed to respond to the union’s position regarding the pilot group’s bargaining thresholds,” namely salary expectations.
October 19, 2006 - 12:02pm
Prospective European clearance for commercial single-engine IMC operations (SEIMC) continues to progress through regulatory approval stages but will not come this year, according to industry sources close to the proceedings.
