FLUG REVUE August 2004: EBACE in Geneva now well established

EBACE NOW WELL ESTABLISHED

By Volker K. Thomalla

Business jets are an established part of normal life at Geneva airport. However, the number of business aircraft that gathered at the airport at the end of May was unusual, even for Geneva. The European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) 2004 had lured owners and users of aircraft to the Swiss city normally associated with the worlds of clocks, high finance and government. Collaborating with the American Business Aviation interest group, the NBAA, EBACE has been held for each of the last four years and has blossomed into the European industry meeting place par excellence. EBACE is attended not only by aircraft manufacturers, but also by avionics manufacturers, airports, providers of services and their customers. This year's catalogue listed 247 exhibitors, 20 percent more than in 2003. When the show shut its gates for the last time, the number of visitors stood at 6,487.

Although the aerospace industry as a whole complains about the increasing number of trade shows, for many people the bottom line was unequivocal: visiting EBACE 2004 had definitely been worth it.

The Brazilian manufacturer Embraer had sent a Legacy to Geneva. The twin-jet, an executive jet derivative of the Embraer 135 regional jet, had been refurbished with a new interior which featured a larger galley, new seats and new side trim panels. Embraer has developed the new cabin interior so as to meet customer requirements more flexibly and to be in a position to satisfy demand for customised aircraft more quickly and at lower cost.

There were also some new products from the French manufacturer, Dassault Aviation. The days of the Dassault Falcon 900C are numbered. Its successor will be the Dassault Falcon 900DX, which was launched at EBACE. The new type will be lighter than its predecessor and will be able to fly further. Its range, according to Dassault, will be 4,100nm (7,593km). This will enable the three-engine jet to fly non-stop from Geneva to Detroit. Even the standard version of the 900DX is to be fitted with Dassault's new EASy glass cockpit. The three Honeywell TFE731-60 turbofans provide 22.41kN/5,000lb of take-off thrust. The first deliveries are expected to take place after certification in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Soon after that, early in 2006, the first Falcon 7X customers will be able to pick up their keys . The 7X will be the flagship of the Falcon family. It has a wingspan of 25.17m, a length of 23.19m and a height of 7.19m. With an empty weight of just under 15 tonnes and a maximum take-off weight of 28,894kg, the 7X will also be the heaviest Falcon. Despite this, its performance will be impressive: powered by three PW307A turbofans from Pratt & Whitney Canada, it will be able to carry eight passengers non-stop over a distance of 5,700nm/10,556km. The first Falcon 7X's are currently taking shape on the assembly-line at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport. The maiden flight is scheduled for the summer of 2005. Prior to EBACE, the engine had completed 140 flying hours and 1,400 hours of ground tests, so that the companies are now in a position to guarantee the calculated fuel consumption figures.

Meanwhile, Raytheon updated the public on the status of the Hawker Horizon programme at EBACE. The intercontinental jet, which has a range of 3,400nm/6,296km, is currently in the process of freeing itself of its image as the company's problem child. The Horizon was first announced in November 1996, at which time it was assumed that the launch customers would take delivery of their new jets in 2001. In the event, however, programme setbacks resulted in a delayed rollout in April 2001, with the maiden flight slipping to August 2001. Since then, the three Horizons in the test fleet have completed 1,100 flying hours, but only about 55 percent of the flight test programme has been completed to date. Horizon number 4 was expected to join the test fleet shortly after EBACE, followed by the two test aircraft known within the company by the designations RC-5 and RC-6. The American Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has begun its demonstration flights, so that certification before the end of the year is a distinct possibility. Shortly before EBACE, Horizon RC-2 demonstrated the required resilience to cold weather on a four-day trip to Canada, during which it withstood temperatures as low as -30ºC.

The Hawker Horizon has a carbon fibre fuselage and aluminium aerofoils, and requires only 1,446m of runway to take off and 750m to land. It is also relatively quick to reach its maximum cruise altitude of 45,000ft (13,716m). The Horizon climbs to its initial cruise altitude of 37,000ft (11,277m) in only 13 minutes. It is not only the biggest aircraft ever to have been built by Raytheon, but, with a price tag of $18.4 million, it is also one of the most expensive.

Bombardier Business Aircraft did not use the trade show simply as an opportunity to unveil its new Learjet 45XR, but, with the Learjet 40, the Challenger 300 and the Global Express, it accounted for over ten percent of all the aircraft in the static display. With the “Transatlantic Express”, Bombardier subsidiary Flexjet Europe launched a new product that is intended to fill the gap on Atlantic business trips left behind by the retirement of the Concorde. Flexjet offers Atlantic crossings (between western Europe and the USA) in the Global Express at a fixed price. Flexjet names the fare before a customer makes a reservation, so that the customer knows before takeoff exactly how much he will have to pay, irrespective of whether the flight exceeds the planned time due to air traffic control restrictions or poor weather. The Transatlantic Express can carry up to ten passengers on a single flight. To avail themselves of this means of transport, customers no longer have to be members of a fractional ownership programme.

Just how important EBACE is to the global Business Aviation scene was also apparent from the presence of the giants: both Boeing Business Jet and Airbus were represented in Geneva. On the very first day, Airbus announced an order for two A319 Executives from the Saudi National Air Services. The two twinjets are to be operated as luxury shuttles between Riad and Jeddah. Richard Gaona, Vice President at Airbus for executive and private aircraft, said that in the first few months of the year Airbus had received orders for nine executive jets altogether.

To assist the customer with the entry into service of the aircraft in its fleet, Airbus has recently started offering customer pilots the opportunity to fly for certain time with Air Luxor. The Portuguese company has a lot of experience with business jets and both chartered and scheduled services. If a customer so desires, its pilots can gain experience there before its own Airbus Corporate Jet Liner (ACJ) enters service.

Other business deals were also announced at EBACE. Thus, for example, Cirrus Aviation of Zweibrücken signed a contract for a second Learjet 40, while the Cessna Aircraft Company salesmen flew back to Wichita with six new orders in their pockets. The aircraft ordered were one Citation Sovereign, one CJ2, three Citation XLS's and one Citation X. Attending the show also proved worthwhile for AvCraft, which has resumed production of the Dornier 328 in Oberpfaffenhofen: the English companies, Club Air and Bookajet, announced at EBACE that together they were placing firm orders for seven Dornier 328JETs in the executive version Envoy 3 (see FR 07/04) and options for a further six aircraft.

From page 33 of FLUG REVUE 8/2004

Last updated 8 July 2004

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