EBACE 2019 Host Facility Gains Environmental Sustainability Certification/EBACE 2019 NEWS

Geneva’s Palexpo convention center, host facility for the 2019 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2019), recently achieved compliance with the ISO 20121:2012 standard outlining stringent environmental sustainability management system requirements for event hosting.

In addition to recognizing the Palexpo’s own environmental initiatives – including its use of 15,000 roof-mounted photovoltaic cells to generate 4.2 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to power 1,350 residential households – ISO 20121:2012 certification also encompasses the venue’s environmental sustainability requirements for vendors and exhibitors. For example, among many such measures in place at EBACE include optimized show equipment and transportation alternatives to reduce the number of vehicles required on-site, and extensive use of recycled and reusable materials for show carpet, exhibit displays and event signage. Nearby Geneva Airport (GVA), the location for the EBACE2019 static display of aircraft, last year earned the highest level (3+) in the Airport Carbon Accreditation campaign led by Airports Council International Europe. Geneva Airport, the third-busiest business aviation airport in Europe, was the 37th airport in the world to achieve carbon neutrality.

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In keeping with sustainability and environmentally-friendly push at EBACE, one fuel provider in New York will be offering Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuel to EBACE-bound jets. A supply of the SAJF will be made available by Avfuel to Sheltair FBO on Republic Airport, Long Island for those customers who want to travel to the show with less of a carbon footprint. The specially blended fuel will be available between May 16 and 18th in time for the EBACE show which starts on the 21st. Some of the bizjet airframers have already jumped onboard to use the fuel including Textron Aviation, Embraer and Bombardier.

The 2019 EBACE is underway for another year and will run from 21st to the 23rd. Any major developments during the show we will bring them to you here.

Pegasus has unveiled a Vertical Take Off and Landing Aircraft at the EBACE, stay tuned for more on this.

The Honda Aircraft Company is looking to expand further at its Greensboro facility according to an announcement made at the 2019 EBACE yesterday.

Bombardier is pleased to announce that Hong Kong aircraft management company HK Bellawings Jet Limited has signed a letter of intent (LOI) for five new Global 7500 business jets and has also exercised options for two Global 7500 business jets, as part of the initial agreement signed in May last year. This news comes as the industry flagship Global 7500 aircraft is showcased for the first time at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva.

EBACE 2019 has definitely been the platform for a number of VTOL, EVTOL and Electric Aircraft startups and companies to showcase their stuff to the world. It is a time where the conversation is increasingly going forward with the Urban Air Mobility and Urban Air Taxi monikers for the future and numerous entities out there are trying to cash in on this before it really starts. As you know there are a few companies out there already having scale and full-size prototypes testing and in the works. We have seen the first test flights from Lilium, XTI Aircraft. We have seen the presentation of Pegasus ONE from Pegasus Universal Aerospace. BYE Aerospace renamed their Sunflyer 2 to the eFlyer to better represent the electric capabilities of the craft. The list goes on but one thing is for certain, EBACE 2019 really pushed many of these entities to the forefront and further in the public's eye.

Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuel (SAJF) has been the talk at the ongoing 2019 EBACE. A panel of industry experts on 21 May explained what it means to use sustainable alternative jet fuels (SAJF) in business aircraft. To start, they marked the “huge progress” since last year’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE). "Nearly half the airplanes in the static display flew here [to EBACE2019] on SAJF," said Brad Nolen, Bombardier vice president of marketing and strategy. "This is a drop-in fuel. You can pour it right into your aircraft. All our airplanes, from the manufacturers sitting up here, can take this fuel, and when you fly on it, you will notice no difference." To make SAJF, molecules from biofuels are blended with kerosene-based Jet A, at a ratio of up to 50/50. The biofuel is refined from a variety of renewable feedstocks, including used cooking oil and agricultural waste. The main advantages to using this sustainable blended fuel? SAJF biofuel does not have the impurities of fossil-based Jet-A, so it is a cleaner fuel, producing less sulfur dioxide and particulate matter. Most importantly, it produces far lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Always Be Prepared to Respond to the Public, Say Aviation Crisis Specialists

Pilots rely on checklists and training to manage operational risk – the same tools that organizations can use to manage reputational risk. Those tools, and how to prepare for the unexpected, were the focus of a crisis communications panel at EBACE2019. "In a crisis, your brand is on fire and you have to extinguish it," said moderator Taunya Renson-Martin, a strategic communications advisor for EBAA. "The role of crisis communications is to prevent further escalation of the crisis and to gain trust back from your internal and external stakeholders."

During his keynote address on 21 May, Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter said the company’s electric air taxi was "the perfect complement and addition to business aviation," and finding industry partners brought him to this year’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2019). "Volocopter is a tech company with aviation at heart, and we’re moving forward at breathtaking speed," Reuter told show attendees. "I’d love to use the opportunity at EBACE to communicate with you about how we could potentially cooperate going forward." Volocopter is developing an electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi. With a 22-mile range, 400 pounds of payload capacity and a very quiet operating profile, its latest model is designed for short-range, urban missions.

Even though business aviation is going through a global workforce shortage and companies are eager to bring in new talent, young people often struggle getting their first job in the industry. That’s true in any field, but especially so, given business aviation’s high training requirements and traditionally low profile. To bridge that gap between employers and potential employees, the 2019 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2019) featured the annual Careers in Business Aviation Day for students and recent graduates, and presented a session called, “How I Broke Into Business Aviation and You Can Too.” The panelists were all under 40 and shared how they found their first jobs in business aviation and their current roles, from engineering at an aerospace manufacturer to fractional pilot to marketing at a digital charter platform. Many of the panelists had also been EBAA delegates to the 2018 One Young World summit.

Today is the last day of the 2019 EBACE.

Organizers today wrapped a highly successful 2019 edition of the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2019), pointing to the many ways the show highlighted the innovation and investment driving the future of business aviation. “The excitement and enthusiasm surrounding this year’s show has been palpable throughout the week,” said European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) Secretary General Athar Husain Khan. “EBACE2019 was characterized by new products, new business models, new investment opportunities and a new generation of aviation professionals determined to make their mark.”

Even though today is the last day you can check out the the Praetor 600 by Embraer at the static display.

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. recently announced the Gulfstream G650ER, Gulfstream G600, Gulfstream G550 and Gulfstream G280 flew to Geneva for the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition using sustainable alternative jet fuel (SAJF). "We made SAJF available to our customers earlier this year and are taking as many opportunities as we can to raise the profile of this sustainable resource," said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream. "Gulfstream led the industry four years ago when we committed to our own supply of SAJF, and we have been strong supporters of our industry’s efforts to enhance awareness of the fuel and decrease emissions."

The Daher TBM 910 very fast turboprop aircraft exhibited at the recent European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) was flown to the Geneva aviation show using Jet A fuel blended with biofuel. This demonstration flight was organized by the business aviation coalition for sustainable alternative jet fuel (SAJF) utilizing a Jet A/biofuel mix produced by Neste – a world-leading renewable products producer – and made available to Daher by Air BP. The fuel meets the industry’s ASTM D7566 aviation turbine fuel containing synthesized hydrocarbons standard specification and has been approved for the TBM’s PT6A turboprop engine by Pratt & Whitney Canada, the powerplant manufacturer.