Dassault Falcon 5X, Kodiak Turboprop, Art Basel, Africa Business Aviation

Quest Aircraft has sold its first Kodiak single-engined turboprop through a European dealership and is now working towards EASA certification of the 10-seat utility aircraft, which it hopes to secure by early next year.

The Pratt & Whitney PT6A-64-powered Kodiak was sold by its recently-appointed sales agent, Rheinland Air Service. The German business aviation services company is one of nearly 20 dealerships that Quest has appointed as part of its drive to sell and market the Kodiak through regional, independent companies rather than through US sales agents based out of its Sandpoint, Idaho headquarters.

Five Kodiaks have been sold into Europe through US sales agents, with the first model handed over to a European customer in 2010. This latest aircraft will be delivered to its undisclosed owner later this year and will be used for parachute jumping and skydiving.

Continue Reading about the Kodiak turboprop on https://www.flightglobal.com »

Dassault rolled out its Falcon 5X on 2 June at a dedicated ceremony at its 64-year-old final assembly facility at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport in southwest France.

In front of a specially selected audience of customers, operators, suppliers and regulators, Dassault Aviation chairman and chief executive Eric Trappier declared that the large-cabin, long-range aircraft was not only a “game changer” in this niche and nascent sector but also marked the first of a family of new-generation wide-cabin business jets from the French airframer.

“Cabin width is an integral part of our product line strategy going forward,” Trappier says.

With a fuselage diameter of 2.7m (8.9ft) and a cabin height of 1.98m, the 16-passenger 5X is the largest aircraft in Dassault’s six-strong high-end business jet family and boasts the widest cabin cross section of any traditional business jet.

The future Falcon family, Trappier says, is likely to include a stretched and longer-range version of the 5X, which will compete at the top end of the market with the ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650 and in-development Global 7000 and 8000. He refuses to be drawn, however, on a specific timeline for the launch of this new offering.

Continue Reading about the Dassault Falcon 5X on https://www.flightglobal.com »

African aviation has, for years, been plagued with a lack of infrastructure, an insufficient aviation safety culture, and disease- and conflict-related restrictions on airspace that limit travel routes. Rady Fahmy, executive director of the African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA), feels many of those views are outdated, however, and hopes a new study by the two-year-old organization will change perceptions and encourage investment in biz av across the continent. “Africa has changed immensely over the last decade and there are very few areas now where it is unsafe to fly. There’s an outdated view of what Africa is, full of conflicts and wars; that is the old Africa,” said Fahmy.

Continue Reading about business aviation in Africa on aviationtoday.com »