Garmin completes 1st flight featuring G5000 Integrated Flight Deck, Business Aircraft for Humanitarian Purposes, Nextant in New Zealand

The quick-change Air Ambulance will be a part of Skyline Aviation’s expanding fleet.

The deal demonstrates solid regional interest in aeromedical operations.

Nextant Aerospace (“Nextant”), maker of the Nextant 400XTi – the world’s only remanufactured business jet – and the forthcoming Nextant G90XT turboprop, today announced the sale of its first 400XTi quick-change Air Ambulance to New Zealand.

The aircraft has been purchased by Skyline Aviation Ltd (“Skyline”) and wholly-owned associate company The New Zealand Air Ambulance Service Ltd, the region’s busiest aeromedical provider. The Nextant 400XTi will complement Skyline’s aeromedical fleet of turboprops and helicopters, and it will also be available for charter throughout New Zealand and internationally.

Most of the news, commentaries, and first-hand experiences that appear in this space revolve around the design, development, and operation of business aircraft and the global market for these fantastic airplanes. But there is another dimension to business aviation that gets too little attention: business aircraft utilization for humanitarian purposes.

When possible, JetOptions gives its empty legs to the Corporate Angel Network.

In 2010, for example, many operators of business aircraft of all descriptions were quick to respond to the crisis in Haiti as a result of a devastating earthquake. They flew large quantities of food, medicine, and other necessities in a massive relief effort that lasted months. Cessna has provided airlift for participants in the Special Olympics, and there are many more examples every year.