Graham Warwick | Aviation Week & Space Technology

Two days and 5,400 mi. apart, delivery by drone took significant steps toward everyday reality. On April 23, the first air carrier certificate for a commercial drone delivery service in the U.S. was awarded by the FAA to Wing, the subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet. A day later, Ghana formally launched the world’s largest medical drone delivery service, operated by Zipline and covering the entire country. Armed with its Part 135 operator’s certificate, Wing plans to engage with communities and businesses in Blacksburg and Christiansburg in southwest Virginia, close to where it has been trialing its delivery drones with...

Click Here to Read More

Business & Commercial Aviation

It sure is, and we are talking about the fees assessed against operators visiting Moscow’s three principal international airports for landings, ground services, parking and related services: Vnukovo (UUWW), Domodedovo (UUDD) and Sheremetyevo (UUEE). BCA has come into possession of invoices from visits of business aircraft to each airport during late 2018 and early 2019. Here’s what we found.

In September 2018, one Gulfstream operator visited Vnukovo for three days. Among (but not all of) the charges were the landing fee of $588, a “terminal passenger fee” of $1,925, parking fee of $1,844, aircraft “guarding fee” of $335, passenger luggage clearance fee of $314, lav purging fee of $376, “traffic handling” fee of $530, towing charge of $333, ramp handling fee of $567, a catering bill of $541 and passenger transport charge of $379. Along with miscellaneous ancillary charges, this visit totaled $9,544.14.

Over at Domodedovo in November 2018, another Gulfstream, again visiting for three days, racked up a $1,004 landing fee and security charge, $1,080 for parking, a $2,392 passenger arrival and departure fee, a $3,947 hangar fee (which must have supplemented parking for one night), handling fees of $2,057, a single airside pass for $155, a $753 towing bill, a catering (one expensive meal) fee of $868, and a crew visa charge of $835. This and other charges came to a total of $14,898.

Finally, in January this year, a Bombardier Global Express visited Sheremetyevo, remaining for five days. This operator was docked $2,985 for parking, passenger (four) fees totaling $2,225, $796 for “airdrome security,” $1,220 for “traffic handling” (possibly, a navigation charge), $482 for ramp services, a $1,115 charge for handling, $1,366 for deicing fluid, $772 for one crew visa, a $542 “commercial fee,” $277 for crew transportation, an “urgent landing permit” fee of $355, plus a $114 “permit revision.” All this plus ancillary fees totaled $15,527.

William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno and Molly McMillin | Business & Commercial Aviation

GE Aviation reports its CT7-2F1 engine received FAA certification following more than 1,000 flight hours and more than 1,350 hr. of turn time. The engine powers the Bell 525 Relentless medium-lift helicopter. The FAA joined the Bell 525 flight test team in November and now is involved in certification flight testing. The final flight test vehicle was scheduled to fly at the end of March. The 525 Relentless program was launched in 2012. The aircraft is designed to transport up to 19 passengers.

CMS represents an aircraft’s current strength in the market. An A+ rating indicates the aircraft is enjoying a very firm market. Prices for an A+ aircraft are steadily rising, and holding times are very short or nonexistent. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a C- aircraft is one experiencing a very soft market. Its price is commonly discounted, and it often sets on the ramp in excess of eight months before selling. It is important to...

Click Here to Read More

Subscribe to the Aircraft Bluebook Marketline newsletter.

All of the aircraft included in the aircraft segment graphs on the following pages have a composite score that is presented in the Used Aircraft Market graph. Data points are represented in relationship to the respective new delivered historical price that is equal to 100%. The measure of change is reported in the actual percentage of value in relation to new. The delta between reporting periods can be concluded as...

Click Here to Read More

Subscribe to the Aircraft Bluebook Marketline newsletter.