Speeding up?

Previously, business jets were lumped together with general aviation and had a lower priority than other operators. This made it hard to get landing and takeoff times because airports were giving priority to bigger aircraft.

For members of the Australian Business Aviation Association (ABAA), the peak industry body representing business jet owners and operators in this country, it was a long sought after change.

“It’s been an ongoing issue for us for about five or six years but we’ve only just in the last 12 months got it resolved,” ABAA chief executive David Bell told Australian Aviation in an interview.

“We now have equal footing. If you are off blocks on time and you have got a slot at the other end you won’t be held up any more than other people will be held up for weather or single runway operations or whatever it is.

“We’ve had no negative feedback at all from anybody – the airlines, Airservices – it’s worked very smoothly. We just fit into the Australian traffic flow.”

PERTH AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS HINGE ON QANTAS TERMINAL CHANGE

Gains have been harder to come by at Perth Airport in terms of off-terminal processing of international business jet arrivals.

Staff shortages at Australian Border Force (ABF), government department tasked with processing incoming and outgoing international travellers, meant off-terminal processing at Perth’s Fixed Base Operations (FBO) has been virtually non-existent.

Instead, arriving passengers and crew on business jets have had to taxi over to the international terminal to join all other international passengers in a process that takes time and impacts airport’s operations given aircraft often have to cross active runways.

While an improved process for business jet arrivals at Melbourne Tullamarine and Essendon began flowing through in the second half of 2016, Bell said discussions with the ABF regional commander in Western Australia on better arrangements at Perth Airport were ongoing.

“The worst airport in Australia in this respect is Perth, where it is very difficult to obtain off-terminal clearances,” Bell said.

A potential circuit breaker to the current impasse could come in March 2018, when Qantas moves its international operations to the the western side of the airfield at Terminal 3, which will require customs and border processing facilities.

“The worst airport in Australia in this respect is Perth.”
David Bell

Having ABF staff stationed at Terminal 3 would mean they would be much closer to Perth’s FBO.

“We are very close to Terminal 3 so we might get a better deal,” Bell said.

“We have met with Border Force in Perth on this issue and they have acknowledged it might improve, that it might be the vehicle to allow a better deal for business aviation. It is going to help the airport as well.”

GOVERNMENT REVIEWING OPERATIONAL RESTRICTIONS AT ESSENDON AIRPORT

The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development recently concluded public consultations on proposed changes to the rules at Essendon Airport regarding aircraft operations.

The Department’s public consultation paper outlined three potential amendments.

First, lifting the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) to 55,000kg, from from 45,000kg currently, for operators during non-curfew hours.

“Larger jets (for business aviation and regional passengers) are now, on average, between 48-53,000kg MTOW and have greater range, enhanced fuel efficiency and improved noise profiles, that are similar or lower than older jet aircraft, due to newer engine technology and advanced navigation systems,” the paper said.

“The current restriction on operating weight would not allow larger regional passenger jets or new generation business jets to operate at Essendon Airport.

Aircraft that would be free to fly in and out of Essendon Airport should the proposal be implemented included the Bombardier Global Express (45,132kg), the Gulfstream 650 (45,177kg) and the Boeing 717-200 (54,884kg).

“Allowing these newer, quieter business jets to operate at Essendon Airport would attract both regional passenger services and business aviation with newer, larger jet aircraft,” the paper said.

Second, the Department proposed banning non-emergency helicopters and propeller driven aircraft weighing more than 8,618kg from operating during the 2300-0600 curfew.

“While noting that there is very little demand for non-emergency helicopter and propeller-driven movements during the curfew, non-emergency movements have contributed to the generation of noise complaints including a number of services, which have been investigated by the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman,” the paper said.

Finally, the third proposal was allowing jet aircraft with a noise level not greater than 90 decibels to land during the curfew.

The Department said the 90 decibels level was stricter than what was in place at Sydney, Adelaide or Gold Coast airports for business jets landing during curfew hours.

This would ensure “only the newest business jets can land at Essendon during the curfew”.

The consultation paper noted Essendon was the only airport in Australia with a weight restriction on operating aircraft during non-curfew hours, as well as a ban on business jets landing during curfew hours.

Essendon Airport chief executive Chris Cowan said he supported the proposed changes.

“The operators of corporate jets require the ability to fly anywhere any time in the course of their business,” Cowan said in a statement.

“The proposed changes to the curfew simply remove red tape which restricts efficient airport operations. Modern jets are relatively quieter nowadays than many propeller aircraft.

“We believe the changes will result in less noise and fewer aircraft movements.”

The ABAA too has backed the proposed amendments for Essendon, given the large business jet presence there.

Further, it has asked the federal government to conduct a similar review at Sydney Airport, with the aim of having restrictions based on aircraft noise, rather than aircraft weight currently.

Bell said the current 34,000kg MTOW limit and 95 decibels sound limit for business jets operating in curfew hours Sydney Airport, as well as at Adelaide and Gold Coast airports, was “totally out of step with reality”.

This was because some modern aircraft, although having a MTOW above 34,000kg, were in fact quieter than some of the older aircraft with less than 34,000kg MTOW currently operating during curfew hours.

“It should be purely based on noise but unfortunately the weight issue has got in the way,” Bell said.

OUTLOOK FOR BUSINESS JETS SUBDUED

The annual survey from Honeywell Aerospace showed demand for new business jets was being hit by an uncertain economic outlook and political environment.

Further, a very competitive market for pre-owned aircraft was also leading to what Honeywell Aerospace Aerospace’s 26th annual Global Business Aviation outlook described as a “modest pace for near-term orders”.

The Honeywell forecast is for up to 8,300 new business jet deliveries between 2017 and 2027 worth US$249 billion.

It continues the downward trend of Honeywell’s 10-year forecast in recent times, given the estimates of 8,600 deliveries in the 2016 report, 9,200 deliveries in 2015 and 9,450 in 2014.

“Declining used aircraft prices, continued low commodities prices, and economic and political uncertainties in many business jet markets remain as near-term concerns for new jet purchases, leading to a modest growth in 2018,” Honeywell Aerospace president for Americas Aftermarket Ben Driggs said in a statement.

On a positive note, Driggs said several new models that are being introduced in the period ahead would support “solid growth in new business jet purchases in the midterm and long term”.

The report said business jet deliveries in 2017 would fall somewhere between 620 and 640, representing a decline of about 30 aircraft compared with the prior year.

Honeywell Aerospace said the pullback was largely due to slower order rates for mature aircraft models and a transition to new models slated for late 2017 and in 2018.

“There are several new and exciting aircraft models coming to market, which will drive solid growth in new business jet purchases in the midterm and long term,” Driggs said.

The report said 85 per cent of worldwide new aircraft deliveries was expected to be in the larger-cabin aircraft classes, including categories from super mid-size through to ultra-long-range variants.

Honeywell Aerospace said North America, the world’s largest business jet market, would continue to generate the bulk of the global sales, with the region tipped to have 61 per cent of all purchases over the next five years.

Closer to home, the report said the Asia Pacific region was being impacted by security concerns – the threat posed by an increasingly erratic North Korea is one such example – with operators scaling back plans to acquire new aircraft.

The report said new jet purchases would account for 13 per cent of operators’ fleets over the next five years, down “significantly” from the prior year.

Further, only 27 per cent of Asia-Pacific respondents planned to schedule new purchases within the next two years.

“Impacted by regional tensions, purchase plans are down significantly from last year and back to 2014 and 2015 levels,” the report said.

Every region except for Latin America recorded a decline in new jet purchase plans in the 2017 survey.

The report was compiled with responses from 1,500 business jet operators around the world alongside macroeconomic analyses and consultation with original equipment manufacturers and industry leaders.

The report noted asking prices for pre-owned business jets were still declining overall, especially for medium- and long-range aircraft. Further, the share of recent model jets for sale was more than 30 per cent of total listings, up from pre-recession levels of 15-20 per cent.

However, the total number of pre-owned business jets that were less than 10 years old and listed for resale was down 15 per cent from the prior year and now represented less than eight per cent of the installed fleet.

“The increase in used jet purchase plans clearly aligns with the reduction of used inventory for sale and could result in favourable pricing pressure on used jets in the medium term,” the Honeywell Aerospace report said.

Embraer Executive Jets vice president for sales and marketing in the Middle East and Asia Pacific Claudio Camelier said Australia was a big market for used aircraft, while sales of new aircraft have, in recent times, been small in number.

“There hasn’t been so many deliveries of new airplanes in Australia in the past few years,” Camelier told Australian Aviation via email.

“In spite of that, it is definitely a market in which we invest and we spend a lot of time there because there are still a certain number of opportunities for sales of new airplanes.

“What we have seen over the past four, five years is an almost stable market for business jets in Australia. We haven’t seen the fleet growing very much.”

Further, Camelier noted any sale of a pre-flown aircraft to a new customer had the potential to lead to a new aircraft sale some time down the track when the owner was looking to upgrade.

“There are still a certain number of opportunities.”
Claudio Camelier

Embraer has six business jets based in Australia – three Phenom 100s, one Phenom 300, one Legacy 500 and one Legacy 600.

Amid this stable market, the ABAA has increased its membership of business jet operators by five to 31, who combined operated in excess of 100 aircraft. Meanwhile, the ABAA had 32 what it termed associate members, such as oil companies, aircraft manufacturers, airports and aircraft brokers.

Bell said most of the aircraft coming into Australia were still pre-owned aircraft, apart from some notable exceptions such as the new Gulfstream G650.

Gulfstream too had a couple of new models about to take to the skies, with the G600 due to be certified in 2018 and sistership G600 expected to enter service the following year.

The G500 had a range of 5,200nm at Mach 0.85, while the G600 was designed to fly 6,500nm at Mach 0.85. Both aircraft featured wide cabins that could seat up to 19 people.

Meanwhile, Bombardier’s two long range business jets, Global 7000 and Global 8000, respectively, were also progressing towards eventual certification after some delays to the program.

The Global 7000, which features a range of 7,400nm and seated up to 17 passengers, was expected to enter service in the second half of 2018. First delivery of the 13-passenger, 7,900nm-range Global 8000 was tipped to take place in early 2019.

At Dassault Aviation, its long-range Falcon 8X tri-jet began flying in late 2016 and was on display in Australia for the first time at the 2017 Avalon Airshow. The aircraft is capable of flying Sydney-Mumbai, Hong Kong-London or Beijing-Los Angeles nonstop, or one-stop from Sydney to New York or London.

The company’s in-development Falcon 5X completed its maiden flight in July 2017 and was scheduled to be certified in 2020. The program suffered a four-year delay due to some engine development issues.

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