Robb Report - USA (2019-08)

80 AUGUST 2019

Dream Machines | WINGS

Charlotte Pedersen

Luxaviation Helicopters’

chief executive brings

transparency to global

helicopter charter.

Charlotte Pedersen is CEO of

Luxaviation Helicopters, part of

Luxembourg-based Luxaviation

Group (luxaviation.com), one of the

biggest private aircraft operators in

the world. She has just launched a

global alliance of helicopter charter

operators—a first in the rotary

industry. ROHIT JAGGI

How did the alliance come about?

I realized that 99 percent of the roughly

5,000 operators of the 24,000 civilian

western helicopters worldwide had just

one to six helicopters each and were

only known locally. So someone wanting

to book a helicopter in a distant country

would have no way of checking whether

the helicopter they were booking was

safe and being operated legally. Gray—or

illegal—charter is surprisingly common.

So we came up with the helicopter

alliance, finding the best operators in

each region and bringing them together.

Such a thing didn’t exist on a global basis,

even though we have had airline alliances

for years.

How many operators are in the

alliance? The number is changing as

we take on new members, but there

are currently nine and more than 100

helicopters available for charter in

North America, South America, Europe,

Asia and Africa. We also have several

operators that are on the way to joining.

Just to give an idea of what we can

achieve, we managed to find the only

twin-engine, commercially operated

helicopter with passenger seats in

Siberia. This was not with a current

alliance partner, but our knowledge of

the sector is allowing us to build up our

network rapidly.

Who uses the service? We recommend

alliance partners to all our business-jet

clients and anyone we do jet quotes for,

if they need further helicopter transport

from the airport their jet lands at.

Q&A

c i ty wa st e and cooking oil just might

power your next private flight. Each year,

the business aviation community meets

in Geneva for the European Business

Aviation Convention & Exhibition, and

2019 was no different—with one excep-

tion. Gulfstream flew in its fleet using

sustainable alternative jet fuel (SAJF).

The stunt was part of “an industry-

wide, sustainable alternative-fueled

fly-in, with a record total of 23 aircraft

participating,” says David Coleal,

president of Bombardier Aviation

and chairman of the General Aviation

Manufacturers Association (GAMA)

Environment Committee.

As part of this larger-scale initiative

to green up aviation, Gulfstream made

SAJF available to customers earlier this

year and is trying to raise its profile, says

Mark Burns, Gulfstream’s president.

The SAJF label refers to non-

petroleum-based jet fuels—produced to

reduce carbon-dioxide emissions—that

can be used without requiring changes to

the plane. The fuel must meet technical

and certification standards for turbine-

powered aircraft engines.

“[SAJF] comes from sustainable

inputs including industrial waste,

cooking oil and even CO 2 emissions,” says

Coleal. “The 20,000 business aircraft in

service globally can safely fly on SAJF

today—and make a positive, measurable

difference the moment they take off.”

For fuel blends to be approved,

industry leaders have enacted a rigorous

process and work with global fuel-

specification bodies, such as ASTM

International, to certify the products.

Gulfstream has used SAJF since 2016

at its headquarters and has flown more

than 920,000 miles on it, saving 870

metric tons of carbon dioxide. Recently,

the company flew its G280 aircraft into

LA on renewable fuel, proving how well

it works by breaking a city-pair record on

the way. The jet joined business-aviation

leaders at the Van Nuys Airport for an

event called Business Jets Fuel Green:

A Step Toward Sustainability, which

included SAJF-propelled demo flights

by Bombardier’s Challenger 350 and

Embraer’s Legacy 500, and the airport

became the first general-aviation field in

the US to offer SAJF on a trial basis.

All of this was in support of busi-

ness aviation’s goal of carbon-neutral

growth starting in 2020 and a 50 percent

reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

But doing the right thing often comes at

a price. SAJF is currently more expensive

than its petroleum-based cousin. D.C.

“The 20,000 business

aircraft in service

globally can safely fly on

SAJF today.”

DAVID COLEAL

Flying the

Eco-Friendlier

Skies

Sustainable

alternative jet

fuel powered a

Gulfstream G280 on

its record-setting

flight.

CHARLOTTE PEDERSEN ILLUSTRATION BY JOEL KIMMEL

80 AUGUST 2019

Dream Machines | WINGS

Charlotte Pedersen

Luxaviation Helicopters’

chief executive brings

transparency to global

helicopter charter.

Charlotte Pedersen is CEO of

Luxaviation Helicopters, part of

Luxembourg-based Luxaviation

Group (luxaviation.com), one of the

biggest private aircraft operators in

the world. She has just launched a

global alliance of helicopter charter

operators—a first in the rotary

industry. ROHIT JAGGI

How did the alliance come about?

I realized that 99 percent of the roughly

5,000 operators of the 24,000 civilian

western helicopters worldwide had just

one to six helicopters each and were

only known locally. So someone wanting

to book a helicopter in a distant country

would have no way of checking whether

the helicopter they were booking was

safe and being operated legally. Gray—or

illegal—charter is surprisingly common.

So we came up with the helicopter

alliance, finding the best operators in

each region and bringing them together.

Such a thing didn’t exist on a global basis,

even though we have had airline alliances

for years.

How many operators are in the

alliance? The number is changing as

we take on new members, but there

are currently nine and more than 100

helicopters available for charter in

North America, South America, Europe,

Asia and Africa. We also have several

operators that are on the way to joining.

Just to give an idea of what we can

achieve, we managed to find the only

twin-engine, commercially operated

helicopter with passenger seats in

Siberia. This was not with a current

alliance partner, but our knowledge of

the sector is allowing us to build up our

network rapidly.

Who uses the service? We recommend

alliance partners to all our business-jet

clients and anyone we do jet quotes for,

if they need further helicopter transport

from the airport their jet lands at.

Q&A

c i tywa st eandcookingoiljustmight

poweryournextprivateflight.Eachyear,

thebusinessaviationcommunitymeets

inGenevafortheEuropeanBusiness

AviationConvention&Exhibition,and

2019 wasnodifferent—withoneexcep-

tion.Gulfstreamflewinitsfleetusing

sustainablealternativejetfuel(SAJF).

Thestuntwaspartof“anindustry-

wide,sustainablealternative-fueled

fly-in,witha recordtotalof 23 aircraft

participating,”saysDavidColeal,

presidentofBombardierAviation

andchairmanoftheGeneralAviation

ManufacturersAssociation(GAMA)

EnvironmentCommittee.

Aspartofthislarger-scaleinitiative

togreenupaviation,Gulfstreammade

SAJFavailabletocustomersearlierthis

yearandistryingtoraiseitsprofile,says

MarkBurns,Gulfstream’spresident.

TheSAJFlabelreferstonon-

petroleum-basedjetfuels—producedto

reducecarbon-dioxideemissions—that

canbeusedwithoutrequiringchangesto

theplane.Thefuelmustmeettechnical

andcertificationstandardsforturbine-

poweredaircraftengines.

“[SAJF]comesfromsustainable

inputsincludingindustrialwaste,

cookingoilandevenCO 2 emissions,”says

Coleal.“The20,000businessaircraftin

service globally can safely fly on SAJF

today—and make a positive, measurable

difference the moment they take off.”

For fuel blends to be approved,

industry leaders have enacted a rigorous

process and work with global fuel-

specification bodies, such as ASTM

International, to certify the products.

Gulfstream has used SAJF since 2016

at its headquarters and has flown more

than 920,000 miles on it, saving 870

metric tons of carbon dioxide. Recently,

the company flew its G280 aircraft into

LA on renewable fuel, proving how well

it works by breaking a city-pair record on

the way. The jet joined business-aviation

leaders at the Van Nuys Airport for an

event called Business Jets Fuel Green:

A Step Toward Sustainability, which

included SAJF-propelled demo flights

by Bombardier’s Challenger 350 and

Embraer’s Legacy 500, and the airport

became the first general-aviation field in

the US to offer SAJF on a trial basis.

All of this was in support of busi-

ness aviation’s goal of carbon-neutral

growth starting in 2020 and a 50 percent

reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

But doing the right thing often comes at

a price. SAJF is currently more expensive

than its petroleum-based cousin. D.C.

“The 20,000 business

aircraft in service

globally can safely fly on

SAJF today.”

DAVID COLEAL

Flying the

Eco-Friendlier

Skies

Sustainable

alternative jet

fuel powered a

Gulfstream G280 on

its record-setting

flight.

CHARLOTTE PEDERSEN ILLUSTRATION BY JOEL KIMMEL