BACKLOG BOOST
Embraer came to Farnborough with more sales for its burgeoning executive aircraft division, with the value of its backlog having increased from $4.5 billion to $6 billion in the two months since the business aviation industry gathered in Geneva for the EBACE business aviation convention. At Farnborough Embraer named two of the most recent buyers - the Al Habtoor Group of the UAE, which has acquired an ultra-large Lineage 1000, and K2 SmartJets of Greece, which has snapped up two more super mid-size Legacy 600s to add to the one it has operated since July 2007. "
COLUMBUS DISPLAY
Cessna displayed an interior mock-up of its new Citation 850 Columbus at the show and announced it has selected Parker Aerospace to supply the powered flight-control systems and Eaton the complete fuel system for the aircraft large-cabin business jet. Cessna is investing $780 million into development of the Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW810 Columbus, including a new plant in Wichita that will house engineering offices, final assembly and more than 1,000 new direct employees.
SJ30 DEBUT
The first production conforming Swearingen SJ30 light business jet made its debut at the show less than a month after securing a significant tranche of new investment from its major shareholder Emirates Investment & Development (Emivest). The Dubai-based company completed in June the acquisition of an 80% stake in the San Antionio-based developer from the Taiwanese government. Under the terms of the acquisition, Emivest is providing the investment required to restart and accelerate production of the SJ30.
Source: Flight International
