ABACE 2014 Live News: Day One

Gulfstream G650

Follow the news from ABACE 2014 in Shanghai with Corporate Jet Investor’s live coverage. Please remember to refresh the page for updates.

ABACE 2014 sees Asia’s biggest business aviation event return to Shanghai for its fourth year. Corporate Jet Investor will provide you with everything you need to know from the first day of the show, whether you’re attending or not.

RECAP: ABACE 2014: Press Day

PHOTOS: Every business jet on display at ABACE 2014

Summary

• Minsheng Financial Leasing orders 10 Bombardier Challenger 350s and around 60 Gulfstreams, ranging from G280s to G650s.
• Gulfstream will deliver the first G280 to a Chinese customer (Mandarin Air) this quarter.
• Bombardier and Dassault both hold press conferencess.

If you have any news or comments, you can send an e-mail to Alex Andrews at: [email protected] or Alud Davies at: [email protected].

Live feed

17.00 More on Minsheng’s Gulfstream order: The order was originally placed last year and is the same large fleet order that Phebe Novakovic, chairman and CEO of General Dynamics (the owner of Gulfstream), has mentioned in a number of investor calls.

To recap, Minsheng has placed an order for 60 business jets, consisting mainly of G450s and G550s. That’s almost as many times as we’ve been frisked by ABACE security over the past two days.

On that bombshell, we’ll sign off and look forward to seeing you all again tomorrow.

16.50 ABACE tip: Lufthansa Technik is currently supplying a steady stream of German beer at the company’s booth which has now been turned into a bar.

15.25 Here’s an interesting graphic from Aviation Week’s ShowNews. The data is from Asian Sky Group who held a press conference earlier today. As you can see below, Gulfstream is currently the market leader with 142 business jets based in Greater China.

Asian Sky Group says there are 371 business jets in Greater China.

15.10 To give you some background information on Metrojet, the company has 34 aircraft under management – four are available for charter – and considerably more under maintenance. Naf says the company has a “very strong” presence in Hong Kong and is now expanding, having won a contract to become Embraer’s first Chinese service centre for the Legacy 500.

The company is also establishing footprints in India and the Philippines.

Bjorn Naf leads Metrojet’s press conference at ABACE 2014.

14.48 In the next 10 years, Metrojet expects 485 business jets in south Asia, 217 in the south-east, 263 in Oceania, 635 in China and 90 in north-east Asia (the data is from Embraer). That equals to one new business jet arriving every three days.

14.45 Around 40 members of the media have registered for Metrojet’s press conference, which is held in what must be the fanciest booth in the exhibition hall. There are even two chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. “We sell hospitality and relationships,” says Bjorn Naf, CEO of Metrojet. “That is the theme of our booth at ABACE.”

14.40 Watch out, the military has just arrived…

The military marches into ABACE 2014.

14.25 Gulfstream celebrated the first Chinese delivery of the G280, which Mandarin Air is due to receive by the end of June. You can see some photos from the ceremony below:

Left to right: Zhang Zhi, president of Mandarin Air, and Roger Sperry, regional senior vice president, international sales, Asia Pacific, Gulfstream.

Zhang Zhi, president of Mandarin Air, announces the forthcoming delivery of a Gulfstream G280.

14.15 Sikorsky has received Chinese type certification for the S-76D helicopter. More than 30 Sikorsky S-76 aircraft currently operate in China.

13.20 Here are some of the highlights from Aviation Week’s ShowNews paper:

• Deer Jet aims to open at least four – and as many as six – FBOs in China this year.
• Minsheng Financial Jet will begin building a dedicated business aviation airport near Beijing by the end of 2014.
• Cessna has scrapped plans to build the Latitude in China, but will continue the XLS+ programme with Avic.
• NetJets expects to begin Chinese operations by mid-2014.
• Bombardier grows its Chinese fleet past 105 aircraft.

12.45 This year’s ABACE event is the first time that Beechcraft and Cessna have exhibited together under the recently-formed Textron Aviation banner (although both manufacturers have their own chalets out on static display).

ALSO READ: Textron completes Beechcraft take-over

Watch our short video below explaining the inception of Textron Aviation, featuring Bill Schultz, senior vice president, business development (left) and Bill Harris, vice president, sales, Asia and Asia Pacific (right).

12.00 More on the Minsheng “mega order:” This afternoon, the financial leasing company will reveal itself to be the undisclosed customer behind an order for 10 Bombardier Challenger 350 business jets placed at the end of last year.

READ MORE: Bombardier sells 10 Challenger business jets to undisclosed customer

Minsheng will also disclose details of an order for around 60 business jets from Gulfstream, ranging from G280s to G650s. Steve Cass, vice president, communications at Gulfstream told Corporate Jet Investor that the bulk of the order will consist of G450s and G550s.

10.00 Some of the news floating around the show this morning is that Cessna has received CAAC certification for the Citation XLS+ and Embraer has named Metrojet in Hong Kong as China’s first authorised service centre Legacy 500 business jets.

Anticipation is also high for Minsheng Financial Leasing’s big announcement this afternoon. Corporate Jet Investor already knows that Minsheng International Jet – the charter and management arm of the company – added a Dassault Falcon 7X to its fleet last week.

09.45 Welcome back to Corporate Jet Investor’s live coverage of ABACE 2014 from sunny Shanghai. The show officially opened its curtains this morning with an impressive ceremony and it already feels a lot busier after press day yesterday.