Thousands of business aviation professionals will descend on Las Vegas this weekend in preparation for next week’s annual National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) meeting and convention. Business aviation’s biggest event of the year will be held Oct. 10-12 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The unofficial kick-off to NBAA is the release on Saturday of Honeywell’s (Booth N4500) Business Aviation Forecast. “Our industry continues to recover from the seismic events of the last three years, but the long-term view for our business remains positive, and we look forward to sharing that information with you,” Honeywell said.
Much of the early buzz of announcements for the show revolves around in-flight connectivity. Several companies, including EMS Aviation and Flight Display Systems (Booth C11224), will be announcing new products or enhancements to existing products, hoping to capitalize on the interest in Web and email while in flight.
Among the highlights:
â–º Rockwell Collins (Booth C9812) will be showcasing a new configuration of its Pro Line Fusion avionics suite for the light jet and turboprop market. Additionally, at the show, the company will be announcing enhancements to its Venue cabin management system and Ascend Flight Information systems.
â–º EMS Aviation (Booth C7327), now a part of Honeywell, will highlight its Aspire in-flight connectivity system, which was introduced at NBAA 2010. The system includes the industry’s first Android-based touch-screen handset, the company said.
â–º InTheAirNet (Booth C10143), based in Irvine, Calif., will be demonstrating its PEC (Personal Entertainment Connection) and PEG (Passenger Entertainment Gate) personalized technology products for the VIP business jet market. PEC is a wireless system that allows passengers to control in-flight entertainment, maps and various cabin controls from the palm of their hand. PEG is a wired system that delivers these same features to the screens in the bulkheads and seatbacks, the company said.
â–º TrueNorth Avionics (Booth N1336) will roll out its Stylus handset, calling it the first aviation handset that’s multilingual and personalized to the aircraft.
â–º Universal Avionics Corp. (Booth C1222) will celebrate its 30th anniversary during the show.
â–º Thrane & Thrane (Booth C10822) announced it will be celebrating 30 years of successful business this year.
â–º Airframe manufacturer Gulfstream (Booth N3532, Static) will showcase its line of aircraft, including the G650 and G280. Additionally, its static display at the Henderson Executive Airport will include the G550, G450 and G150.
â–º Hawker Beechcraft (Booth C7809, Static) will display nearly its entire lineup of commercial Hawker and Beechcraft products as well as the debut of the aftermarket upgraded Hawker 400XPR and the company’s recently launched Special Missions demonstrator King Air 350ER.
â–º Brazil airframe manufacturer Embraer (Booth N5132, Static) will show the entry level Phenom 100, light Phenom 300, large Legacy 650, the newest mockup of the midsize Legacy 500, and the ultra-large Lineage 1000 business jets. There will also be a Legacy 500 fly-by-wire demonstration kiosk.
Stay tuned to www.avionicstoday.com for news, photos and videos of the event.