The 2021 edition of the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition was extraordinary, and not just because it was the NBAA’s first live event of the year, signaling a slow but steady reopening after a year and a half of the pandemic. What also made NBAA-BACE significant this year was that so many companies and people chose to say “yes” to traveling and attending a large live event and that companies unveiled exciting new aircraft and products, another sign that business aviation is thriving.
Although some people and companies chose not to attend or exhibit at the show and many companies’ exhibits and on-site teams were much smaller than in 2019, the event was a success. There were some who ahead of the show expressed profound discomfort with the vaccine mandate for attendees, but for those who traveled to Las Vegas, the proof-of-vaccination burden was minimal, and once inside the Convention Center’s West Hall, masks were not required and many elected not to wear them.
Honda Aircraft unveiled its HondaJet 2600 Concept, which could be the next addition to its light jet line and was the biggest news at the show. Boasting a spacious cabin capable of carrying up to 11 occupants, a 2,625-nm transcontinental range (with four passengers and one pilot), and 450-knot maximum cruise speed, the over-the-wing-engine-mount 2600 promises stiff competition for light jets like the Citation CJ4, Phenom 300, and Pilatus PC-24.
Bombardier unveiled its Challenger 3500, a much-modified update to the Challenger 350, on September 14. The company made a strong appearance at BACE, with the 3500 cabin mockup present along with a Global 7500 and 6500 at the Henderson Executive Airport static display. The new jet’s mockup was so crowded during BACE that AIN’s photographer and videographer were unable to spend much time on board. Luckily, travel across the Canadian border wasn't problematic for Bombardier executives making their way to Las Vegas.
This wasn’t the case for Dassault Aviation executives, who had to secure a difficult-to-obtain national interest exception (NIE) to travel from France. However, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier, Carlos Brana, executive v-p civil aircraft, and others were able to obtain the NIE and were on hand to highlight the virtues of the in-flight-test 6X and in-development 10X, both of which had fully outfitted cabin mockups, along with a new 8X, all viewable at the static display. The 10X mockup offered the first public viewing of the wide-body, ultra-long-range jet’s cabin since the airframer officially launched the program on May 6.
Textron Aviation unveiled two Gen2 Citations at BACE, the M2 and XLS, both of which are getting significant cabin upgrades. The M2 Gen2 also features a welcome three-inch addition to legroom for the right-seat pilot position.
Embraer Executive Jets didn’t offer any new-model announcements or upgrades but did secure a huge $1.2 billion order from NetJets for up to 100 of a customized version of the Phenom 300E.
While Gulfstream canceled all of its live events this year and didn’t have a presence at BACE, it did announce two models before BACE, the G400 and G800. The latter will eventually replace the G650 and will have a range of 8,000 nm, while the G400 will fly 4,200 nm and fills the gap between the G280 and G500. Both new jets feature the touchscreen Symmetry flight deck with active-control sidesticks.
Piaggio Aerospace, which had planned to exhibit at BACE but couldn’t due to travel restrictions, unveiled a series of upgrades to the Avanti Evo twin-turboprop. These include high-power steel brakes, True Blue Power lithium-ion main-ship and emergency batteries, a Becker digital audio system, a max zero fuel weight increase to 10,200 pounds, and new cabin interior options.
