Which leaves me with the problem of what to write here; honestly, I’d prefer another great photo of jet instead, but that’s not how it works. Looking back over this years’ editor’s comments, I see that in the Spring 2020 edition, the first of the year, I was very excited about the industry’s focus on sustainability.

The Summer editorial, written in the depths of the UK’s first coronavirus lockdown, inevitably spoke of industrywide challenges, but recorded a glimmer of hope as business aviation mobilised under the pandemic and continued as best it could with the normality of moving people securely, safely and discretely, at speed and over distance.

Which brings us to Autumn, where I bemoaned the necessary cancelling of trade shows and public air shows but did at least pass on a message from someone wise, Avfuel President and CEO Craig Sincock, whose simple advice, “Businesses just need to hang on tight,” is still relevant as we look towards 2021 and a continuation of the new beginning the industry seems to be experiencing.

The shoots of that new beginning, or restart, are emerging everywhere, not least with the announcement that Airbus Corporate Jets has launched its ACJ TwoTwenty. Benoit Defforge, President at ACJ and Richard Gaona, Executive Chairman & CEO at Comlux, share their thoughts on the project in this edition, which also provides a look at the Learjet 75 Liberty, the latest in an iconic line and the first Learjet with a name since the 1980s.

Depending on your preferred reading method, by now, Dassault has either rolled out or is about to roll out the Falcon 6X, the latest in another iconic line and one that Carlos Brana, Executive Vice President Civil Aircraft, Dassault Aviation enthuses about in this Winter 2020 edition.

Otherwise, we have contributions from people who fix, design, fuel, maintain, modify, operate and accommodate business aircraft, from the delightfully humble Pilatus PC-12 right up to the dramatically apparent Boing 787 Dreamliner. Given this diversity in one magazine, is it any wonder that business aviation is recovering faster than its commercial cousin?

By coincidence, earlier in this mid-November morning I spoke to Dave Connor, CEO of RVL Group, a UK company employing a fleet of turboprop twins on business charter, freight and special missions. A very busy man despite COVID-19, he counts himself fortunate to be in this sector of the aviation industry. I asked for his thoughts on how 2021 might work out and he responded, “I’m cautiously optimistic…”