50 SKY SHADES - World aviation news

World aircraft news

aircraft related aviation news

airBaltic Announces World Debut of CS300

The Latvian airline airBaltic will start Bombardier CS300 commercial operations on December 14, 2016 on its route linking Riga with Amsterdam. Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “CS300 is a great aircraft, and a great improvement for our customers this Christmas. We are delighted to announce that the historic first airBaltic commercial flight with Bombardier CS300 will li...

Etihad Airways Engineering and Airbus sign MoU to develop A380 MRO Services in Abu Dhabi

Etihad Airways Engineering and Airbus have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work jointly on the development of a new A380 MRO Services offering. With this partnership Airbus and Etihad Airways Engineering will combine their respective skills to offer the market a value-adding MRO service solution for worldwide A380 operators, starting in 2017. The partnership aims to establish A380...

British airlines band together to fight for continued access to European skies

The UK’s open access to European skies is easy to take for granted. Back and forth for the past 20 years, flights between the UK and the Continent have helped knit together the EU’s business and tourism industries.  Since 1994, any EU airline has been free to fly between any two points in Europe, spurring the rise of budget airlines and slashing airfares to half of what they we...

China's first female pilot of J-10 fighter jet dies in flying accident

The first Chinese woman to fly a ­J-10 fighter was remembered fondly on Sunday as a “golden peacock” after her death on Saturday in an air training accident. Yu Xu, 30, died when her double-seater J-10 crashed in Hebei province. Her co-pilot ejected in time. Yu’s classmates described her death as a “shock”, with some observers calling for higher training sta...

Abu Dhabi’s Royal Jet offers VIP alternative to travelling first class

If you fill a large executive jet with passengers then it can work out a lot cheaper than flying everybody in first or business class on a scheduled flight. Plus you get all the advantages of customised travel to smaller airfields with rapid VIP transit facilities and the opportunity to choose your own flight times. Abu Dhabi’s Royal Jet, for example, can fly a party of 34 in a Boeing Bus...

Honda plans to produce 80 business jets annually by March 2019

Honda Motor Co expects to ramp up production of business jets as part of its plan to expand in the growing industry, the head of the Japanese automaker's aircraft operations said in the United States. The firm hoped to produce 80 business jets annually by March 2019, from up to 36 currently, Honda Aircraft Company CEO Michimasa Fujino told reporters at its plant in Greensboro, North Carolin...

Etihad Airways will shortly commence a pilot recruitment drive across Europe

It is the first major pilot recruitment initiative in two years with the airline looking for pilots to join both its Airbus and Boeing fleets. The search will be focused on posts for First Officers. The airline operates a range of aircraft including Boeing 777s, B787s, Airbus 330s and A380s, with further deliveries of the latter two types occurring in 2017.  Richard Hill, Chief Operations...

A tale of two airports and two distinct ways of doing things that matter

At a lonely crossroads in the English countryside stands a small copse of trees, planted in 1972 to celebrate the defeat by locals of a plan to build a badly needed third airport for London in the area. Had the scheme gone ahead, the site occupied by Cublington Spinney today would have been at the centre of Britain’s largest airport. As it is, only birds fly there. If the need to expand t...

Consumer drone business stumbles, but commercial markets beckon

The fledgling drone industry is in the throes of change as weak consumer demand and falling prices drive startups to shift their focus to specialized business applications. 3D Robotics - an early drone startup that raised more than$125 million from investors - has seen its consumer business all but crash. This week, it unveiled a new commercial strategy, announcing a camera-equipped drone...

Top Aerospace Officials Just Called Hypersonic Planes "inevitable"

Aviation experts from NASA, the US Airforce, and Lockheed Martin have come together in California to announce that hypersonic planes are "inevitable" - meaning we’d better get used to the idea of travelling at more than five times the speed of sound. If that speed doesn’t mean that much to you, how does 4800 km/h (3,000 mph) sound? Or how about London to New York...

Rolls-Royce expands Aerospace research center in Southern California

Rolls-Royce announced that it is growing its presence in Southern California, with a $30 million expansion into a new 62,000 square foot facility that will be dedicated to research and development of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials and processes for use in next generation aircraft engine components. Rolls-Royce held a dedication ceremony with federal, state and local officials, cu...

Luc Besson, Lexus Co-Pilot Design on ‘Valerian’ Spacecraft

Luc Besson's EuropaCorp and Lexus have unveiled their design for the car of the future, the Skyjet, which marks the start of an ongoing partnership between the companies. The 28th-century vehicle made its debut Thursday in the teaser trailer for the French director’s sci-fi epic “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” The look of the single-seat pursuit craft, which...