Finmeccanica has announced the maiden flight of the new AgustaWestland AW109 Trekker light twin-engine helicopter. A prototype aircraft took to the air for the first time at the Helicopter Division’s Cascina Costa facility (Italy). The helicopter performed as expected during the flight which included an assessment of its general handling and basic systems. A total of...
FlightPartner has released its latest software, V2, a B2B air charter marketplace. The software offers an advanced search engine allowing complex trip builds, an accurate instant quote and complete internal payment processing. The new release allows a sale to be closed immediately, rather than have user switch between tools to complete the transaction. “We are extreme...
Universal Aviation Mexico has completed a multi-million renovation of their Toluca International Airport FBO. The company is a joint venture between Avemex and Universal Weather and Aviation. Universal Aviation Mexico is one of the longest-running FBOs at Toluca Airport and was established in the early 1990s. “With our Toluca FBO being both a high-traffic destination and one of the cor...
American Airlines and Qantas says Hawaiian Airlines is “virtually alone” in its objection to their joint-venture alliance on trans-Pacific routes and rejected calls for the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to place conditions on their proposed tie-up. American and Qantas’s application for anti-trust immunity is currently before the US DOT, which said in February its revie...
As many as 127 passengers on board a Jet Airways plane from New Delhi had a close shave after its main landing gear collapsed when it landed in Mumbai. All the passengers deplaned safely, Jet Airways said in a statement on Thursday. The incident resulted in the blocking of the main runway, forcing Mumbai authorities to shift flight operations to the secondary runway, sources said. Jet Air...
Airbus Helicopters has introduced “HForce,” a new “generic” weapon system for the H125M light single, H145Mlight twin and H225M medium twin helicopters. The newly structured offer, focused on the manufacturer’s military commercial rotorcraft, follows an “incremental” approach to arming them. It includes a variety of ballistic and g...
The Air Force’s vaunted Thunderbirds jet fighter aerobatics team is not diverse enough inside the cockpit. Brig. Gen. Christopher M. Short, commander of the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, said in an email last month that of 15 pilot applicants for three openings, 14 are white. He asked fighter wing commanders to stir up more candidates who “don’t necessarily lo...
A British man was removed from from an easyJet plane by armed officers after a passenger saw a message on his phone about 'prayer' and reported him as a security threat. Laolu Opebiyi, 40, a Christian, born in Nigeria and now living in London,was ordered off the flight at Luton Airport and asked if he was converting to Islam as the 6.45am flight to Amsterdam took off without him. A f...
In a terrifying incident Wednesday, a Saudi Arabian Airlines pilot died in the cockpit midflight after suffering a massive heart attack. According to Siobhan McFadyen of The Mirror, around 220 people were on Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight SV 1734 when the captain of the plane, Waleed bin Mohammed Al-Mohammed, suffered a heart attack and died in the cockpit. The plane was en route from Bisha D...
With a 134-inch diameter front fan, the GE9X engine for Boeing’s 777X aircraft will be the world’s largest engine—besting the current world’s largest engine, the GE90, by a full six inches. To test an engine this size, GE Aviation invested about $10 million at its Peebles Testing Operation in Ohio. Part of this investment includes the design and manufacture of the largest t...
“We are proud that Rolls-Royce has trusted FACC for more than 15 years now,” explained Walter Stephan, Chairman of FACC AG, at the signing of the contract. “This new contract consolidates our position as one of Rolls-Royce’s key suppliers and recognizes our technological leadership in the sector of high-strength lightweight components for civil aircraft....
Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (3 Mar) released February traffic statistics as follows: • Traffic grew 28% to 7.4m customers. • Load factor rose 4% points to 93%. • Rolling annual traffic to Feb grew 17% to 104.6m customers. Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “Ryanair’s February traffic grew by 28% to 7.4m customers, while our load factor jumpe...
