50 SKY SHADES - World aviation news

Aviation essential

Essential and most important aviation news

Latest essential aviation news

Ryanair Targeting Quarter Of European Traffic

Ryanair expects to be operating one in every four European short-haul flights within the next eight to 10 years, driven by expansion in countries such as Germany as some of its rivals retreat. The Irish carrier, which has around 380 planes on order, has a market share of about 14 percent in Europ...

Qantas to “FlyPink” in October to raise awareness about breast cancer research

Pilots across the Qantas group of airlines will “FlyPink” in October as part of breast cancer awareness month. The initiative features pilots donating money to wear pink epaulettes in place of their usual gold epaulettes to show their support for the National Breast Cancer Foundation....


Falcon Pilots Held Responsible for Passenger Luggage Content

The pilots of Dassault Falcon 50 F-GXMC–which in March 2013 was caught in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, just before takeoff for Saint-Tropez, France, with 1,500 pounds of cocaine on board (street value $26 million)–are crying foul. The case has since been known as “Air Cocaine,” and in August pilots Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos received a 20-year jail sentenc...

Transaero narrows first-half net losses to $57.6 million

Russia’s Transaero Airlines reported a 2015 first-half net loss of RUB3.2 billion ($57.6 million), narrowed from a RUB10.4 billion net loss in a year-ago period. First-half revenue grew 5.1% to RUB50.7 billion. Passengers carried in the first half remained flat year-over-year—5.8 million. RPKs decreased 11% to 19.3 billion. Transaero reported its first-half capital is negative&md...

GE Aviation to Create European Turboprop Center of Excellence

GE Aviation will create a turboprop engine development, test and production operation in Europe. This will represent an investment exceeding $400 million and ultimately support 500 – 1,000 jobs. The turboprop industry is highly global and comprised of many small aircraft operators. Among the factors driving GE Aviation to pursue the new operation in Europe is the need to support these and...

Snecma kicks off construction of new world-class engine test stand in southern France

Snecma (Safran) officially started the construction of a second open-air engine test stand at its facility located at French air force base 125 in Istres, southern France. The new installation, comprising a test stand featuring a design that is unique in Europe and a building housing all control systems, is on a par with the best engine test facilities in the world. It will be up and running in...

First Finnair A350 conducts maiden flight

Finnair’s first Airbus A350-900 has carried out its maiden flight, just a few weeks before the carrier becomes the first European customer to introduce the twinjet. Having performed its first sortie, at Airbus’s headquarters in Toulouse, the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft will enter a final series of ground and flight checks. Finnair will initially put the aircraft i...

Lufthansa Expects EUR500 Million Profit Boost from Board Overhaul

Lufthansa is stepping up its cost-cutting overhaul with a streamlined management structure it said will boost profit by EUR500 million (US$564 million) a year and provide a new boss for the Eurowings budget brand that has raised tensions in its long-running dispute with pilots. The German airline, long known for a focus on business customers, is expanding budget operations as it battles the lik...

Boeing to Welcome China President Xi Jinping

Boeing confirmed today that China President Xi Jinping will visit the company's Everett, Wash., factory on Sep. 23 during his visit to the U.S. Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney will be on hand to welcome President Xi, along with Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "We're honored that President Xi will see our facto...

Airbus: Beluga XL programme achieves design freeze

The new Beluga programme, christened Beluga XL, has successfully passed the latest maturity gate milestone – marking the end of the ‘concept phase’ or design freeze ‘at aircraft level’ which is a key step in any development programme. The maturity gate review demonstrated that the Beluga XL programme is robust and mature enough to move to the next phase of developm...

Bell 505 Jet Ranger X makes Polish debut

Bell Helicopter has continued its sales push for the developmental 505 Jet Ranger X, displaying a mock-up of the light single-engined rotorcraft at the MSPO defence show held in Kielce, Poland between 1-4 September. Bell says it exhibited the four-seat, civil rotorcraft at a military exhibition "to promote its capabilities as a training platform" for the region's air forces....

Bombardier Mounts Engines on First Global 7000 Test Vehicle

Investors were rushing to pick up shares of Bombardier Inc. last week, as rumours swirled about a takeover offer for its transportation division and another report marked steady progress on its CSeries aircraft. Bombardier has now made several announcements regarding its long-range business jet program. Bombardier Business Aircraft has mounted the engines on its first flight test vehicle for th...

U.S. Air Force warns F-35 order review could damage program

U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh on Tuesday warned that short-term moves to revise downward the Air Force's planned purchase of 1,763 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters could damage the program and scare off foreign buyers. "Let’s delay this discussion for a little while until we see what happens in the world," Welsh told reporters at the annual Air F...

Etihad Airways and Key Equity Partners Complete Successful Platform Financing Transaction

Etihad Airways, its airport services business and five of its equity partners have today successfully completed an innovative new platform financing transaction, raising $500 million on the international markets. Etihad Airways, Etihad Airport Services, airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia and Jet Airways have together taken a new step forward in their strategic business development...

Upcoming events

Bahrain International Airshow 2026

18/11/2026 - 20/11/2026
Bahrain, Sakhir

AERO Middle East x Sand & Fun 2026

24/11/2026 - 26/11/2026
Saudi Arabia, Riyadh

Top of the week

PAL-V and Nobleo partner to industrialise FlyDrive production facility and scale manufacturing readiness

PAL-V has appointed Nobleo Manufacturing as its strategic industrialisation partner for the world’s first FlyDrive production facility. Following the achievement of both automotive and aviation...

Affinity Aviation Group secures strategic UK partnership with AeronautX as growth accelerates

Affinity Aviation Group (AAG), a leading provider of business aircraft sales, acquisitions and charter solutions, has entered into a strategic collaboration with Austria’s AeronautX, reinforcing...

Embraer reports record US$35.7 billion backlog in Q3 2026, marking a new all-time high

Embraer reported a record backlog of US$35.7 billion in the third quarter of 2026, surpassing its previous all-time high by 3% quarter-over-quarter and increasing 14% compared with the...

Electra demonstrates runway-free operations with ultra-short takeoff and landing at Manhattan Heliport

Electra has successfully completed the takeoff and landing of its hybrid-electric Ultra Short aircraft at Downtown Skyport in Lower Manhattan, in what is believed to be the first time a fixed-wing air...

MTU Maintenance secures GE90 engine MRO contract with Garuda Indonesia

MTU Maintenance and Garuda Indonesia have entered into a three-year agreement for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the airline’s GE90-115B engines, which power its fleet of eight Boeing 7...

IADA Market Report reveals rising dealer confidence as preowned aircraft demand remains strong

Confidence among the world’s leading accredited aircraft dealers strengthened in the third quarter of 2026, reflecting continued momentum in the preowned business aviation market. According to t...

The PC-12 PRO simulator: bringing real-world flight training to life

A professional training device such as the new PC-12 PRO simulator is built on flight data supplied and validated by Pilatus. Drawing on actual flight-test and performance data, it accurately reproduc...

Emirates to introduce latest-generation A350 on Mauritius route from 1 November

Emirates will introduce its latest-generation Airbus A350 on the Dubai-Mauritius route from 1 November 2026, replacing the Boeing 777 currently operating the carrier’s daily EK709/710 service.&n...

Oriens Aviation appoints Narine Melkumjan as Tecnam Sales Manager for the Netherlands

Oriens Aviation has appointed Narine Melkumjan as Sales Manager for the Netherlands, strengthening its presence in the Dutch market following its designation as Tecnam’s exclusive dealer in the...

Cirrus breaks ground on new engine run-up facility

Cirrus Aircraft has broken ground on a new 15,000-square-foot Engine Run-Up Center that will centralize engine testing, fuel calibration and certification activities for the SR Series, Vision Jet and...

Archer announces air taxi networks across Houston, Dallas and Austin

Archer Aviation has unveiled plans to develop three air taxi networks across Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, aiming to improve connectivity between major airports, business centers and key regi...

Lufthansa Technik Engine Services expands Tulsa operations to support growth across the Americas

Lufthansa Technik Engine Services (LTES) is significantly expanding its engine maintenance capabilities in Tulsa, Oklahoma, nearly doubling its operational capacity as part of its growth strategy acro...

Bombardier expands across the Americas, creating thousands of jobs throughout its network and supply chain

Bombardier announced plans to further expand its presence across the United States, with the creation of 800 jobs supported by ongoing growth initiatives and strategic infrastructure investments. ...

Catering to the route: Planning meals around flight time and destination

Private jet catering requires an understanding of the journey as much as the passengers' preferences. SkyDine Jet Catering explores how flight duration, departure schedules, airport location, and...

airBaltic files first monthly operating reports with U.S. court and publishes preliminary unaudited financial information

Air Baltic Corporation AS , Latvia’s national airline and the leading carrier in the Baltic States, announced that airBaltic and its subsidiaries participating in the voluntary Ch...

Montana Aerospace strengthens innovation partnership with Airbus on next-generation aircraft programme

Asco, a subsidiary of Montana Aerospace AG, achieves significant technological milestone in the development of a hybrid multi-material Rear Secondary Structure for Airbus.  Montana Aerospace,...

Bombardier marks 40 years of Smart Services programs at NBAA-BACE 2026 in Las Vegas

Bombardier marked the 40th anniversary of its industry-leading Smart Services cost-per-flight-hour programs, which today support more than 1,500 enrolled aircraft and account for over 11 mil...

FAA certifies Boeing 737-10, bringing the largest 737 MAX variant to market

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has certified the Boeing 737-10, the newest and largest member of the 737 MAX family, paving the way for Boeing [NYSE: BA] to begin customer deliveri...

Airbus expects global freighter fleet to nearly double by 2045

Airbus 2026 Cargo Global Market Forecast, unveiled at the Cargo Facts Symposium, predicts that the global fleet of dedicated freighter aircraft will expand by 46%, rising from 2,360 aircraft in 2026 t...

Elevating Nevis: Premier Mark Brantley on aviation, tourism and economic transformation

Few infrastructure projects have the potential to reshape an island's future quite like the ongoing transformation of Nevis Airport. To gain deeper insight into this ambitious development and the...

BPE Air reports nearly US$90 million in 2025 revenue as Aldrew Crowe advances integrated aviation platform

BPE Air, the aviation company founded and wholly owned by entrepreneur Aldrew Crowe, reported approximately US$90 million in revenue in 2025, marking a major milestone in the growth of its integrated...

First production Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen3 rolls out, marking major step toward entry into service

Textron Aviation has marked a key milestone in the development of the Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen3 with the rollout of the program’s first production aircraft. The achievement brings the next-g...

Gulfstream expands performance analytics capabilities to enhance aircraft operational efficiency

Gulfstream Aerospace has enhanced the capabilities of its Customer Support Performance Analytics program, further strengthening its ability to transform aircraft data into actionable insight...

Gogo unveils Galileo roadmap to continue enhancing customer investments through the mid 2030s and beyond

Gogo has unveiled its long-term vision for the Galileo connectivity platform at NBAA-BACE 2026, outlining a roadmap designed to enhance and protect customer investments well into the mid-2030s and bey...

Tecnam P2012 SMP brings faster, safer and more efficient aerial power grid monitoring to TVA

The Tennessee Valley Authority is demonstrating the real-world value of the Tecnam P2012 Special Mission Platform (SMP), which has become a vital tool for monitoring and maintaining its...