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Transfer of A380 MSN4 to the Le Bourget aerospace museum

As part of its contribution to preserving aviation heritage, Airbus will be transferring four of its test aircraft to museums: the Museum of Air and Space in Paris-Le Bourget and Aeroscopia in Toulouse. These aircraft comprise: A320 MSN1, recently withdrawn from the test aircraft fleet; A340-600 MSN360; A380 MSN2 and A380 MSN4. These aircraft will benefit from heritage preservation measures and...

Air France swaps two canceled A380s for smaller A350 jets

Air France has swapped its remaining orders for two Airbus A380 superjumbos for three smaller A350s, Airbus confirmed on Friday, highlighting a switch towards lighter twinjets. The French carrier announced the swap last March and included it in its 2015 annual report, but the switchover only appeared in Airbus's published order list for January 2017. An Airbus spokesman said the company...

Dassault's FalconEye Nominated for Collier Trophy

Dassault Aviation’s FalconEye combined-vision system was named this morning by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) as one of four nominees for the 2017 Collier Trophy. It will compete for the prestigious award, which is bestowed annually “for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America,” alongside the Blue Origin New Shepard reusable rocket, Boeing 73...

ATR and Sweden’s BRA perform first ATR biofuel flight

An ATR 72-600 of the Swedish carrier BRA (former Braathens Regional) took off from Stockholm-Bromma to Umeå fueled at 45% with fossil-free used cooking oil, marking the first biofuel-powered flight of an ATR aircraft.  BRA provides an essential air service to link their main hub of Stockholm-Bromma to twelve Swedish regions. The ATRs of BRA provide an unrivaled performance advantage...

Take off with Air France on non-stop flights to Athens, Stockholm and Ibiza on departure from Marseille

To meet high demand during the summer, Air France will serve Athens, Stockholm and Ibiza with non-stop flights on departure from Marseille as from 24 July 2017. In this way, the Company’s customers will benefit from three new summer routes served up to 4 times weekly. These flights will be operated by Airbus A320 with a capacity of 178 seats. Flight schedules (in local time) during the...

Eclipse sets up JetWave lab to support first GX customers

With the recent delivery of JetWave hardware to an Eclipse customer and the pending activation of the first GX customer via Eclipse’s joint venture, AERO-SATCOM, our satcom lab has now entered the age of HTS technology with the installation of a JetWave system at our Paris labs. Eclipse has been on the forefront of delivering new High Throughput Satellite (HTS) solutions to our customers....

Airbus Helicopters achieves delivery targets and maintains market leadership in 2016

Airbus Helicopters delivered 418 rotorcraft in 2016, a five percent increase compared with 2015, against a challenging market backdrop. The company strengthened its lead on the civil and parapublic helicopter market while maintaining its position on the military market. Airbus Helicopters logged gross orders for 388 helicopters in 2016, a stable performance compared to the 383 gross orders of 2...

ATR consolidates its leading position among regional aircraft manufacturers in 2016

ATR further consolidated its position in 2016 as the preferred choice of regional airlines. The modern ATR -600s ranked first among all regional aircraft sales of the year, with orders for 36 aircraft (34 ATR 72-600s and 2 ATR 42-600s, see table 1). ATR confirms its leading position in the market of 50-to-90-seat aircraft with a market share above 35% since 2010.   As it celebrated its...

Japan Air Commuter starts new era with ATR aircraft

Japan Air Commuter Co. Ltd. (JAC), subsidiary of Japan Airlines, became a new ATR operator with the introduction into their fleet of the modern and eco-efficient ATR 42-600. Eight other aircraft will be delivered over the coming three years. JAC is currently undertaking an important fleet modernization process. Progressively, their nine new ATRs will start operations on both main routes and connec...

Third stretched Airbus A350 test plane to join flight trials

The third and final aircraft needed to complete flight trials of Airbus’s enlarged A350-1000 jet is poised to join the test programme as the manufacturer pushes to hand over the first production plane to Qatar Airways before the end of the year. The 1000, a stretched model seating 40 more people than the existing A350-900, is on course for certification in the second half after its first...

Safran and Zodiac Aerospace, a new global leader in aerospace

Agreed Public Cash Offer by Safran of €29.47 per Zodiac Aerospace share and subsequent merger on the basis of 0.485 Safran share (ex-special dividend) for one Zodiac Aerospace share with pre-closing €5.50 per share special dividend to Safran’s shareholders. Unique combination to enjoy global leadership positions across the whole aircraft value chain with a comprehensive range of...

Daher delivers 54 TBM aircraft in 2016 and prepares new integrated flight deck for TBM 900 version

Daher’s Airplane Business Unit announced the delivery of 54 TBM 900/TBM 930s in 2016, underscoring the success for these latest members of its very fast turboprop aircraft family – which continue to benefit from system enhancements. Two-thirds of the 2016 deliveries involved the TBM 930 version, which incorporate Garmin’s G3000 flight deck with the first-ever touchscreen-contr...