The Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter is set to re-enter service with the Royal Moroccan Air (RMAF). Jon Lake reports. Three ex-US Army Reserve CH-47D aircraft were delivered to the port of Tangier on Saturday August 15, arriving on board the roll-on/roll-off ship Liberty Pride. Morocco has already operated the Chinook, having ordered 12 CH-47Cs from Italy’s Elicotteri Merid...
Emirates has rejected Delta Airlines claim that competition from Gulf carriers have “forced” it to cancel flights between and Dubai and Atlanta from 11 February next year, reports Barbara Saunders. In a statement, EK says: “Delta is currently the only airline to operate non-stop between Atlanta and Dubai. It has no head-to-head competition on the route. Industry data shows tha...
Lion Air aims to start flights to China next year, targeting a fast-growing market where business could make up 5-7 percent of the airline's revenue, senior executives said. The airline didn't disclose a time-frame for its China revenue projection, but Lion Air, part of Jakarta-based Lion Group, is aiming for routes to Guangzhou, Shanghai and other cities in China, Lion Group's Pres...
Ryanair has nudged up its annual profit forecast, saying fuller planes would take profits to the upper end of its previously estimated range even as winter competition pressures average ticket prices. The Irish airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, raised its full-year profit forecast by 25 percent in early September as lower fuel costs and poor weather in northern Europe boosted...
A RAAF KC-30A tanker transport has returned from the US after the successful completion of refuelling trials with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Operating from Edwards Air Force Base, California the KC-30 made a total of 479 ‘dry’ and 24 ‘wet’ contacts with a US Air Force F-35A, transferring more than 95 tonnes of fuel using its 18-metre-long Advanced Refuelling Boom Sys...
As fog blankets south-east England, airline travellers face a frustrating start to the working week. More than 100 of today's flights have been cancelled by British Airways - mostly to and from its main base, London Heathrow, and the Docklands airport, London City. BA is warning passengers not to travel to the airport unless they have confirmation their flight will be operating. Many o...
Over 30 students from an Asian polytechnic college completed 6-week practice training in Ameco on October 16th. The enrollment of students added 50% in 2015 because of the attractive course design. The cooperation is twice per year between this institution and Ameco since 2011. It's specially noted that avionic contents increases electronic besides mechanic training. Students may enter the cab...
Auckland has become the latest destination to receive Singapore Airline’s (SIA) new premium economy cabin. SIA has upgauged its daily service between Singapore and Auckland to the Airbus A380, from the Boeing 777-300ER, for the peak summer holiday season. The aircraft change, which also occurred in the prior year, means the Star Alliance member is offering four classes to Auckland...
Melbourne has a new low-cost option for air travel to Asia and a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner operator at Tullamarine. Singapore Airlines-owned Scoot’s inaugural flight TZ22, operated by 787-8 9V-OFC, touched down in the Victorian capital just before 1100 local time on Sunday. The aircraft was on the ground for a little over an hour before departing as TZ21 back to Singapore. The low-cost...
Adelaide Airport Ltd (AAL) has maintained its status as the nation’s fastest growing capital city airport, enabling the company to almost triple its annual profit. The annual report, just released, showed AAL pre-tax profit soared from $19.7 million to $52.3 million in 2014/15, helped by a significant lift in property values and lower financing costs. The net profit result rose from $1...
Airbus has confirmed plans to open an additional A320 production line in Hamburg as part of moves to increase the production rate of its popular single aisle aircraft to 60 a month by the middle of 2019. The manufacturer’s executive vice-president for programmes Didier Evrard said growing demand for single aisle aircraft and an “impressive” backlog for both the current models...
Qantas’s Boeing 737-800 retrojet headed to Longreach over the weekend as part of a charity flight raising funds for drought affected Western Queensland. The ‘Retro Roo’, VH-XZP, touched down at Longreach just after 1000 local time on Saturday carrying a full load of 168 passengers who each paid $737 for the day trip from Sydney to the airline’s the spiritual home and the...
China is poised to unveil a prototype of its first homegrown passenger jet that it hopes will compete with airliners from Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE, setting the stage for the plane's first flight. Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, also known as COMAC, will roll out its single-aisle C919 airliner Monday at its factory in Shanghai. The plane's first test flight has been pushed...
Air China will launch a direct flight from Beijing to Havana, Cuba, on Dec. 27, linking China with the Caribbean for the first time. A Boeing 777-300ER airplane will leave Beijing three times a week, with a stop in Montreal. Previously, flights would go via Spain, Germany, France or Mexico. Chinese do not need visas to enter Jamaica, the Bahamas, Grenada, and the Turks and Caicos Isl...
Scoot chief executive Campbell Wilson plans to make the budget carrier a conduit between Australia and fast-growing markets such as China and India as it expands its network from its home base in Singapore. A newly delivered Scoot Boeing 787 Dreamliner jetted into Melbourne yesterday to make the Victorian capital the long-haul budget carrier's fourth Australian destination after Sydney, the...
Iranian airlines have bought 13 narrow-body Boeing 737 aircraft in their latest move to rebuild the country's commercial fleet, a news agency says. Two of the used aircraft, of the vintage 737-400 model, will fly in from a European country on Monday night, Fars quoted an informed source as saying Sunday without disclosing any names. The two aircraft are the first of eight Boeing 737...
On November 2, 2015, the first COMAC C919 with blue and green coatings to be assembled in Shanghai, rolled out of the newly-built final assembly workshop. Rollout means the completion of installation of body segments and airborne systems, which are ready for ground tests, and also laid a solid foundation for its maiden flight in the next stage. C919 is a short-medium range single-aisle jet whic...
The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has banned 10 countries and 30 operators from using UAE air space over a lack of commitment to safety, "Emarat Al Youm" reports. Meanwhile, the authority confirmed that it had carried out more than 300 inspections under "the national programme for safety assessment of foreign aircraft". The body asserted that such lists remain v...
Russian air transport agency chief Alexander Neradko said that deciphering of the plane’s flight recorders had not yet started Fragments of the ill-fated A321 Russian passenget jet retrieved from the crash site in northern Sinai indicate that the plane was breaking down in midair at a high altitude, Russian air transport agency chief, Alexander Neradko, said on Sunday. "Our specia...
The remains of Russian tourists killed in a passenger jet crash in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula are expected to start arriving back in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday as questions swirl over what caused the disaster. All 224 people aboard Kogalymavia Flight 9268 died in the Saturday morning crash that left debris strewn across a remote area of a region plagued by a violent Islamic insurgency....
Cirrus Aircraft says it hopes to start construction within the next two months on its planned distribution center and showroom at McGhee Tyson Airport, with a goal of completion by mid-2016. Company and local government officials gathered Thursday afternoon for a groundbreaking for the $15 million "Vision Center," which is expected to create 170 jobs. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan...
