The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Eurocontrol have signed an agreement at ATC Global, currently running in Dubai, to enhance co-operation between the two for flight data exchange. Frank Brenner, Eurocontrol’s Director General (pictured above) revealed the agreement covers the exchange of flight data, updated flight plan informatio...
The Portuguese Competition Authority (Autoridade da Concorrência - AdC) has given Gateway, a joint-venture between jetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) and Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (AD,Campinas Viracopos) founder David Neeleman and Portuguese bus company Barraqueiro Group, the greenlight to acquire a 61% stake in the country's national carrier, TAP Portugal (TP, Lisbon...
KLM's sleek and streamlined AHEAD aircraft is one of many proposed aircraft that could radically change the way we fly. The plane of the future could well be a sleek and streamlined aircraft with a “blended wing” if proposals by the Delft University of Technology in Holland and Dutch carrier KLM come to fruition. A blended wing is one that is seamlessly connected to the...
Air France executives were forced to flee with their clothes in tatters after workers stormed a meeting at Charles de Gaulle airport in protest at 2,900 planned job cuts. Human resources chief Xavier Broseta and Pierre Plissonnier, head of long-haul flights, scaled an eight-foot fence to escape, aided by security guards. Broseta emerged shirtless and Plissonnier had his suit ripped to...
Despite the subdued market for new helicopters – particularly in the oil and gas segment – Airbus Helicopters remains confident that it can end the year in positive territory. Aided by some hefty commitments for the 7.5t H175 – it has taken in almost 40 orders for the type this year, including the first for the search and rescue variant – the manufacturer achieved a book...
Northrop Grumman has built the first F-35 centre fuselage destined for Japan’s domestic joint strike fighter assembly plant, operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). The company says the centre fuselage is the core of AX-5, Japan’s fifth example, and will become the first to enter Japan's Nagoya final assembly and checkout plant instead of prime contractor Lockhe...
A preliminary report into to the fatal crash of a Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 on 16 August indicates that the crew received no ground proximity warning system (GPWS) alerts before crashing into an 8,300ft ridge. The National Transportation Safety Committee’s (NTSC) initial report into the crash, which killed 49 passengers and five crew, is based on data from the aircraft...
Puren Germany GmbH, the Chinese firm which acquired ownership of Flughafen Lübeck GmbH in July last year, has filed for insolvency. The airport said in a statement that despite the filing, it is continuing to provide Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) and its passengers with full operations. Owned by Chinese investment firm PuRen Group, Puren Germany had planned to develop L&...
TNT Express NV, the Dutch logistics company being taken over by FedEx Corp., said third-quarter profit fell because of economic turmoil in markets such as Brazil, China and Australia. Adjusted operating income in the period was probably "materially lower" than last year, TNT said in a statement prior to an extraordinary shareholder meeting at its headquarters in Hoofddorp on Monday. P...
Emirates, the biggest customer for Airbus Group SE' A380 superjumbo, said it has presented the manufacturer with a 20-year operating program for the aircraft, stepping up its campaign for a re-engined version of a model that's struggling for orders elsewhere. "We had several meetings with Airbus this year on the A380neo, on what we want and how many, right up until 2035,"...
Frankfurt Airport (FRA) operator Fraport AG began construction on Terminal 3 (T3) on Oct. 5. The first phase, which will handle up to 14 million passengers annually, is expected to open in 2022. The new terminal, which has been in the planning stages for more than 15 years, is an integral part of Fraport's airport expansion program. Fraport AG's investment in T3 is reportedly...
Jet Aviation St. Louis on Friday received FAA STC approval of a Rockwell Collins Fans 1/A solution for the Bombardier Challenger 604. The two companies said they teamed up to leverage their combined experience and expertise on the Challenger 604 airframe. The Fans 1/A upgrade package, which includes the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADC-C) and controller pilot d...
Details have begun to emerge about plans to fill a likely service vacuum left by failing Russian carrier Transaero following last week’s disclosure that shareholders had missed a deadline to consolidate 75 percent of its shares for subsequent transfer to Aeroflot. Instead of saving Transaero, Aeroflot has posited an idea to create a sort of substitute to it by merging three air...
Business jet financing firm Global Jet Capital announced an agreement today to purchase the aircraft lease and loan portfolio of GE Capital Corporate Aircraft in the Americas, representing approximately $2.5 billion of net assets. Terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close by year-end. As part of this transaction, the GECapital Corporate Aircraft team will join the Glob...
Indonesian rescuers said Monday they have found the wreckage of a small plane carrying 10 people that went missing on a domestic flight three days ago. The DHC-6 Twin Otter plane lost contact with air traffic controllers 11 minutes after taking off in good weather Friday from Masamba in South Sulawesi province. National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said the wreckage...
Air France will negotiate with Boeing and leasing company AerCap to cancel the delivery of five 787 passenger jets, Chief Executive Frederic Gagey said on Monday as he unveiled new cost-cutting measures for the troubled airline. The five Boeing planes had been due for delivery in 2016 and 2017, Gagey said during a news conference, adding that additional orders for the 787 were also under r...
Greece will not cut the price of a deal with Germany's Fraport to lease some of its airports, the head of the country's privatization agency told a newspaper on Monday, despite reports that the German firm was seeking better terms. The government chose the airport management group and its Greek partner, energy firm Copelouzos, last year as the preferred bidder to operate 14 regiona...
Airbus faces a double test of confidence in the A380 superjumbo in the coming months as Singapore Airlines ponders whether to renew its first lease while the planemaker seeks to bolster new sales, a leading industry banker said. The Southeast Asian airline was the first to fly the world's largest airliner in 2007 and a 10-year lease for its first aircraft expires in 2017. Airlines...
An American Airlines captain became gravely ill and incapacitated while flying from Phoenix to Boston and later died, but his first officer safely diverted and landed the nearly 150-passenger plane, an airline spokeswoman said. Passengers on the flight were told the pilot was sick and it was making an emergency landing in Syracuse, and they later learned of his death in a scenario tha...
Astra Aviation has signed a ground handling agreement with National Aviation Services (NAS) in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. The agreement states that NAS will provide all physical ground handling, whereas Astra will handle and coordinate customer requests, managing the administration of payments for the airport, handling, navigation and crew costs. “We wanted to work with Na...
Air Botswana has announced its plans to renew its fleet as well as expand on its routes by 2017. The airline told ch-aviation that it plans to phase out its three ATR42-500s, one ATR72-500 and two ARJ-85s, with either the A319-100 of the A320 stepping in as replacements. Air Botswana announced in 2012 that it had plans to expand its routes, covering destinations such as Nairobi J...
