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New Business Turboprops 2015

While the light jet market remains depressed, business turboprops are holding their own and development of new models continues, albeit unevenly. According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, 603 new business turboprops were sold last year compared with 722 new business jets. That’s down slightly from the recent record 645 new turboprops shipped in 2013, but given the global e...

Hands On: HUD and Fly-by-Wire Enhances Legacy 500

The first OEM customer for the Rockwell Collins HGS-3500 compact head-up display (HUD) is Embraer, which selected the new HUD for the Legacy 450 and 500 midsize jets. The HUD is optional, as is the Rockwell CollinsEVS-3000 enhanced vision system, and they can be installed either individually or together. The best installation is the combination of the&nbs...

HURRICANE HUNTERS: Nine 'brave' aircraft that need all nine lives

As the US East Coast bunkers down for a hurricane hammering, we look at aircraft used by US Air Force Special Operations and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to fly directly into hurricanes to take the critical measurements that help predict where a storm is heading. The first time the US Army Air Corps flew an aircraft into a hurricane was in 1943. U-boat activity had...

American Airlines files $1mn suit against Zodiac

American Airlines (AA,Dallas/Fort Worth) has filed a USD1 million breach-of-contract suit against the US subsidiary of French seat manufacturer Zodiac Aerospace following lengthy delays in the delivery of business class seats for American's Dreamliner and B777-200ER fleets, the latter of which is being refurbished.  The Dallas-based carrier is seeking a court order stating that it...

SWISS: New fleet flagship Boeing 777 to enter service during the winter schedules

SWISS’s new fleet flagship, the Boeing 777-300ER, will enter revenue service in the course of the coming 2015/16 winter schedules. The new long-haul twinjet will be deployed on services between Zurich and New York from early 2016. The start of the winter schedules also sees more frequencies added to the Zurich-São Paulo and Zurich-Miami routes. And SWISS will be further expa...

Fitch Affirms Ryanair at 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ryanair Holdings plc’s (RYA) Long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) and Ryanair Limited’s senior unsecured rating at ‘BBB+’. The Outlook on the IDR is Stable. The unsecured rating covers EUR1.7bn of debt, and it is aligned with RYA’s IDR of ‘BBB+’ despite potential subordination to RYA’s approximately...

Winter Flight Schedule 2015/16: Austrian Airlines Expands Its Network

 Three new long-haul destinations starting October 2015: Miami, Mauritius and Colombo · One weekly flight to Marrakech as of November 2015 · On balance nine new destinations in the Austrian Airlines route network in 2015 Austrian Airlines is expanding its route network in the entire year 2015. The airline added nine new destinations to its flight offering this year i.e. Ode...

YVR Welcomes National Airlines to Vancouver

Today,Vancouver Airport Authority announced the upcoming arrival of National Airlines to Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Starting January 20, 2016, the twice weekly scheduled service will operate between Orlando-Sanford International Airport (SFB) and YVR. “We are delighted to welcome a new carrier to YVR which will boost tourism and provide greater selection fo...

Bombardier Signs Firm Agreements for Combined Total of up to 16 CRJ Series Aircraft

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has welcomed Dublin-based CityJet (CityJet) to the CRJ Series family of aircraft operators following confirmation that it will operate CRJ900 aircraft in the network of Sweden’s Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). CityJet will acquire the aircraft from a customer that signed a firm purchase agreement for eight CRJ900 aircraft and took options on an additiona...

Lufthansa Group opens up new winter holiday destinations

The Lufthansa Group Airlines – Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Germanwings, Eurowings, Lufthansa andSWISS – will become even more attractive for leisure travellers this winter, as the airlines are adding more destinations that appeal to tourists and leisure travelers to their schedules. As always, passengers can trust in the first-rate service, the quality and the reliabilit...

Air Mauritius signs up to an efficiency service solution from Rolls-Royce

Air Mauritius, one of the leading scheduled international passenger airlines in the Indian Ocean region, is extending its already successful fuel management partnership with an Efficiency Service Solution from Rolls-Royce. As part of the four-year agreement, Rolls-Royce will deploy its fuel management capabilities to support the airline across a range of activities, including data and analytics...

Russia And Ukraine Conflict Takes To the Skies

A new economic battleground is unfolding between Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian government announced last week a ban on Russian airlines flying into the country, and Russia struck back Monday, saying it would close its airspace to Ukraine. The bans have the potential to hit both nations' already struggling economies, reroute flights across a large part of Europe and lead to further eco...

Delta Air Lines awards $150K to aviation charter school to purchase plane

West Michigan Aviation Academy students got their first look at the Cessna 172 plane the charter high school was able to purchase after a $150,0000 award from the Delta Air Lines Foundation. "We can increase the capacity of the number of kids we can train," WMAA CEO Pat Cwayna said Thursday about flight school students now having two Cessnas. "We are thrilled." The 550-st...

Boeing, Airbus Begin New Battle for Cargo Conversions

Boeing Co. and Airbus Group are squaring off in the nascent market for converting single-aisle passenger jets into freighters. Boeing says it has a commitment from China's YTO Express Airlines to buy an unidentified number of 737-800s that the U.S. plane maker would convert to cargo use, although Boeing's board of directors hasn't signed off on launching a planned conversion program...

Comlux America Gets BBJ Warranty Repair Facility and Service Center Approval

Comlux the Aviation Group is pleased to announce that Boeing Business Jets has signed an agreement with its completion center, Comlux America LLC, which designates the company as an authorized warranty repair facility and service center. The contract allows Comlux America to perform warranty work on BBJ aircraft on behalf of Boeing, providing BBJ operators another service option in the U.S. Additi...

ANALYSIS: Royal Navy opens doors for UAV ops discussions

In an effort to progress understanding of unmanned air system operations, the Royal Navy held a maritime UAS awareness conference at RNAS Culdrose – home of 700 Xperimental (700X) naval air squadron that operates the Insitu ScanEagle unmanned air vehicle – on 24 and 25 September. While the Royal Air Force is considered a fairly experienced operator of UAVs, its sister services are n...

Boeing selects BAE to develop warfare systems for F-15

BAE Systems has been selected by Boeing to develop and manufacture a new, all-digital electronic warfare system for the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) fleet of F-15 fighter aircraft. The new electronic warfare system is part of a multi-billion dollar program to develop the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS), an integrated system that will provide advanced aircraft prote...

Jet Aviation Basel delivers new Airbus A340-600 with VIP cabin interior

Jet Aviation Basel recently delivered a brand new ACJ A340-600 that it outfitted with a VIP cabin interior for an undisclosed client in Europe. This is the 18th Airbus delivery from the Basel Completions Center since 1999. Equipped to carry up to 121 passengers in comfort and style, the ACJ A340-600 features a forward galley, dining and lounge areas, a master bedroom and ensuite bathroom w...

CAE closes the acquisition of Bombardier's Military Aviation Training unit

CAE today announced that it has closed the acquisition of Bombardier's Military Aviation Training business for C$19.8 million. All the required conditions and regulatory approvals have been obtained and the transaction has been concluded. This acquisition significantly strengthens CAE's core capabilities as a training systems integrator (TSI) globally, and further expands its offer...

Homeland Security lambasts TSA for "layers of security simply missing"

The floor just keeps dropping further and further out from under the Transportation Security Administration after a scathing report this summer from Homeland Security revealed that the airport security organization had an almost unbelievable 95% failure rate during a months-long investigation and series of undercover tests. Now, Homeland Security has testified before Congress that t...

OPINION: Absence of 90-seat turboprop a curious market failure

Only two years ago it was possible to imagine a renaissance of regional turboprop manufacturing and innovation not seen since the mid-1960s. Five separate efforts to produce a new aircraft with 70-90 seats were in various stages of early development. Now just one project – China’s initially 70-seat Xian Aircraft MA700 – remains active. India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limit...