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Russia manufactures two Mi-171 helicopters for China

Russian Helicopters holding (part of Rostec) manufactured two multi-purpose Mil Mi-171 helicopters for China General Aviation Service Co Ltd, the holding’s press service said on Monday. "China is the largest operator of Russian helicopters in the Asia-Pacific region. We have many years of cooperation and are currently developing relationships with new companies. The helicopters are e...

Bombardier Announces Closing of its New Issuance of Senior Notes due 2021

Bombardier Inc. announced that it has successfully closed its offering of US$1.4 billion aggregate principal amount of new Senior Notes due December 1, 2021 which carry a coupon of 8.750% per annum and were sold at 99.001% of par (the “Notes”). Bombardier intends to use the net proceeds of this offering of Notes, together with cash on hand, to finance the redemption of all of i...

FIRST ROYAL NAVY AW101 MERLIN MK4 MAKES ITS MAIDEN FLIGHT

The UK Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) expressed appreciation for the milestone  First of 25 Royal Navy AW101 Merlin helicopter upgrades completed as part of the UK MoD Merlin Life Sustainment Programme (MSLP) contract awarded in January 2014 Delivery of the 25 aircraft will take place between 2017 and 2020 The AW101 Merlin Mk4 will deliver enhanced capability for the Roya...

Gulfstream announces government order from Polish Ministry of National Defence

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced that the Polish Ministry of National Defense has signed an agreement to purchase two Gulfstream G550 aircraft. The aircraft will be configured for VIP transport and will be delivered in 2017. “With its reliability, efficiency and durability, the G550 is a valuable tool for the Polish government,” said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream. &ldqu...

VistaJet Receives Best Charter Operator 2016 Award From Asian Business Aviation Association

VistaJet has been presented with the Best Charter Operator 2016 Award from the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA). AsBAA is a non- profit trade association representing over 130 corporations, fellow trade associations, individuals & SME’s based in Asia and around the world from the General Aviation Industry. Its annual Icons of Aviation Awards ceremony both recognizes the...

Emirates crash investigation to take up to three years - regulator

The investigation into the Emirates jet crash landing at Dubai International on Aug. 3 will take two to three years to complete, the director general of the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said on Sunday. The crash was the first major accident in Emirates' more-than-30-year history. All 300 passengers and crew safely evacuated the jet but a firefighter died tack...

A4E urges the British Government to boost UK GDP by abolishing Air Passenger Duty

Highest aviation tax worldwide is damaging UK competitiveness. -Abolishing APD would boost UK GDP by 1.7% and create 61,000 new jobs by 2020, according to PwC. Countries which have scrapped aviation taxes have seen an immediate boost to GDP and tourism. Airlines for Europe (A4E) members Carolyn McCall (easyJet), Willie Walsh (IAG) and Michael O’Leary...

Leonardo C-27J lands in Ottawa ahead of possible FWSAR announcement

One of the bidders for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) replacement aircraft could receive an early Christmas present.  Judy Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, told the Canadian Aerospace Summit on Wednesday that the government is “in the process of evaluating the bids and will be awarding the contract soon.” &ldq...

Police helicopter crashes, kills 4, after Rio shootout

A police helicopter in Rio de Janeiro crashed Saturday evening, killing four officers after a day of intense firefights between law enforcement and suspected criminals in the slum known as City of God. It was not clear whether the helicopter had been hit by gunfire or whether another factor caused it to go down. In a statement, the police said they were investigating. Amateur video sent to l...

This Plane Can Be Controlled Using Only Your Brain

There is an airplane that can be controlled using only your brain. Seriously. After 12 years of research from neuroscientists and engineers at Honeywell Aerospace, a six-seat Beechcraft King Air C90 was tricked out to be operated with an elastic cap housing 32 electrodes. The “pilot,” or person wearing the cap, maneuvers the plane by focusing on a screen. The electrodes in the ca...

Richard Branson is bringing us the next supersonic passenger aircraft

On Tuesday, the founder of Virgin Group is joining forces with Boom— an aircraft production startup — to unveil the XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator, a prototype supersonic passenger airliner. The aircraft will reportedly provide 3.5-hour flights between New York and London for the "affordable" price of $5,000. Creating affordable supersonic flight has been on Branson&...

Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Antonov Airlines confirm the end of An-124 joint venture

Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Antonov Airlines announce that their An-124-100 freighter joint venture, Ruslan International, is to end on 31 December 2016. The two companies created the joint venture in 2006 to jointly market their combined An-124-100 fleets, with the aim of improving availability of the unique ramp loading cargo aircraft for customers all over the world. The partnership ha...

Australia’s hypersonic plane for a new space race

On 28 October 1971, the bullet-shaped Black Arrow rocket blasted into the clear sky over the desert plain at Woomera in southern Australia. This launch of the British Prospero satellite into orbit was the culmination of more than 10 years of rocket development. The mission could have marked the beginning of a new era for Woomera as a major global space port, perhaps making it as famous as Nasa&...

Emirates Says Rolls-Royce A380 Engines Not Up to Agreed Standard

Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, said it’s unhappy with performance shortfalls afflicting $6.1 billion’s worth of Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engines ordered to power a batch of 50 Airbus Group SE A380 superjumbos. Feedback on the Trent 900 powerplants indicates “technical issues” that need to be resolved before the first plane is delivered to Emirates...

Peach Aviation orders 10 A320neo and three A320ceo

Japan’s Peach Aviation has signed a firm order with Airbus for the purchase of 10 A320neo and three A320ceo.  The order was announced at a signing ceremony in Tokyo, attended by Shinichi Inoue, Managing Director and CEO, Peach Aviation and Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO.  The newly-ordered aircraft will join an existing A320 Family fleet at Peach currently comp...

Welcome to the Airbus A350-900

On 19 December 2016, the Lufthansa Group will receive its first A350-900, which is the most modern long haul aircraft worldwide and which will be based at Lufthansa’s Munich Hub. The first regular commercial flight will be from Munich to Delhi on 10 February 2017. Tickets are available now. “We are looking forward to welcoming our first A350-900 shortly before Christmas. And already in...

Luxaviation Belgium unveils four million euro hangar at Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport

Luxaviation Belgium, part of the Luxaviation Group, is unveiling its new 4,000sqm hangar facility at Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport, Belgium. The hangar, being officially opened on Thursday, November 17 by Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu, is part of a four million euro investment by the Luxaviation Group. The facility will provide space for up to 15 business aviation aircr...

Brazil approves Qatar Airways’ stake purchase in Chile-based Latam Airlines

Latam Airlines has announced that Brazil’s competition regulator Cade has given the green light for Qatar Airways to purchase a stake in the Chile-headquartered regional carrier. Qatar Airways in July agreed to acquire up to 10 per cent of Latam’s total shares following a capital increase of US$613 million, through the issuance of new shares at $10 per share. Latam said it will n...

SR Technics opens a new training center in Abu Dhabi

SR Technics, a world leading MRO service provider, has opened a new world-class training center in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi offering flexible, comprehensive training solutions to supplement the company’s existing training facilities in Zurich, Switzerland. Since 2008 SR Technics has provided the employees of various regional airlines in the Middle East with basic maintenance train...

Gatwick Airport and Boeing propose to build new maintenance hangar

Gatwick Airport and Boeing have announced they have entered into exclusive discussions to build a commercial aviation maintenance hangar at the airport. The proposed facility, subject to local authority planning permission, will add engineering capacity to support the Gatwick airline community’s immediate operational needs to continue its record growth in both short and long haul ser...

TAG Aviation Completes First 120- Month Inspection on Global Express Aircraft

 TAG Aviation Maintenance Services Europe has completed its first 120-month inspection on a Global Express aircraft. The 120-month inspection project - which was completed in August and has been carried out at TAG Farnborough’s Maintenance Services Centre - included a full strip and repaint of the aircraft’s livery, a SwiftBroadband upgrade and a cabin refurbishment which was unde...