Deutsche Lufthansa AG Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said the German carrier wants to play a role in the further consolidation of Europe’s airlines, while suggesting that full mergers aren’t the only option. Responding to reports that Lufthansa is exploring bids for Scandinavian Airlines parent SAS AB and the Condor arm of Thomas Cook Group Plc, Spohr said Friday that the sto...
CHC Group, one of the world’s two largest helicopter operators, this week announced that it had decided not to make an interest payment on its bonds that mature in October 2020. It was due to pay $46 million on Monday. Although investors in the 9.25% senior secured notes are not happy, the company has a 30-day grace period before it is technically in default on these bonds. CHC could...
Columbia Helicopters has signed a deal with the US Forest Service to provide five aircraft under contract to assist in battling wildland fires. The helicopters provided will include two CH-47D Chinook helicopters that are equipped with newly certified internal tanks that will permit the aircraft to fight fires in urban areas. The company’s two tanked CH-47D helicopters will report to thei...
Scoot, the low-cost, medium-haul arm of the Singapore Airlines Group, which operates an all-787 Dreamliner fleet, is set to launch operations to India beginning May. Scoot will start operating to Chennai and Amritsar from Singapore on May 24, and begin services to Jaipur on October 2. “Scoot is excited to bring our proposition of value travel and service with Scootitude to gu...
For the past few months, Donald Trump has been too busy presenting insane plans about funding his wall and confusing 9/11 with 7-Eleven to fork over the measly $5 necessary to register his private plane, and now the Trump jet is grounded, the New York Times reports. Earlier in April, the Times reported the plane had been making the rounds with an expired registration since February 1. Because o...
Quick-thinking medical staff in Norway saved a patient’s life by calling in a fighter jet to whisk live-saving medical equipment from another hospital. They didn’t ask any questions, except for what size the machine was Dr Wetting Carlsen The dying patient urgently needed a special lung and heart procedure called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, but the hospital in the tow...
The prestigious Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC) has selected RocketRoute as their primary flight planning solution. ENAC was founded in 1949 in Paris-Orly, moving to Toulouse in 1968 and merging with the SEFA (Service d’Exploitation de la Formation Aéronautique) on January 1, 2011. The Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC) is a unique example : i...
Dr Gary Clark, formerly Head of Vehicle Test and Integration with Airbus Helicopters, has joined Airbus Helicopters UK Ltd as Head of UK Civil Business on 1 April 2016. His experience both within Airbus Helicopters and the wider Airbus Group will strengthen the UK business, helping to support the company’s continued mission to improve customer satisfaction. Dr Clark joins the UK t...
Piper Aircraft has confirmed the sale of the first Piper M500 into Switzerland to Mr. Michael Hoerler and will be based at Wangen-Lachen. The customer is expected to take delivery of the aircraft within the next few months. Mr. Hoerler is upgrading from a 2011 Piper Mirage and will use the M500 for personal travel throughout Europe. “Piper is thrilled that Mr. Hoerler is stepp...
The $8.8-billion Rafale deal has not yet been finalised, but is at an ‘advanced stage’, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said on Thursday, adding that “the intention was to close it quite soon”. The BJP had on Wednesday tweeted a graphic, saying that the Rafale combat aircraft deal has been “finalised” and the Narendra Modi government had saved over `21,000...
Speaking at a public hearing in Brussels, Martin Gauss, CEO of the Latvian airline airBaltic, expressed support for the European Commission’s holistic approach to aviation. “It is good”, he said, “that the EU Commission recognises the economic value of aviation. airBaltic does indeed provide for reliable connectivity within the Baltic region, and, together with our...
Meals on AZALJET flights will differ slightly from the same menu of AZAL’s classic flights. AZALJET passengers will be offered a hot meal (with a choice of chicken or meat meal), bread, juice, water, tea or coffee. If it is a morning flight, passengers will be offered breakfast. In addition, as before passengers will have an opportunity to buy another type of improved hot menu while booki...
Bell Helicopter’s third-generation tiltrotor, the V-280 Valor, is literally coming together in Amarillo, Texas, as the company enters the final stages of mating the wing with the fuselage. It’s a moment of truth for the engineers and fabricators who have been working on prototype aircraft, which is being prepared to fly in September 2017 as part of the US Army’s Joint-Mul...
The Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) will bring its popular MEBAA Conference to Saudi Arabia once again, with the latest edition taking place in Jeddah on 1 and 2 May 2016 under the patronage of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). Featuring a line up of industry leading speakers, the conference programme will address a range of topics affectin...
The production of Russia’s light utility helicopters Kamov Ka-226T in India may begin next year, director for international cooperation and regional policy of the Russian State Corporation Rostec Viktor Kladov said at the Defense Services Asia (DSA 2016) exhibition on Wednesday. "If the process develops according to the plan, the corresponding firm contract will be ready by the end o...
Bombardier Business Aircraft reaffirmed its commitment to the success of the Learjet product family by announcing the creation of a dedicated, worldwide sales team with the Learjet 70 and Learjet 75 aircraft as its singular focus. To that end, Mike Fahey is appointed Vice President, Learjet Aircraft Sales, assuming overall responsibility and accountabil...
Textron Aviation Inc. announced it has added new factory-direct coverage programs – Pre-Buy Assurance, Extended Care and King Air Direct – furthering its commitment in supporting the world’s largest installed fleet. Through these new programs, Citation, King Air and Hawker customers can increase efficiency, reduce costs and optimize the value of their aircraft. “As the m...
The London Heliport at Battersea, the capital city’s only commercially licensed heliport, achieved its best year for activity since 2008 with over 10,500 movements recorded for the year ending 31st March, 2016. A high proportion of growth was attributable to business movements. There was an uptick especially, in private users during 2015, including the prolific weekly dep...
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is to put its first Bombardier C Series aircraft – a CS100 – into service on 15 July. In doing so, SWISS will be the first airline in the world to operate the new Bombardier C Series. The flights concerned are bookable on swiss.com from today. The innovative short- and medium-haul twinjet sets new benchmarks in inflight comfort, operating...
Pilot looked ‘shaken’ on emerging from the cockpit after safe return landing in Munich, Zionist Union’s Ksenia Svetlova reports. A Lufthansa flight en route to Israel, whose passengers included a member of Knesset, had to turn back on Thursday because of engine failure. The flight had left Munich and was making its way to Tel Aviv when one of its engines failed. Zionist...
Ryanair Holding is battling lower fares in the first months of its financial year, weighed down by French air-traffic controller strikes and by travelers’ concerns about a future terrorist incident following last month’s bombings in Brussels. “There is a kind of cloud hanging over our business,” Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary said in an interview Tues...
