A new hybrid electric motor developed through a project named Hypstair has the potential to make a breakthrough in emission-free propulsion in aviation. The motor is being tested on a Pipistrel airplane and was recently powered up for the first time at the factory in Ajdovscina, Slovenia. Hypstair claims its 200 kW motor is the most powerful hybrid electric powertrain developed for aviation to...
Airbus chief operating officer Tom Williams has a reputation as a troubleshooter and he's got the aircraft manufacturer's supply chain in his sights. Tom Williams is a man with a problem. Almost 7,000 of them, in fact, but all “good problems”, he insists. That is roughly the size of the order book – 6,818, to be precise – of pan-European plane-maker Airbus. As th...
Officials say suspected stowaway died from lack of oxygen as plane leaves for South Africa after officials found ‘nothing suspicious’ in cargo. Zimbabwe on Saturday released a US-registered cargo plane and the unidentified body of a suspected stowaway that was found onboard last Sunday, saying the cause of death was lack of oxygen. National police spokeswoman Charity Charamba tol...
The jet fighter war between the United States, China and Russia expanded this week when Moscow unveiled a new, export version of its Sukhoi-30 warplane. "The Su-30SME aircraft (the export version of the Su-30SM fighter jet) has been shown on the international market for the first time," a source in the defense and industrial sector told TASS, Russia’s state-owned news agenc...
A strike on some of SAS’s Nordic services has been threatened from Feb. 22, following a breakdown of negotiations between pilots, cabin crew and the company that hires them. The services, although operated in SAS colors, are operated by UK-based regional carrier Flybe, which won the contract to serve several Nordic destinations in 2015 under a “white label” arrangement. The...
With oil prices dipping below $30 per barrel and global energy stocks declining, one sector of the aviation business has industry analysts feeling particularly pessimistic in 2016: civil rotorcraft. In an overcrowded oil and gas transportation market where new American and European helicopters are competing for fewer and fewer orders, Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia warns “things could...
The French, renowned champions of the work-life balance, are about to lose one of their last sanctuaries from the connected world: the aircraft cabin. Air France-KLM Group will finally introduce wireless Internet on international flights later this year, after about half of clients previously suggested they’d prefer to remain unplugged, Chief Executive Officer Alexandre de Juniac said Thu...
Airbus underscored its strong Asia-Pacific presence with a high-level participation at this dynamic region’s largest aerospace exhibition – the Singapore Airshow – which brought a new customer for the A350 XWB, plus agreements to expand the company’s services footprint in the area. As the world’s fastest-growing market for new civil aircraft, Asia-Pacific repr...
Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) announces plans on establishing a new brand – AZALJET, representing low-cost destinations of the airline. Flights under AZALJET brand will be operated based on the existing infrastructure of Azerbaijan’s civil aviation from March 28, 2016. Baggage and meals on board will be offered for additional payment on the flights operated underAZALJ...
Aircraft engine makers are placing bets that could reshape their industry for decades as Boeing weighs a novel design for an airplane with 240-250 seats - a neglected area of the jet market. The plane is designed to fill a slender gap between narrow-body jets, which typically have 150-200 seats, and intercontinental planes with 250 or more. Competition to get onboard would usually be a skirmish...
The airline industry has called on the Thai government to address problems at the country's main airport in Bangkok. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) says Suvarnabhumi airport has inadequate capacity and substandard taxiways. The criticism follows safety warnings last year from another air industry organisation about Thailand's regulation and inspection of airlines....
737 jet with 150 passengers on board was being pulled to its take-off runway when plane hit airport fence. Some 150 passengers were stranded in Amsterdam for the weekend after an El Al plane hit a fence at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, one of Europe’s largest airports, while it was being pulled to the runway by an airport tow truck. No one was hurt in the incident, but the 737’s wi...
Boeing Co said on Friday that the United States gave it a license to hold talks with airlines in Iran about buying jetliners, but said it would need additional U.S. approval to make sales. Boeing's license, received on Thursday, marked a step toward catching up with European rival Airbus, which last month agreed to sell Iran 118 planes worth about $27 billion at list prices. "We hav...
British Airways i360, in Brighton, England, has been awarded the Guinness World Record for the most slender tower in the world, with an impressive height to width aspect ratio of 41.15 to 1. The tower stands 160.469 meters tall with a diameter of 3.9 meters. The tower was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the same team who built the famous London Eye, and is set to open to the public this sum...
When Gulfstream launched its G650 in 2012, it became the overnight object of envy for the jet-set crowd (or at least that part of the crowd that does its jetting privately). Its 7,000 nautical mile range allows it to take on essentially any itinerary, nonstop, at a speedy Mach 0.85, and its dimensions – a cabin both wider and taller than its predecessors – gives the phrase ‘free...
Virgin Galactic is getting ready to fly again. Sixteen months after a fatal accident sidelined the private spaceflight company, Virgin Galactic presented its new and improved space plane designed to bring paying space tourists into suborbital space and back home again. Virgin Galactic’s new SpaceShipTwo, named Unity because of an idea from cosmologist Stephen Hawking, rolled out in the...
The Dodgers have seen their global footprint expand in recent years under new ownership, and they plan to continue to grow their brand overseas with the aid of a new partnership with Emirates, the world's largest international airline. "Over the last year, we have become, finally, the most heavily attended sports venue in the world," Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said Frid...
A trial using the Royal Australian Air Force to deliver heavy cargo to Australian researchers in East Antarctica has been hailed a resounding success as the final flight touched down on the ice. The RAAF has flown five support missions with a C-17A Globemaster aircraft. The first left Hobart in late November. The C-17A can carry up to 70 tonnes of cargo for over 10,000 kilometres but the loa...
Nervous holidaymakers are avoiding Turkey following a spree of deadly terror attacks, but that hasn’t slowed plans for a gigantic state-of-the-art airport in Istanbul. It will be one of the biggest international airports in the world once the fourth and final phase is finished by 2028 – and potentially the busiest – with six runways, flights to 350 destinations and an eventual...
First ten aircraft for Munich / Most advanced and eco-friendly long-haul aircraft / First destinations The first ten aircraft of the type Airbus A350-900 will be based in Munich from January 2017. This will equip Lufthansa's second-largest hub with the world's most modern long-haul passenger aircraft. The A350-900 is also one of the most environmentally friendly aircraft. "...
The biannual Singapore Airshow Asia's biggest aerospace and defence exhibition, saw trade deals fall to $12.7bn (£8.9bn) this year compared with public takings of $32bn in 2014. Organisers said the smaller amount was because more transactions are being made privately due to the "changing nature of business deals". There were 11 announced deals, with another 40 m...
