In 2015 the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s long-term lending institution, fostered projects in Finland with loans totalling EUR 1.62bn – this is an all-time record high EIB commitment in Finland. Today, the EIB provided a EUR 230m loan to Finavia Corp., the Finnish airport operator, for the expansion of Helsinki Airport. This investment...
Demand for air travel in 2015 grew at its strongest pace since the end of the global financial crisis, with more passengers taking to the skies amid lower airfares, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says. The latest passenger traffic numbers from IATA showed international revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) grew by 6.5 per cent in 2015, compared with the prior year. It was th...
Air New Zealand plans to install its fleet of ATR turboprops with Required Navigation Performance (RNP) technology at a cost of NS$25 million. The Star Alliance carrier will become the first ATR operator to use RNP, which allows aircraft to fly along predefined routes with the aid of GPS navigation systems. In practical terms, this means pilots trained for RNP can fly at lower altitudes and...
Airbus Helicopters has received EASA certification for the Rig’N Fly (Rig Integrated GPS approaches with eNhanced Fly-ability and safetY), an avionics enhancement designed to provide automatic rig approaches for offshore operations. First developed on H225. it will also be implemented on H175 (end 2016) and on H160. Rig’N Fly uses a combination of sensors (GPS, barometric...
Business aviation activity in Europe started off this year on bad footing, with departures falling 4.5 percent year-over-year last month, to 47,628, according to data released today by WingX Advance. Flights of business jets and pistons were each down 5 percent from a year ago, while turboprop flights declined 1.5 percent. Last month’s decline mainly came in Western Europe—espe...
Honda Aircraft’s HA-420 HondaJet is one of nine nominees—and the only business jet contender—selected by a National Aeronautic Association (NAA) committee to vie for the 2015 Robert J. Collier Trophy, the NAAannounced on Tuesday. The Collier Trophy is awarded annually “for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.” While the&nbs...
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's (D) office announced a deal earlier this week that would force the city's five existing helitour operators using the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, located near Wall Street on the East River, to curtail flights by 50 percent by Jan. 1, 2017. Reductions will begin in April, with an elimination of all Sunday flights followed by further cuts of 20 percen...
Owners of hunting falcons across the Middle East will find transporting their classic birds of prey on VIP jets and commercial aircraft has become a little bit easier thanks to a new product from Lufthansa Technik. “They can make a bit of a mess during flight and of course transporting falcons can also mean having to remove seats beforehand,” said Lufthansa Technik Middle East...
Sharjah-based VIP aviation specialist Gama Aviation has partnered with Go Aviation Middle East to access the company's suite of services, which range from light interior cleaning to complete paint and brightwork restoration and polishing. One of the main benefits of the new partnership is that Gama Aviation can provide clients with the option of a 7-star valeting service in a single locatio...
Passengers and crew on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight were evacuated at Madrid's Barajas International Airport today, reports Reuters. Spanish authorities made the swift decision after a note was found threatening that a bomb was on the Riyadh bound jet before take-off. Spain's airport operator Aena said it had later downgraded the alarm from general to local, meani...
One of Russia’s largest air carriers, S7 Airlines (Siberia Airlines brand) is expected to submit an application to operate in Cyprus by next month. According to InBusinessNews, the Russian tour operator, Biblio Globus, has proceeded with a collaboration with S7 Airlines, to transport tourists from Russia to Cyprus. It should be noted that Biblio Globus plays a big part in Cypriot touri...
In spring this year the HeliRussia 2016 helicopter industry exhibition will open in Moscow. Alongside the launches and demonstrations of the latest developments in the helicopter industry, there will be organised discussion of topical issues for the industry. A regular forum of the exhibition since 2012 has been the international scientific and operational conference 'Air Ambulances & Medi...
Ahead of his being named as Delta Air Lines' CEO-elect, Ed Bastian – a key architect in the carrier's success – spoke to LEK Consulting's John Thomas and Spencer Stuart's Michael Bell, who have been conducting a series of behind-the-curtain analyses for Airline Business to understand how the industry's top players excel Over the last five years, Delta A...
The UK Ministry of Defence is close to signing a contract with Airbus Defence & Space for the manufacture and testing of two Zephyr 8 high-altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS). A £10.6 million ($15.5 million) deal is expected to be firmed in the coming weeks which will see the unmanned air vehicle assessed through an operational concept demonstrator (OCD) programme to determine if the ca...
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. today announced the Gulfstream G500 has completed flutter testing, achieving another milestone in the new aircraft's flight-test program. The first G500 test aircraft, T1, performed the tests over the course of more than 50 flights. "The G500 has accomplished a great deal since we launched the flight-test program in May 2015," said Da...
West Star Aviation has reconfigured a Falcon 2000 to create a 13-passenger interior in what is typically an eight- to 10-passenger jet. The project, performed at the company’s Alton, Ill. facility, required fabricating a smaller galley and auxiliary galley/entertainment center, shifting the cabin bulkhead/door forward, and extending all the side ledges and window panels. Rearward, th...
A London-based journalist had a tough job of compiling a profile of the Tupolev 104 for Aviation Week in 1956, based entirely on observations of its landing at London Airport, photographs, and experts such as engineers knowledgeable in typical Russian aircraft design. The result is a comprehensive look at the civil aircraft painted in the livery of Aeroflot, Russia’s state-run...
Travellers worried about the implications of flying to Latin America amid growing concerns about the Zika virus should be able to amend their travel plans without expense – as airlines and holiday firms acknowledge the threat from the mosquito-borne infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) this week declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” regarding...
Donald Trump's plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday because of engine trouble. The Boeing 757 was on its way from Mr Trump's home base of New York to Little Rock, Arkansas, where the property mogul and Republican presidential candidate was due to address a rally. The private jet landed safely at 4:40 pm after reporting engine problems, a...
Lufthansa Technik AG has developed another smart solution to avoid unscheduled maintenance actions. It’s called the Logo Light Protector. The light protector avoids damage that can occur while removing a logo light located in the horizontal stabilizer of the Boeing 777. Until now, there has been an inherent risk of damage to the GFRP surface layer of the st...
A newly-announced wing development and test centre will expand Airbus’ “footprint” in the UK, while providing functional space for the company and its partners to develop new ideas for a broad range of applications. This facility – which is to open its doors in 2017, located on Airbus’ existing Filton site – will be an advanced development and testing centre...
