Airbus Helicopters plans to deliver the first upgraded H225 heavy twin (formerly known as the EC225e) at the end of this year. In the cockpit, the optional Rig’N Fly GPS-navigation-assisted software program aims to make oil rig approaches safer, thanks to a reduction in pilot workload. The system, which is retrofittable, has just beenEASA certified. The helicopter...
Serbia’s flag carrier introduces customer-centric software solutions from Sabre. Air Serbia, the national airline of the Republic of Serbia, is introducing a new technology platform to support its growth strategy and enhance the Air Serbia travel experience. To support this vision, Air Serbia has selected global technology provider Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) to provide a full sui...
The first A350-900 for Singapore Airlines yesterday completed its maiden flight over the skies of South West France. The aircraft, featuring the airline’s iconic livery, will now enter the final phase of production, including further ground checks and test flights, before being prepared for delivery in the coming weeks. The all-new A350 XWB will form the backbone of Singapore Airlines&rsq...
Russian company UpperTwo opened an office in Tallinn. As commented in UpperTwo, Tallinn, as well as Riga, is moving forward, offering more interesting opportunities to solve financial problems of airlines and aircraft owners. The geographical location of Estonian capital is an important factor too. Flight times takes a little over an hour, which is very convenient fo...
Movers and shakers in the business aviation industry in Europe and beyond congregated in Vienna’s Palais Coburg on Friday for an annual gathering hosted by Jet Aviation. The brainchild of Oliver Bergsch, Jet Aviation's vice president of MRO sales for Europe, Middle East and Asia, the invitation-only event attracts top-level executives to Austria. Jet Aviation president...
Dornier Seawings is to relaunch its Seastar amphibian at the Singapore air show later this month – 25 years after the programme was halted – and has selected Diamond Aircraft Industries (Canada) to manufacture the twin-engined turboprop's all-composite airframe. Dornier, headquartered in Wuxi, China, says the Seastar will re-emerge with a new propeller and landing gear, details...
St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) has emerged as a key hub for Caribbean private aviation traffic, especially during the peak winter season. Unlike other nearby Leeward Islands–such as Anguilla, Dominica, Saba, St. Bart’s, St. Eustatius and Tortola–St. Maarten’s airport can accept larger aircraft and thus offers far greater operational fl...
Mohammed Ibrahim Yassin, the chief executive of Somalia’s Daallo Airlines, has confirmed that an apparent explosion struck the company’s Airbus A321 earlier today on a flight from Mogadishu to Djibouti. Yassin said that the cause of the incident is “still unclear,” but that the aircraft in question (MSN 642) has never had any technical faults during its three years of se...
A large commercial aircraft spent Monday morning circling low over the historic center of Spanish resort Palma, scaring crowds and leading to all sorts of social media speculation. In the end, the flight turned out to be just a peaceful training exercise. The Spanish airport operator Aena said that Swiss Air had asked for permission to conduct a training flight that would continue for several d...
Air Vanuatu says an independent report of the runway conditions at Bauerfield Airport has determined it is safe to operate jet flights into and out of Port Vila. The airline says it is “satisfied the condition of the runway is safe to continue jet operations” based on the independent assessment from Australian-based ACG. “The report found no sign of any foreign object debri...
Hong Kong Airlines is currently restricted to secondary Australian destinations such as the Gold Coast, Cairns and Darwin as Cathay Pacific has utilised all available traffic rights for Hong Kong-based carriers to the four major Australian ports of Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney under the current bilateral air services agreements between the two countries. A recent CAPA – Centre fo...
Pilot was reportedly deemed to be flying too low and too close to the crowd at Southport air show in 2014 - a year before Shoreham disaster killed 11. The pilot in the Shoreham Air Show crash that killed 11 people was involved in another aviation incident a year before the disaster, it has been claimed. Andy Hill, 51, was deemed to be flying too low and too close to the crowd at Southport, M...
The RTR turborocket combines the best of both rockets and jets to enable faster, higher flying aircraft. Ever since the Concorde was put out to pasture, supersonic travel has remained out of reach for commercial air passengers. And while SpaceX and Blue Origin are showing re-usable rocket boosters are possible, actually putting anything in orbit still remains a very, very expensive proposi...
He is one of the highest-paid actors of Bollywood, but there are things that even Shah Rukh Khan can’t buy. SRK says he aspires to buy a plane, but is running low on funds as he has used them up to make films. “I want to buy a plane but I don’t have money. I put all my money in my films. I would really like to travel in a private plane because I can do a lot more work. One d...
Air Transat’s pilots have voted almost unanimously to support a strike that would hit the vacation airline just before the busy March Break travelling season, if the two sides can’t come to terms before then. The Air Line Pilots Association says 97 per cent of its members at Transat have voted in favour of withdrawing services if required. The pilot contract expired last April an...
Emirates has come out on top again as the world's most valuable airline brand, according to the 2016 Brand Finance Global 500 report, which was released yesterday. The airline’s brand value grew 17% over last year to reach US$ 7.7 billion. For the fifth year running, the airline has steadily risen up in the global ranking of the world’s top brands to be placed at #171, 47 places...
Three helicopters have taken off from Pulkovo airport to evacuate the injured in the traffic accident that happened at Saturday, January 30 in Vyborg District, Leningrad Region on the 158th km of the Skandinavia motorway. Two of the helicopters (K-32 and Mi-8) are provided by Emergencies Ministry Air Rescue Center of the Northwestern Regional Center and one Bell-244 by med evac aviati...
CityJet, an Irish regional airline, may lease the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) planes it is going to purchase in Russia to the French flag carrier Air France, a source familiar with the carrier's plans said Tuesday. CityJet announced its decision to buy 15 SSJ100 planes, with an option to purchase 10 more aircraft, in mid-October. The contract is expected to be sign...
Russian Helicopters, part of State Corporation Rostec, delivered the final batch of helicopters to India under a previously signed agreement. India received 151 Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopters produced by JSC Kazan Helicopters through Rosoboronexport. “India is one of the key markets for Russian helicopter building industry and the largest operator of Russian-mad...
A bomb threat on a plane preparing to leave Faro airport in Portugal's southern region of Algarve for Lisbon forced the evacuation of 38 passengers early on Tuesday, a spokesman for TAP said. "There was a bomb threat and the plane was handed over to the authorities for inspection. The passengers have been removed," he said, declining to provide details on how the threat had been d...
A passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Somalia on Tuesday when an explosion shortly after takeoff tore a large, gaping hole in its fuselage. Two people were hurt in the incident onboard the Dijbouti-bound Daallo Airlines flight, officials told BBC News, which occurred at 10,000 feet over Mogadishu. Local reports also suggested that at least one man was blown out of the pla...
