Boeing Capital projects that airlines and lessors generally will encounter few problems acquiring aircraft financing this year. It describes the market as healthy as order books remain strong, industry growth continues to outstripGDP and airlines continue to turn more profits than they have in decades, all the while low fuel prices offset the effects on economies of the commodities crisi...
Qatar Airways will upgrade to non-stop B787 Dreamliner service three times weekly between Doha and Maputo, Mozambique, effective 27 March 2016. The airline currently serves the Doha – Maputo route three times a week via South Africa’s largest city Johannesburg. With the start of the new non-stop service to Maputo International Airport, passengers from Europe, the Americas, the Middl...
Yakutia Airlines will receive 800 million roubles (USD10.57 million) in state subsidies from the government of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) to cover its leasing costs for this year. CEO Olga Fedorova told Russia's TASS news agency that the airline's financial health is a key concern for both management and government. In line with plans to increase its share capital and attract a str...
Boeing and Saudia, Saudi Arabia's national airline, today celebrated the triple delivery of two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and a 777-300ER (Extended Range). A third Dreamliner will be delivered to Saudia within the next week. The airline ordered eight 787-9s in 2010. Saudia is no stranger to such large deliveries. In December 1999, Boeing delivered three 777s to Saudia....
Jet Aviation St. Louis recently upgraded the controls for climate, air quality and final finish at its paint shop. It also acquired devices that analyze paint color tint, inspect pearl and metallic paints, measure the smoothness of the paint finish and assess the level of paint gloss. “Our new computerized and automated climate-control system, painter decontamination chambers, and pa...
Belgian MRO specialist Sabena Aerospace has linked up with Equatorial Congo Air (ECAir) to create a central African MRO centre. As Alan Dron discovered, this will help instil an aviation culture in a new generation of local technicians. The signing, in July 2014, of the agreement to set up a new MRO facility at the Republic of the Congo’s Maya Maya International Airport in Brazzaville w...
A Vilnius regional court has ordered Air Baltic (BT, Riga) to pay defunct Lithuanian operator FlyLAL (TE, Vilnius) EUR16 million (USD17.31 million) in damages after it was found guilty of anti-competitive practices. In its ruling, the court said Air Baltic had gained significant benefit from preferential agreements signed with Riga International Airport between 2004 and 2008. These agreements s...
CAE has underscored its position as training partner of choice with the announcement of a series of contracts, including the sale of nine full-flight simulators to airlines globally, as well as commercial and business aviation training programs with more than 10 operators. These agreements, valued at more than C$350 million, cover a broad range of CAE's training equipment and programs, from co...
Model airplane designer Peter Sripol from Flite Test created a Super Circle Plane, a large model craft with a single circular wing, for Flite Fest 2015. The unique creation was flown over a field of RC aircraft enthusiasts, many of whom used the Super Circle Plane’s circular wing as a target for their own craft. Photos via Flight Test
Embraer announced today that Jackie Chan, a world-renowned movie star, has become the first customer in China to take delivery of a Legacy 500. “The Legacy 500 features our best-to-date technologies and it incorporates designs that maximize passenger comfort and fuel efficiency,” said Marco Tulio Pellegrini, President & CEO, Embraer Executive Jets. “This new aircraft, alon...
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Korean composite manufacturer Hankuk Carbon will form a joint venture to new vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicles. Under the terms of the memorandum of agreement, the JV will see the companies develop, manufacture, and sell VTOL UAVs, starting with a system with a 200-300kg maximum take-off weight. It will be developed according to...
Not even the looming threat of January’s winter storm Jonas was enough to dampen the enthusiasm for NBAA’s 27th annual Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference held in Tampa, Fla., as show organizers hailed the latest edition as the most successful in its history, surpassing the 25th-anniversary show in New Orleans. A slate of educational sessions–nearly 30 this year, d...
The Indian Ministry of Defense has decided to replace the aging MiG fighter fleet of the Air Force with 106 upgraded indigenous Tejas jets. The new upgraded Tejas Mark 1-A would be a 1000 kg lighter than existing version which is 6500 kg along with 43 other improvements, Tribune news daily reported Monday. A decision has been taken to produce 106 “Tejas Mark 1-A” jets and th...
In January this year the Group of Companies Aerofuels subsidiary started refueling the Russian and international airlines flights in the airport of Koltsovo (Ekaterinburg). To make into-plane refueling Aerofuels uses its own jet fuel and modern certified refuellers. At the same time the customers are guaranteed advantageous price conditions and a fast high-quality service in compliance with all...
Quickstep Holdings says it expects to commence deliveries of vertical tails skins and spars for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project before the end of the 2015/16 financial year. The Bankstown Airport-based manufacturer says it is currently working on the qualification process for those components. “Qualification of vertical tail skins and spars continues and, subject to client approv...
Adelaide maintained its position as the Australian airport with the highest percentage of on-time arrivals and departures in 2015, while Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne all improved their performance compared with the previous year, figures from flight data and aviation consultancy OAG show. The OAG Punctuality League report found Japanese airports led the way in terms of punctuality during 2015...
EasyJet has unveiled plans to use hydrogen fuel cells on its aircraft to save up to 50,000 tonnes of fuel a year and cut its carbon emissions. The airline hopes to trial technology later this year that would allow planes to taxi to and from the runway using zero-emissions fuel. Around 4% of easyJet’s total fuel consumption is used in taxiing, or an average of 20 minutes a flight. Wh...
Non-commercial operators of more than 6,000 business jets and turboprop twins based in Europe are largely unprepared for EASA's new Part-NCC (non-commercial complex) rules that will set higher safety standards this summer, attendees were told at a conference run by Aeropodium late last week at London Heathrow Airport. Beginning August 25, these operators will have to comply with a si...
NASA's Orion capsule — the spacecraft that could one day take humans to Mars — is going on an important flight today. Unfortunately it's not into space. Instead, the main structure of the vehicle is being transported from the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, where the capsule was built, to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That's where it will live until it goes on it...
A rocket-shaped object the size of two "two litre fizzy drink bottles" passed "very close" to a passenger aircraft at about 1,500ft (457m), a report has found. The A321 Airbus pilot estimated the object passed 100ft (30m) from his jet, the UK Airprox Board report said. The pilot saw the object pass the jet's starboard side after departing from Birmingham Airport last...
The production line for the Dassault Falcon 5X large-cabin business jet is still in “frozen” mode at the airframer's Bordeaux Mérignac factory, as engine manufacturer Snecma is still trying to sort out issues with its Silvercrest turbofan that will power the French twinjet. “Production is frozen as a precaution,” a Dassault spokesman told AIN late last&...
