The rising cost of providing navigation equipment for airline pilots, and the parallel demand for cheaper air fares, will inevitably lead to piloted flight being obsolete in 40 years’ time, a defence consultant has argued. Although pilotless commercial flight is arguably some years away, given technological and airspace restrictions, the demand to carry more passengers at lower costs will...
The Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) has won a $333.5 million contract to produce its KUS-7 UAV for the South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). In a statement, KAL-ASD gave no details about the number of aircraft it will produce, but the contract runs from 2016 to 2020. According to its website, the KUS-7 has an operational radius of 50km and c...
Amazing number of colleagues and friends are already there or planning to go on skiing vacation. For us it is just one more reason to remind everyone about very special people. They can be almost invisible until the moment their help is needed. After an accident with a friend, I had to find out all in detail due to professional curiosity. MBH Avoriaz, about 20 years of service....
Airbus Defense and Space and Canada's Provincial Aerospace have formed a joint venture company in a bid for a Canadian government contract. The new company, AirPro SAR Services, will be the Canadian in-service support integrator of Canada's Fixed Wing Search and Rescue fleet of C295W aircraft if Airbus wins its bid for the replacement of existing Buffalo and Hercules SAR aircraft. &q...
Most frequent fliers are familiar with long lines at airports: at the check-in counter, the departure gate, and in boarding a booked flight. But even after passengers are buckled in, the waiting may continue—when a plane leaves the gate, only to sit on the tarmac, joining a long queue of flights awaiting takeoff. Such runway congestion can keep a plane idling for an hour or more, burning...
European planemaker Airbus has given its backing to the long-term future of the A380 superjumbo, after finally starting to break even on the programme. The Toulouse-based manufacturer assembled 27 A380s in 2015, taking the total number of superjumbos built to 179, with 13 airlines. Airbus announced a new order for three A380s from an un-named customer, thought to be Japan's All Nippon Ai...
As industry technologies continue evolving, Graham Grose, IFS aerospace & defense center of excellence industry director, shares his forecast for future industry trends. The civil aviation sector is already a huge trend-setter in the adoption of additive manufacturing (3D Printing), contributing 12% to the industry’s global revenue in 2013, and all indications are that this...
Countries are pumping in billions of dollars to expand existing airports and build new ones. Airports in the Arab world see billions of dollars in the form of new investments, as countries in the region stepped up their efforts to boost the aviation sector. The oil rich economies, hit by the major decline in crude prices since June 2014, could be looking at the sector as a catalyst for their...
The Senate has mandated its committees on aviation and anti-corruption to commence investigation into alleged disbursement of 40 million dollars ($40m) loan for rehabilitation and development of infrastructure in the aviation industry. The mandate is part of a 15-point recommendation adopted while considering report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Aviation on the poor state of the aviation industry...
Boeing and its engineering union have reached a tentative agreement to extend the contracts of more than 20,000 workers. The union said workers would soon receive ballots to vote on the six-year extensions for engineers and technical workers. The agreements provide "market-leading wages, continued retirement benefit growth, a choice of comprehensive medical plans and enhanced job securi...
Khloe Kardashian found herself unexpectedly grounded at a Las Vegas, Nevada airport after the plane she was flying in had an emergency landing on Tuesday. According to TMZ, the 31-year-old Keeping Up with the Kardashians star was on a plane travelling from Los Angeles to New York City when the terrifying incident occurred. The outlet reports Khloe's commercial cross country flight was di...
Hamish Davidson has been appointed new CEO of VLMAirlines. Claus Fischer and Werner Borchert have also joined the new management team of the Antwerp based European regional airline. Hamish Davidson, the new CEO who succeeds to Steve Blair, has extensive airline and financial experience of more than 25 years. Prior he was CEO of Sunrise Airways and served as Ex...
This winter, Air France is offering six weekly frequencies between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Mexico. Starting on 12 January 2016, three weekly flights are operated by Airbus A380, the Company’s largest super jumbo (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). The three other flights are operated by Boeing 777-300. From 27 March 2016, the A380 will fly between the two cities daily. On board, custome...
Rolls-Royce has launched a new engine service, SelectCareTM, continuing its reputation for service innovation and expanding the customers’ choice of competitive, capable and flexible services across the engine lifecycle. SelectCare fits between Rolls-Royce’s fully comprehensive TotalCare® service, which maximises engine time on wing in addition to giving long-term cost certainty...
Bombardier Business Aircraft continues to restructure and enhance its business model to improve long-term profitability. To that end, the business segment has completed initiatives to increase the number of direct-to-market channels, including termination of third-party sales representative and distribution agreements, as well as the restructuring of customer commercial agreements. As a result of...
Ryanair has launched the latest update to its mobile app making it even easier for customers to browse, book, check-in, board and fly on Europe’s lowest airfares. The latest version of the Ryanair app, which is available to download in both iPhone and Android formats, includes: Improved airport search function Improved ancillary design Easier payment process &nb...
Riga Airport this week celebrated winning the first Cake of the Week competition of 2016, given to the airport for the culinary excellence that was presented at the launch of airBaltic’s services to both Salzburg and Verona. Celebrating with the award on a very chilly Riga Airport apron are: Laura Audariņa, Route Development Manager; Elīna Prikule, Senior PR Specialist; Sarmīte Rinmane,...
Gatwick Airport’s cargo volumes fell by a substantial 17.3 per cent in 2015, compared to the previous 12 months. The gateway handled 73,411 tonnes, which was a significant decline on the 88,737 tonnes that Gatwick handled in 2014. December continued the monthly trend last year of significant falls and cargo volumes fell by 11.4 per cent to 6,508 tonnes, down on 7,344 tonnes in Dec...
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s information platform, Cargonaut, is to receive an investment of two million euros ($2.2 million) to modernise the system. Half the money will come from a Top Sector Logistics grant, with the remainder provided by Dutch Customs, Logius, Air Cargo Netherlands, Schiphol Group and Cargonaut. The two million euros will be invested in the next two years to renew the...
According to Airlineratings.com Aeroflot along with its subsidiaries Rossiya, Orenair and Donavia received the maximum possible safety rating – seven stars out of seven. Flight safety and comfort are the top priorities for Aeroflot Group. Aeroflot is Russia’s flagship carrier and one of the largest airline groups in Europe. In 2014, Aeroflot carried 23.6...
The Etihad Airways chief executive James Hogan said on Tuesday that the airline would continue to “face challenges” from protectionism in the US and Europe this year as it fights to bring “new competitive choice” to its passengers. The Abu Dhabi carrier flew 17.4 million passengers last year – a 17 per cent increase on 2014 – and operated 97,400 flights, cove...
