New Delhi An over enthusiastic devotee biting the ear of another to jump the queue at a temple, a man putting his wife for sale on Facebook and believe it or not an Air India plane falling off a crane on to a busy road — 2016 had all the mix of the ridiculous, the outlandish or downright ludicrous incidents. The year was witness to incidents of all types being played out which made t...
When Jennifer Aniston, in the recent Emirates TV advert, encounters a boy called Cooper in her A380 first class cabin and takes him back downstairs to economy, she is enchanted. She stays to play with him, swapping seats with his mother to allow her to sample the luxury of life upstairs. But in the real world small children wandering around cabins, let alone sneaking upstairs to the first and b...
Russian authorities grounded all Sukhoi Superjet aircraft for mandatory inspections after cracks were found at stabilizer attachment points. In an Airworthiness Directive, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency reported that during the maintenance of Sukhoi Superjet 100-95B aircraft serial No. 95018, tail No. RA-89010, cracks were detected in the lugs of the stabilizer upper and low...
Donald Trump might have a problem with Boeing, but the U.S. aviation giant is looking ahead—towards China. In 2016, China bought 164 airplanes from Boeing, amounting to about $11 billion, and making the country its largest customer. Boeing hopes to keep it that way. “This is a great opportunity to strengthen Boeing’s deep and historical ties with China. More important than...
A Russian military plane with 92 people on board has crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, and it was unlikely there would be any survivors. Russian agencies, citing unnamed security sources, said the TU-154 aircraft had crashed in the sea near the southern Russian city of Sochi after disappearing from radar screens. The plane was carrying...
The uneasy detente between regional airlines and their US rivals may be about to dissolve as competitive pressures are stoked by global overcapacity and hawkish trade policy. Two years of mud-slinging between the big three US carriers and their regional counterparts over allegations of state subsidies had started to fizzle out this year. But the election of Donald Trump as the next US presid...
Until its retirement 13 years ago, the supersonic Concorde was plagued by two major problems: inefficiency and noise (the sonic booms it produced got it banned from over-land cruising). Now, heavyweights like Virgin and Airbus are planning to tackle supersonic speeds, and NASA began designing a “low boom” supersonic jet this year. But no one is as close as aircraft manufacturer Aerion...
The Lufthansa Group, Airbus’ largest airline customer and operator, has taken delivery of its first A350 XWB, the world’s newest and most efficient twin engine widebody airliner. The aircraft is the first of 25 A350-900s that Lufthansa has on order. Lufthansa will deploy their first A350s on long-haul routes from Munich to Delhi and Munich to Boston. Powered by Rolls-Royce engin...
Iran Air and Airbus have signed a firm contract for 100 aircraft, building on an initial commitment signed in January 2016 in Paris. The agreement signed by Farhad Parvaresh, Iran Air Chairman and CEO and Fabrice Bregier, Airbus President and CEO, covers 46 A320 Family, 38 A330 Family and 16 A350 XWB aircraft. Deliveries will begin in early 2017. “I am delighted that we have reached an ag...
For the second time this year, Deutsche Lufthansa AG has placed a large-volume promissory note. The note was issued with maturities of five, seven and ten years. As a result, the group has secured a total of 1.2 billion euros in funding. Approximately half a billion euros of this amount has already been paid out in December 2016; Lufthansa will receive the remaining funds in January 2017. The f...
Rolls-Royce welcomes the announcement today of a firm contract between Airbus and Iran Air for the supply of 100 aircraft. The agreement includes 16 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft which are powered exclusively by the Trent XWB engine. The Trent XWB is the world’s most efficient large aero engine and was designed specifically for the aircraft. With over 1,600 units...
Five years of deliveries to 48 operators worldwide Fastest commercial twin-aisle airplane to reach 500 deliveries Boeing this week delivered the 500th 787 Dreamliner, a 787-8 to Avianca, marking another milestone in the program’s history. “Achieving 500 deliveries – the fastest to 500 for twin aisles – is a great accomplishment, made possible by the hard...
