Following a bloody massacre on streets of Paris on 13 November, killing at least 150 people, the French President Francois Hollande announced a state of emergency and ordered to close all borders. At the same time, Paris Charles de Gaulle airport remains open, international airlines didn’t officially report any changes in schedules. “An unprecedented terrorist attack is underwa...
Airbus is on schedule to deliver the first A320neo by end of 2015 as planned, an Airbus executive confirmed Friday. Qatar Airways is due to receive its first A320neo, a more efficient re-engined version, in December. Akbar Al Baker said last week on the sidelines of the Dubai Air Show that he was "optimistic" the aircraft would arrive before the end of the year, but he had a conc...
Air France said on Thursday it will dismiss four workers over their role in violence that erupted at a works council meeting last month, forcing managers to flee with their shirts in tatters. Human resources chief Xavier Broseta and long-haul services director Pierre Plissonnier were among those attacked on Oct. 5 as they outlined restructuring plans for the troubled carrier, a division of Air...
Dassault has never been one to follow the pack when it comes to business jets: it has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to the use of three-engine designs, 3-D design software, metal bonding blended with composites to lighten weight, advanced wing geometry, fly-by-wire flight controls, sidesticks, the EASy II intuitive all-glass cockpit and more; the list is a long&n...
Dassault Aviation has begun completion work on the first customer-bound Falcon 8X long-range trijet as the company progresses toward certification and deliveries next year. The aircraft, S/N 04, arrived in the Dassault Falcon Jet completion facility in Little Rock, Ark., on October 9, the company announced Thursday. S/N 04 was the second of Dassault’s new 8X family to be sent to Litt...
Airbus Helicopters has completed the first flight of a lightweight, high-compression engine (HCE) on an H120 Colibri helicopter technology demonstrator. The 6 November sortie of the light-single, modified with a 4.6 litre V8 high-compression piston engine, is part of the “green rotorcraft” component of European Clean Sky initiative. The powerplant is designed to lower noise and emis...
The first Airbus A350-900 for Ethiopian Airlines is taking shape on the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, France. Ethiopian Airlines will be the first African A350 XWB operator when it takes delivery of the aircraft next year. Ethiopian Airlines will operate 14 A350 XWB of which 12 are directly purchased from Airbus and two are on lease from AerCap, including this first aircraft. &nb...
Airbus’ ACJ319neo has won another commitment, taking total sales of the new private jet family, which includes the ACJ320neo launched earlier this year, to six aircraft. Many of the sales are repeat orders from existing customers, highlighting the appeal of the family. This will be the first ACJneo Family aircraft to be operated by K5 Aviation of Germany, which already manages three ACJ31...
The Kingdom of Bhutan, Airbus Helicopters announced the arrival of the first H130, from the proven Ecureuil family, in the Kingdom of Bhutan. This is the first of two helicopters acquired by the Royal Bhutan Helicopter Services Limited (RBHSL) to serve parapublic and commercial missions. The second H130 is expected to be delivered in June 2016. “We are thrilled to be the first to rec...
Airbus has underlined its faith in the A380, despite slower-than-desired activity and an absence of sales for the type so far this year. Chief operating officer for customers John Leahy, speaking at the Dubai air show, insisted that the “case for the A380 is inevitable”. He is confident that the type is becoming “known in the marketplace” and that a new customer could...
Airbus Helicopters has taken its in-development H160 twin-engined helicopter to a speed of 176kt (202km/h) during flight tests, and believes a never-exceed speed (Vne) of 180kt should be achievable. Disclosing the flight-test progress at a Dubai media briefing held at the H160 mock-up on the static display, Benoit Terral, sales promotion manager for the type, said the velocity was achieved duri...
Airbus expects to meet its target to sell 25 A380 superjumbo planes this year but it is not in talks with any potential new customer from the region. Its chief executive Fabrice Brégier added there was “no urgency” to build a more fuel-efficient version of the world’s biggest passenger aircraft because of the low oil price. “I think generally we have a target t...
