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France aviation news

AltiJet to launch France's first TBM 900 charter service

French business aircraft start-up AltiJet is preparing to launch charter services early next year with the country's first commercially-operated Daher TBM 900. The Strasbourg-based company took delivery of the single-engined turboprop on 7 October and has applied to the French civil aviation authority, the DGAC, for an air operator’s certificate (AOC). “We hope to begin flyin...

Dassault To Break Ground on New Falcon Service Center

Dassault Aviation will break ground on Friday for a new heavy-maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Mérignac, France. This will be an addition to Dassault Falcon Service’s three dedicated heavy MRO facilities in Paris Le Bourget; Little Rock, Ark.; and Wilmington, Del. “The Mérignac shop will complement these,” the company said. The new 7,20...

Societe Generale Coporate & Investment Banking Announces Appointments

Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking (SG CIB) announces the appointment of Frederic Surdon as Head of Asset Finance effective immediately. This new department includes Export Finance, the Aviation, Real Estate and Shipping Finance teams as well as the Structured Solutions and Leasing teams. Based in Paris, Frederic Surdon reports to Pierre Palmieri, Head of the Global Financ...

STTS, extends its service offering and builds new painting hangars in Toulouse

STTS, (a Finaero company) leading expert in aircraft painting & sealing announces the launch of three purposely built paint hangars at its Toulouse Blagnac sites. In order to respond to growing market demand, STTS is investing in a 60 million euros project that will accommodate three further painting bays, more specifically: Two 10.000m2 hangars accommodating wide body aircraft...

Airbus launches new Ultra-Long Range version of the A350-900

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has selected Airbus’ newly launched Ultra-Long Range version of the A350-900 for non-stop flights to the US. Under an amendment to the carrier’s existing order for 63 A350-900s, seven of the aircraft will now be delivered with an Ultra-Long Range capability for flights of up to 19 hours. In addition, the carrier has placed an additional order for four A350-900s...

Air France Tries to Get Passengers on Its Side Following Embarassing Labor Fight

Air France sent an unusual appeal Friday to its passengers worldwide, insisting that the violent, clothes-ripping protests against executives earlier should not scar the airline’s reputation. Its appeal came on the day unions and Air France management resumed negotiations over hotly contested job cuts for the first time since activists assaulted airline executives Monday and left two of t...

Air France has a new message to its customers

Dear Sir, Madam, I am sure that like all of us, you were shocked by the events that took place at the end of Air France’s Central Works Council meeting last Monday. What we all saw does not represent Air France. These violent acts were the work of isolated individuals and do not reflect the reality nor the ambition of your airline. Furthermore, these events did not disrupt our fligh...

Dassault Falcon 900B by Mark Huber

Big cabin, great short-runway performance and long legs. This has been the winning formula for Dassault’s Falcon 900 series for nearly 30 years through multiple upgraded iterations, the latest of which is the $43.3 million 900LX. The Falcon 900’s trijet design lets you get into and out of airports you wouldn’t dare try to use in a comparable twinjet, especially on hot days. Its i...

Could Air France shrink like Alitalia?

In 2008, air passenger demand was dipping, Gulf countries were building up their national fleets, and easyJet set up shop in Paris. Other European airlines cut routes and jobs in response. Air France did not. It has not made a profit since. The timing of its attempt to catch up seven years later plays into the hands of aggressive competitors, former airline executives, analysts and union offici...

Air France Pilot Union Says Ready to Resume Talks with Management

Air France's main pilot union SNPL is ready to resume talks with the carrier's management over a planned restructuring, a union spokesman said on Thursday. The airline's unions are up in arms over plans to cut 2,900 jobs at the struggling airline, a move that triggered a fracas on Monday with executives hounded from a meeting, their shirts torn from their backs. Air France-KLM Ch...

Brégier: Airbus confident of A320neo delivery in 2015

Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier is confident the European manufacturer will meet a year-end deadline to bring its A320neo into commercial service. The statement followed last week’s “minor damage” to one of the test aircraft’s engines. MSN6101, the first A320neo prototype equipped with Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G, was affected. The A320neo test plane wa...

Air France may cut 5,000 more jobs in new restructuring

Air France will cut a further 5,000 jobs if a second phase of its cost-cutting plan goes ahead, on top of an already announced plan to cut 2,900 jobs.  Air France, having failed to secure pilots' agreement for a plan to increase working hours for the same pay, had to come up with a more draconian one earlier this week, unveiling 2,900 job cuts and prompting violent protests among staff...