50 SKY SHADES - World aviation news

France aviation news

New A330-800 starts final assembly

Development of latest member of A330neo Family progressing well Final assembly of the newest member of the A330neo Family, the A330-800, has started and is on track for the first flight planned in mid-2018. The A330-800 complements the A330-900, the largest member of the A330neo Family. With its 242-tonne Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) as base variant, the A330-800 can operate routes of up t...

Mandarin Airlines Receives its First ATR 72-600

ATR delivered the first of the nine ATR 72-600s to Mandarin Airlines. The ATR 72-600 will bring the regional subsidiary of Taiwan’s flag carrier China Airlines the highest standards of comfort alongside unbeatable economics. With the aircraft servicing its domestic routes Mandarin Airlines will benefit from the introduction of the market leading, versatile turboprop, allowing it to offer pas...

The A350-1000 is certified for airline service

With Type Certification achieved, the A350-1000 is ready for first delivery Delivery of the first A350-1000 – the longest-fuselage version of Airbus’ A350 XWB jetliner – is planned before year-end following the aircraft’s Type Certification by the European and U.S. airworthiness authorities. This milestone occurred less than one year after the A350-1000’s maiden...

Airbus A350-1000 receives EASA and FAA Type Certification

Aircraft on target to first customer delivery by year end Following an intensive flight test campaign performed in less than a year, the A350-1000 has received Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The certified aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. The EASA A350-1000 Type Certification document wa...

Singapore Airlines selects Airbus for A380 retrofit programme

14 aircraft currently in service to receive airline’s new cabin products Airbus has been selected by Singapore Airlines (SIA) to provide cabin retrofit services for 14 A380 aircraft currently in service with the carrier. The retrofit programme, which will be undertaken at SIA Engineering Company in Singapore, will see the airline’s recently launched cabin products installed on the a...

Bringing airline experience into A350-1000 testing

As Airbus prepares for the service entry of its latest A350 XWB jetliner version – the A350-1000 – a new approach that for the first time puts customers’ pilots into ground-based flight simulators during the test campaign has proven so valuable that such sessions are set to become regular events. The initial customer invited to participate was Cathay Pacific Airways – a...

Indigo Partners doubles existing A320neo Family order

Valued at $49.5 billion, this is Airbus’ largest single announcement ever Airbus, Indigo Partners’ four portfolio airlines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase by the four airlines of 430 additional A320neo Family aircraft. The aircraft will be allocated among the ultra low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (United States), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and...

Airbus develops world’s first Mixed Reality Trainer for A350 XWB

Airbus and JAL cooperate and explore benefits of mixed reality technologies for mechanics and crew training for aircraft operations  Airbus, in cooperation with Japan Airlines (JAL) and JAL Engineering (JALEC), has developed a prototype application supporting new training solutions, taking advantage of the world’s most advanced Mixed Reality technology, Microsoft “HoloLens&rdqu...

Sichuan Airlines signs A350 XWB FHS components support and AiRTHM agreement with Airbus

Airbus’ expertise in services secures highest performance and operations of airline’s fleet  Sichuan Airlines, an all-Airbus-fleet airline based in Chengdu, has selected Airbus Flight Hour Services (FHS) and Airbus Real Time Health Monitoring Service (AiRTHM) to provide components and predictive maintenance support securing the highest service level and operations for its new f...

ATR Offers New Vibration Monitoring System

ATR, the world’s leading turboprop manufacturer, has certified  its new Vibration Monitoring System (VMS) which will allow airlines to constantly monitor and fine tune propeller vibration. This innovation, which will be available on all new aircraft from March 2018, improves both aircraft reliability and passenger comfort. It will also be available to retrofit on in service aircraft, vi...

A350-1000 completes Functional and Reliability Testing

Aircraft on track to reach Type Certification  The A350-1000, the newest member of Airbus’ leading Widebody family, has successfully completed its Functional & Reliability testing, bringing the aircraft a step closer to Type Certification in November 2017. The first customer delivery to Qatar Airways will follow in the coming weeks.  The Functional and Reliability Testing...

The NH90 joins the digital marketplace, part by part

Earlier this year, Swedish and Finnish customers of the NH90 began ordering used and new spare parts from Airbus’ MyNH90 internet portal, a move that represented another sign of the manufacturer’s digital push. Some 330 NH90 helicopters – Airbus’ and NHIndustries’ military multi-role helicopter – are in operation across the globe, accumulating more than 150,0...