50 SKY SHADES - World aviation news

Latest aviation news

Looking for specific categories? Or Spaceplanes news? United States related news?

UK AAIB launches investigation into fatal King Air 200 crash

UK investigators are examining how a Beechcraft King Air 200 crashed soon after taking off from Stapleford airport in Essex on 3 October, killing its two crew members. The twin-engined turboprop, registration G-BYCP (archive image below), was owned and operated by the UK’s largest charter and management company, London Executive Aviation (LEA). AirTeamImages According to the ope...

Boeing, commercial deliveries rise 7% in 3Q 2015

Boeing Co. said its deliveries of commercial airplanes rose 7% for the third quarter amid continued growth for its 787 Dreamliner and its best-selling 737 single-aisle jetliner. The aerospace and defense company delivered 199 commercial aircraft in the latest quarter, compared with 186 a year earlier. The world’s largest jetliner maker has continued to enjoy strong demand for...

Air France to cut widebody fleet, network, staff

Air France (AF,Paris CDG ) is to cut its longhaul fleet and workforce as part of a raft of new cost-cutting measures the airline's board plans to implement under its Perform 2020 plan. Following a breakdown in talks between management and flight crew unions on how to achieve an estimated EUR1.8 billion (USD1.98 billion) in additional savings, Air France's board said on Monday...

Biggin Hill gives figures for BGAD 2015

Biggin Hill is reporting that BGAD had over 700 visitors, 60 exhibitors and 20 aircraft and helicopters in the static display. The show highlighted the UK debut of the Cessna Citation Latitude; the launch of TBM dealer Flying Smart’s new sales base at Biggin Hill; Globeair’s promotion of its new collaboration with BACA and Zenith Aviation’s new charter fleet. Charter broker...

Sfera Jet with new Embraer Legacy 650

As Bizavnews found out,Russian provider of business aviation services  "Sfera Jet" received new Embraer Legacy 650 on October 3. The aircraft, tail number M-YKBO (2015 ) performed three day flight from Sao Jose dos Campos (Sao Jose Dos Campos) to Moscow "Domodedovo", through Recife, Sal Island (Sal Amilcar Cabral) and Geneva. First aircraft...

Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. Increases PT6B-37A Engine TBO by 1,500 Hours

Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (P&WC) has boosted the basic Time Between Overhaul (TBO) for the power section of the PT6B-37A turboshaft engine by a full 50 per cent, jumping from 3,000 hours to 4,500 hours, resulting in improved operating economics. All PT6B-37A engines in service are eligible for the basic TBO increase, meaning no minimum build standard is required. “This 50 per c...

RUAG Aviation Named Hartzell Propeller Service Facility in Central Europe

Hartzell Propeller Inc. has appointed RUAG Aviation in Lodrino, Switzerland as a Recommended Service Facility. The Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility covers a wide area of central Europe. RUAG Aviation's Lodrino facility is an EASA and FAA approved repair station. It is a service center for a number of aircraft manufacturers, including Cirrus, Mooney, Piper and Textron Aviation...

JSSI Continues to Expand Helicopter Programs

Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI), the leading provider of hourly cost maintenance programs for the business aviation industry, has announced that GE CT7-8 engine program coverage for the Sikorsky S-92 is now available as they continue to expand into the helicopter market. The JSSI Premium Program for the GE CT7-8 engine is a comprehensive hourly cost maintenance program, covering scheduled and...

UAE'S GCAA AND Eurocontrol sign flight plan data exchange accord

The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Eurocontrol have signed an agreement at ATC Global, currently running in Dubai, to enhance co-operation between the two for flight data exchange. Frank Brenner, Eurocontrol’s Director General  (pictured above) revealed the agreement covers the exchange of flight data, updated flight plan informatio...

Portuguese competition watchdog okays Gateway control of TAP

The Portuguese Competition Authority (Autoridade da Concorrência - AdC) has given Gateway, a joint-venture between jetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) and Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras (AD,Campinas Viracopos) founder David Neeleman and Portuguese bus company Barraqueiro Group, the greenlight to acquire a 61% stake in the country's national carrier, TAP Portugal (TP, Lisbon...

Is this the plane of the future?

KLM's sleek and streamlined AHEAD aircraft is one of many proposed aircraft that could radically change the way we fly. The plane of the future could well be a sleek and streamlined aircraft with a “blended wing” if proposals by the Delft University of Technology in Holland and Dutch carrier KLM come to fruition. A blended wing is one that is seamlessly connected to the...

Air France Workers Rip Shirts from Top Managers in Jobs Protest

Air France executives were forced to flee with their clothes in tatters after workers stormed a meeting at Charles de Gaulle airport in protest at 2,900 planned job cuts. Human resources chief Xavier Broseta and Pierre Plissonnier, head of long-haul flights, scaled an eight-foot fence to escape, aided by security guards. Broseta emerged shirtless and Plissonnier had his suit ripped to...

Airbus Helicopters positive despite sluggish rotorcraft market

Despite the subdued market for new helicopters – particularly in the oil and gas segment – Airbus Helicopters remains confident that it can end the year in positive territory. Aided by some hefty commitments for the 7.5t H175 – it has taken in almost 40 orders for the type this year, including the first for the search and rescue variant – the manufacturer achieved a book...

Northrop builds first F-35 centre fuselage for assembly in Japan

Northrop Grumman has built the first F-35 centre fuselage destined for Japan’s domestic joint strike fighter assembly plant, operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). The company says the centre fuselage is the core of AX-5, Japan’s fifth example, and will become the first to enter Japan's Nagoya final assembly and checkout plant instead of prime contractor Lockhe...

Crew of crashed Trigana ATR received no GPWS alerts

A preliminary report into to the fatal crash of a Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 on 16 August indicates that the crew received no ground proximity warning system (GPWS) alerts before crashing into an 8,300ft ridge. The National Transportation Safety Committee’s (NTSC) initial report into the crash, which killed 49 passengers and five crew, is based on data from the aircraft...

Lübeck, Germany files for insolvency - again

Puren Germany GmbH, the Chinese firm which acquired ownership of Flughafen Lübeck GmbH in July last year, has filed for insolvency. The airport said in a statement that despite the filing, it is continuing to provide Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) and its passengers with full operations. Owned by Chinese investment firm PuRen Group, Puren Germany had planned to develop L&...

TNT Express Says Third-Quarter Profit Fell on Brazil, China Woes

TNT Express NV, the Dutch logistics company being taken over by FedEx Corp., said third-quarter profit fell because of economic turmoil in markets such as Brazil, China and Australia. Adjusted operating income in the period was probably "materially lower" than last year, TNT said in a statement prior to an extraordinary shareholder meeting at its headquarters in Hoofddorp on Monday. P...

Emirates Steps Up A380neo Campaign With 20-year Utilization Plan

Emirates, the biggest customer for Airbus Group SE' A380 superjumbo, said it has presented the manufacturer with a 20-year operating program for the aircraft, stepping up its campaign for a re-engined version of a model that's struggling for orders elsewhere. "We had several meetings with Airbus this year on the A380neo, on what we want and how many, right up until 2035,"...

Fraport Begins Construction of Frankfurt Airport Terminal 3

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) operator Fraport AG began construction on Terminal 3 (T3) on Oct. 5. The first phase, which will handle up to 14 million passengers annually, is expected to open in 2022. The new terminal, which has been in the planning stages for more than 15 years, is an integral part of Fraport's airport expansion program. Fraport AG's investment in T3 is reportedly...

Jet Aviation St. Louis Gets STC for CL604 Fans 1/A

Jet Aviation St. Louis on Friday received FAA STC approval of a Rockwell Collins Fans 1/A solution for the Bombardier Challenger 604. The two companies said they teamed up to leverage their combined experience and expertise on the Challenger 604 airframe. The Fans 1/A upgrade package, which includes the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADC-C) and controller pilot d...

Russia Prepares for Likely Loss of Transaero

Details have begun to emerge about plans to fill a likely service vacuum left by failing Russian carrier Transaero following last week’s disclosure that shareholders had missed a deadline to consolidate 75 percent of its shares for subsequent transfer to Aeroflot.  Instead of saving Transaero, Aeroflot has posited an idea to create a sort of substitute to it by merging three air...