From high-street playthings to sophisticated commercial and military aircraft, drones are seen as being at the sharp end of technology. Yet, paradoxically, traditionally low-tech countries such as India and Pakistan are now churning out their own models. The commercial drone business is driven by advances in key components such as sensors, lenses and radio control devices – and manufactur...
All 92 people on board a Russian military aircraft are feared dead after it crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday. As the year 2016 ends, let's have a look at the other plane crashes reported this year around the world. January 8 - West Air Sweden Flight 294, a Bombardier CRJ200 cargo freighter, crashes near Akkajaure in Sweden. Two crew members on board were killed. February 24&n...
$48 million project will equip passenger aircraft with defense, communications capabilities A Knesset committee on Monday approved the purchase of a private jet for the prime minister to use when making trips abroad. The NIS 183 million ($47.9 million) budget for the aircraft was approved by the Knesset Finance Committee with five votes in favor from coalition MKs to three votes against by o...
Aerospace Turbine Services & Solutions LLC (TS&S Aerospace), a leading maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider for aircraft engines in the Middle East, has been selected by SriLankan Airlines to service the Trent 700 engine. TS&S Aerospace is the first independent aviation provider to overhaul a Trent 700 engine, offering SriLankan Airlines a bespoke shop visit struct...
China has tested the latest version of its fifth-generation stealth fighter, state media reported Monday, as it tries to end the West’s monopoly on the world’s most advanced warplanes. The test comes as the nation flexes its military muscles, sending its sole aircraft carrier the Liaoning into the western Pacific in recent days to lead drills there for the first time. T...
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...
Anyone who received a drone as a present this year has been reminded that they must register it with authorities. Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority, said it was important people know the regulations that govern drone ownership. "Whether it is received as a gift or bought by the person, it doesn’t matter. People need to register their drones...
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...
If you ordered something from Amazon recently, it was probably delivered by a person dressed in black and wearing a reflective vest. Chances are, that person woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning and reported for duty at a distribution warehouse in some unseemly industrial area somewhere in your city, and then set out in a van with some 150 packages. For a long time, that’s pretty much h...
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...
Airbus Helicopters Inc. has been awarded a Contractor Logistics Support contract by the U.S. Army to provide spare parts, material and engineering support for the Army’s UH-72A Lakota fleet of utility and training helicopters. The contract includes a base year and four one-year options, with a potential five-year value of more than $967 million. Airbus Helicopters Inc. will provide the su...
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...
Jet Aviation’s MRO facility in Basel recently signed its first agreement to perform maintenance on a Boeing Business Jet 777-200 for an undisclosed client in the Middle East. The wide-body aircraft is to be redelivered to the client on December 25, 2016. Despite the short turnaround time, the Basel Maintenance Center welcomes the opportunity to do maintenance on a B777-200 aircraft a...
