Virgin Galactic now has a commercial operating license for its SpaceShipTwo vehicle. That’s the company’s spaceplane that’s designed to take passengers into sub-orbital space. The license, granted by the Federal Aviation Administration, allows Virgin Galactic to begin conducting test flights of the vehicle to see if it’s capable of carrying paying customers safel...
Boeing forecasts market demand for 1,170 new airplanes in Russia and the CIS region over the next 20 years, valued at $140 billion. The company released the numbers as part of its annual Current Market Outlook (CMO) for Russia and the CIS region. International traffic is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.8 percent and Boeing predicts Russian and CIS airlines will need 810 single-aisle and...
GKN Aerospace’s Fokker Technologies business unit announces that a total of 23 Fokker aircraft were placed with 6 existing Fokker operators and 3 new operators during the first half of 2016 by their respective aircraft owners. These comprise 8 Fokker 50s and 15 Fokker 100s. This compares with 50 placements in 2015. ‘Low operating costs, aircraft longevity and comprehensive supp...
Demanding targets are being met in the build-up to delivery of Airbus Helicopters’ commitment to the UK Military Flying Training System (MFTS). The company has carried out the first flight of the initial UK MFTS aircraft, bringing delivery one step closer. With 12 UK MFTS aircraft already in production at the company’s site in Donauworth, the programme is meeting the challenging...
The Indian government has cancelled the much awaited multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft deal worth $1 billion on the grounds of planes’ high operational cost. "We have [recently] cancelled the MRTT deal with Airbus Defence and Space because platforms are too expensive and not economically viable to operate", an MoD official who declined to be identified told Defence New...
STS Line Maintenance (STSLM), a division of STS Aviation Group, announces that is has opened a new line maintenance station in Nassau and will now provide on-call and scheduled aircraft services to all commercial and regional carriers at every airport throughout the Bahamas. The new line maintenance station is powered by a highly trained Bahamian staff, all of whom are certified...
Executive President of AirBridgeCargo Airlines LLC resigns after three years of work in accordance with mutual agreements. Denis V. Ilyin started his management career in AirBridgeCargo Airlines LLC as Director of Operations. From 2006 till 2008 he worked as General Director of the Airline and later rejoined AirBridgeCargo team in 2013 to hold the position of Executive Presi...
Latvian airline airBaltic has become a member of Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance (BICG). Martin Gauss, airBaltic Chief Executive Officer: “Strong corporate governance has been the backbone of airBaltic as we transformed into a profitable airline, and it will define our future under the Horizon 2021 business plan, designed to reinforce our position in the Baltic region.”...
Civil aviation regulator DGCA suspended 62 pilots in the last six months for safety violations, up 30% from the corresponding period last year, an RTI query by HT has found. The Director General of Civil Aviation took action against 93 pilots in 2015 — an average monthly suspension rate of less than eight. This has gone up to 10 in 2016. Suspensions can last 15 days or go up to several ye...
The green airplane of the future will tackle some of aviation’s biggest environmental challenges including fuel efficiency, noise and plane washing. New developments in technology will make it quieter, cleaner and cheaper, allowing it to fly more frequently and burn less fuel. And it is taking off in Brazil after the Rio 2016 Olympics. The Embraer E170 is the prototype unveiled by B...
Five aerospace companies are offering their fighter jets as potential replacement for Canada’s fleet of aging CF-18s, including Lockheed Martin’s F-35, the very jet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged not to buy. The federal government had set Friday as the deadline for potential suppliers to respond to a detailed questionnaire outlining the costs and capabilities of their jet...
Every time we step on an airplane, we can't help think of all the things that could go wrong. Although usually it's all smooth sailing (or "flying") aside from some occasional turbulence, it seems like airplane workers do their best to cover up any mishaps. A recent Reddit chat asked pilots to reveal the craziest thing that's ever happened mid-flight, and their responses migh...
An Air Canada flight from Toronto to Calgary was forced to make an emergency landing in Lethbridge, Alta. Saturday afternoon after the aircraft's windshield was cracked by hail. Air Canada spokesperson Angela Mah told The Canadian Press in an email that Flight AC1159 was approaching Calgary when the A320 airbus with 144 passengers on board flew into the hail storm and sustained damage to it...
Luke Aikins is a skydiver who is a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association, and who has performed stunts on films such as Iron Man 3. Last night, he became the first person to jump out of an airplane without a parachute or wing suit and survive the landing. The stunt is nothing short of amazing: leap out of an airplane at 25,000 feet (most skydivers jump at aroun...
The number of passengers travelling through Sharjah International Airport increased by 11.55 per cent in the first half of the year, the Sharjah Airport Authority said on Sunday. The airport, home to regional low cost carrier Air Arabia, handled 5.35 million passengers in the six months to June 30 compared to 4.79 million a year earlier, the airport authority said in a statement. Aircraft la...
August 1st, SAS celebrates 70 years as pioneers in the sky. The first flight, Stockholm to New York, took place on September 17th the same year. August 1, 1946 was the starting point for Scandinavia’s preferred airline through the merger of the Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish international airline operations. On September 17 of the same year, 28 specially invited guests gathered...
Germany’s Fraport is selling a stake in the operator of the St Petersburg airport, which is ailing from low traveller numbers due to the weakness of the Russian rouble, to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). The deal, from which Fraport expects to generate a gain of €30 million (Dh123.1m) to €40m, will help to offset weakening revenues at hubs such as Frankfurt and Antalya and...
The future of Piaggio’s Avanti twin turboprop pusher is in question, after the Italian airframer’s statement this week about a new “industrial plan” that will see the company focus primarily on military programs going forward. Annual deliveries for the civil version of the aircraft have dropped into the low single digits for the past several years. An unmanned patrol/reconn...
The Victorian Government will spend $11.1 million to secure four extra aircraft for the coming bushfire season. Two of the world's biggest firefighting air tankers will again be added to the state's fleet this summer, as well as an extra helicopter and support plane. The Government said the large air tankers were critical in stopping the spread of fires at Wye River, Scotsburn and Ba...
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport has suddenly boosted its security in a move authorities there have linked to the "national threat level," snarling traffic as military police check cars coming to drop passengers off. An employee working at the airport told The Associated Press the move followed an unspecified threat. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized t...
BAE Systems has asked to be freed from anti-monopoly controls it signed up to when the defence giant was created through the merger British Aerospace and Marconi Systems 17 years ago. The FTSE 100 business was saddled with a list of undertakings at the time of the 1999 tie-up as regulators sought to ease concerns about the new company’s dominance of the UK defence market. These restric...
