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Amazon to set up own air freight unit

Online retail giant Amazon is in talks with Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) over the proposed acquisition of "at least" twenty freighter aircraft, Cargo Facts has reported. Following weeks of speculation in the cargo community, informed sources told the industry publication that Amazon is indeed pushing ahead with plans to set up its own air freight operation specializing in overnigh...

British Airways Boeing 777-200 jet that dramatically caught fire to be repaired and returned to service

The passenger jet which caught fire at Las Vegas airport just before takeoff last September is to be repaired and returned to service. The Boeing 777-200, with 172 people on board, was around 20 seconds into its takeoff run and approaching a speed of 90mph when the left engine suddenly burst into flames. Although a final report into the incident won't be issued for some time, according t...

5 bodies found in plane wreckage in California orchard

Five people have been found dead in the widely spread wreckage of a small plane that crashed into an almond orchard in California near Bakersfield, authorities said. The plane became the subject of a search after disappearing from radar, Kern County sheriff's Sgt. Mark King said, and federal authorities are investigating the cause. He expected the names of the victims to be released Monday....

China-Russia Heavy Lift Helicopter Contract Deferred To Mid-2016

A contract to develop the Advanced Heavy Lift (AHL) helicopter should be signed between China's Avicopter and Russia's Rostec in mid-2016 instead of end-2015, Dmitry Shugaev, Deputy CEO of Rostec has said. "We can say that both sides have a desire to come together and finalize their contractual obligations as well as sign an intergovernmental agreement by the middle of next year. T...

Air Costa to expand coverage across India

Air Costa (LB, Vijayawada) is set to expand its operational coverage across India after it secured a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the country's Ministry of Civil Aviation last week. Since its launch in 2012, Air Costa's operations have been restricted to India's Southern Region whose confines include the Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad metropolitan areas. With the NOC...

Emergencies Ministry's An-148 jet carries out aeromedical evacuation of seriously ill children

An Emergencies Ministry's An-148 jet departed from Ramenskoye located near Moscow for Novy Urengoy, where it has taken two seriously ill children aboard, the youngest of the evacuees is only a week old. All of them are in urgent need of highly skilled and high-tech medical care. Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, patients will be transported to a hospital of the northern capital, where they...

Russian airline Pobeda launches Bratislava-Moscow connection

Russian low-cost airline Pobeda launched air connection from Bratislava to Moscow and back on Saturday. "I am convinced that this air connection will create conditions for the development of trade, tourism in Slovakia as well as in Russia," announced Slovak Transport, Construction and Regional Development Ministry's State Secretary Frantisek Palko. Palko attended the ceremony a...

RAAF KC-30 completes F-16 refuelling trials

A RAAF KC-30A tanker transport has completed inflight refuelling trials with a US Air Force F-16. The seven flights from Edwards Air Force Base, between December 3 and 15, saw the KC-30A conduct 444 ‘contacts’ with the F-16, offloading over 25 tonnes of fuel, and are a key element in achieving conditional clearance for the tanker transport to refuel the F-16. &ldqu...

EU Warns Of Risks From Fake Passports

The head of the European Union's border agency has said the large number of refugees entering Europe pose a security risk, with civil war making it harder to check the authenticity of Syrian passports. Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in countries such as Syria and Iraq have arrived in Europe this year. Since last month's attacks in Paris, concern has grown that I...

Chile's Airports Resume Operations As Strike Ends

The Chile government and workers tied to the civil aviation authority reached an agreement on Sunday, ending a four day strike that forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights and left thousands of passengers stranded. "We want say to all the Chileans who were affected (by the strike) that we deeply regret this situation, that we will go the extra mile together with the airlines, with al...

New Berlin Airport Denies Opening Postponed Again

Officials at Berlin's long-delayed new Brandenburg Airport denied a newspaper report that the opening had been pushed back until 2018. The airport, originally due to open in 2012, has been under construction since 2006, with red tape and technical problems repeatedly delaying its inauguration. Newspaper Bild am Sonntag cited a confidential schedule from the airport's project manageme...

U.S.-Mexico Expand Air Travel Opportunities in New Agreement

The United States and Mexico have agreed to open their air markets so that airlines from both countries can operate the routes they want with no restrictions. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and his Mexican counterpart Gerardo Ruiz Esparza signed the agreement Friday at Mexico’s embassy in Washington. It will require ratification by Mexico’s Senate. Foxx and Ruiz Espar...

Uber Model for Flight-Sharing Struck Down by Federal Court

Private pilots can’t offer flight-sharing services to the public using an Internet model similar to those developed by Uber and Lyft, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The ruling upholds a decision earlier this year by the Federal Aviation Administration that said the service offered by Boston-based  Flytenow violates flight regulations. The company’s website c...

Timeline of Fake Bomb That Diverted Air France Flight

The latest developments on an Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris that was diverted to Kenya after a suspected bomb was found on it. 5:50 p.m. The CEO of Air France says a device discovered in the bathroom of an Air France flight was a fake bomb. The Boeing 777 was heading to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris from Mauritius when its pilots requested an emergency landing at early Su...

The Company Behind the New Crop of Branded Private Jet Vacations

For time-strapped luxury travelers, a private jet vacation can ensure less time traveling and more time enjoying far-flung destinations. At an astronomical price, of course. “You can get many bucket list destinations in one seamless journey,” said Afrodite Pastroumas, director of product development at TCS World Travel. “You can hit Machu Picchu, Easter Island, Angkor Wat...

IndiGo Sees Potential Delays in Delivery Schedule of A320neo Aircraft

 IndiGo, India's largest airline by passengers carried, said the delivery of the first fuel-efficient Airbus A320neo has been delayed and there could be additional delays, citing "industrial reasons" at European plane maker Airbus SAS. "On 17 December 2015 after close of business hours, we have received an official notification from Airbus that the A320neo aircraft, the...

New to USA the Merlin PSA: Personal Sport Aircraft

The Merlin PSA, an affordable high-performance single-seat Personal Sport Aircraft. Imagine an all-aluminum aircraft with a cantilevered wing, 120 mph cruise speed, plenty of cabin and luggage space, all for under $35,000! And this includes the builders' assistance program in sunny Florida. The Merlin PSA is available now as a quick-build E-AB (Experimental Amateur-Built, &qu...

EASA Paves The Way For The Safe Use Of Drones In Europe

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published yesterday a Technical Opinion on the safe use of drones in Europe’s civil airspace. The EASA Technical Opinion sets the direction to be followed for all future work to be done to ensure unmanned aircraft are operated safely and interact safely with other airspace users. The aim is to provide a framework that is proportionate to the activit...

Virgin Atlantic’s Hong Kong crews call strike

Hong Kong-based Virgin Atlantic cabin crew will stage a wildcat strike starting tomorrow, December 21, in a bid to stave off job losses announced by the British airline last month. Travellers flying Virgin Atlantic this Christmas are being warned the London flight may not take-off as a result of the industrial action which will start on December 21st until January 1st. Action is being taken...

RFDS retains “most reputable charity” title

Research consultants AMR’s charity reputation index has named the Royal Flying Doctor Service as Australia’s “most reputable charity” for a fifth straight year. The AMR report found the RFDS received top marks on six of the seven criteria the company’s charity reputation index was based on, namely service, innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leader...

American returns to Australia

American Airlines’ return to Australia has received a traditional welcome after touching down in Sydney over the weekend. Flight AA73, operated by Boeing 777-300ER N720AN, landed on Runway 34L a little after 0700 local time on Saturday after a 14-hour journey from Los Angeles. It was American’s first flight to Australia since the early 1990s, when it briefly operated a four times...