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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
Rayani Air (Langkawi) commenced commercial passenger operations on Sunday, December 20 just days after it secured its Air Services Licence (ASL) and Air Operators Certificate (AOC) from the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). Using a pair of ex-Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur Int'l) B737-400s, the start-up currently operates daily return flights between Langkawi and Kuala Lump...
WestJet Encore announced today its pilots have voted in favour of a new agreement with 93 per cent of eligible pilots voting. The tentative agreement was negotiated between WestJet Encore and the WestJet Pilots’ Association (WJPA), the association representing its pilots. Voting on the agreement began on December 12, 2015 and ended December 20, 2015. Nearly 275 WestJet Encore pilots ar...
Air Canada today announced it plans to increase its new non-stop flights from Vancouver to Brisbane, Australia to daily from three times weekly beginning June 17, 2016. “Customer response to our announcement of the only non-stop flights between Canada and Brisbane has been very positive, and we thank federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau for the revised bilateral agreement which enables...
The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have reached agreement for a new Air Service Agreement (ASA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries. The successful agreement follows a visit this week by a senior Vanuatu delegation led by Director of Civil Aviation Vanuatu (CAAV), Joseph Niel accompanied by Air Vanuatu CEO, Joseph Laloyer and several Vanuatu government Ministry of...
An Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris was forced to make an emergency landing in Kenya early Sunday after a suspected bomb was found on board, police said. Navy and police bomb experts were called in to determine if there were any explosives on board the plane, which had 459 passengers and 14 crew members aboard. Many countries are on alert for possible attacks, including France which...
The world is going crazy over the latest Star Wars movie and Emirates airline was quick to join the frenzy with a unique package for passengers. Starting next month, the first six of the Star Wars films will be available on the carrier’s in-flight entertainment system. “With a total run time of over 13 hours, customers could watch all six films at one go on so...
Boodai Aviation Group has launched its new booking platform, 3otolat.com, which is considered the largest local online booking website in Kuwait. The announcement came during a gala dinner held in Symphony Hotel attended by Airlines and big corporate managers and representatives from the tourism and media sectors. The Group’s CEO, Monzer Najia declared in this occasion that launching this we...
Yuma’s rich aviation history began when aviation pioneer Robert Fowler landed in Yuma on Oct. 25, 1911, near South 4th Avenue in pursuit of a $50,000 prize to be the first aviator to fly across the U.S. from coast to coast in 30 days or less. Four days after he landed in Yuma, Fowler made aviation history by being the first person to fly west to east across the U.S. Robert Fowler’s...
Emirates is launching three new weekly flights between Dubai and Cairo, commencing on 1st January 2016. The new service will supplement the current twice daily Boeing 777-300ER flights, taking the total number of flights serving Cairo to 17 each week. The additional flights will boost the number of connection options that Emirates offers to passengers heading into or from Egypt’s capital...
Qatar Airways has launched new services between Doha and Durban. The four-times-weekly service to Durban further complements the airline’s existing daily flights to Cape Town and double daily flights to Johannesburg, and is an expansion of the airline’s operations in South Africa. Travellers can now choose from a total of 21 flights a week to South Africa from Qatar Airways’ h...
Abu Dhabi Airports Company (Adac) is targeting a December 2017 opening date for its new Midfield Terminal building, a key component of the company’s expansion, as traffic is on track to double over the next decade. The new terminal is a prestige project for the Government-owned Adac and is a linchpin of Abu Dhabi’s broader plans to increase tourist traffic as part of the Vision 2030...
Earlier this year RGN learned that a major carrier was evaluating the Airbus/Zodiac Space-Flex v2 lavatory/galley option and had less than stellar overall impressions of the product. The airline suggested that “no group other than finance was enthusiastic about it”. RGN has now confirmed that for this airline, “Zodiac space galley for the A320 has been killed, at least for the ti...
Lockheed Martin has yet to reveal its “ultimate offering” for the US Air Force's hotly contested advanced pilot training competition despite joining Korea Aerospace Industries in the unveiling of its possible T-50 Golden Eagle-based T-X proposal in South Korea this week. Earlier this year, the company disclosed that its Skunk Works advanced design and development division had al...
Boeing protests ‘irreparably flawed’ bomber selection Boeing and Lockheed Martin have reaffirmed their objection to the US Air Force’s October award of the next-generation bomber development contract to Northrop Grumman, dismissing the lengthy source-selection process as “irreparably flawed”. The losing industry team on 17 December submitted a “133-page br...
Virgin Australia has installed SITA’s new flexible passenger check-in technology at its new domestic terminal at Perth Airport. The new common-use hybrid desks can switch from self-service bag drop mode to full-service traditional check-in counters, as required. SITA’s new solution lets airlines adjust the type of service offered for a flight based passenger preferences an...
