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United Airlines to Stop Flying to Dubai

United Airlines on Wednesday said it will cancel flight service between Washington and Dubai starting in late January, meaning no U.S. passenger carrier will fly direct to the Gulf states. The move comes after the U.S. government awarded a government contract for travel on the route in 2016 to rival JetBlue Airways Corp and its codeshare partner Emirates, which will operate the Washington-...

British Airways to Challenge Emirates with Dreamliner Flight to Dubai

British Airways is competing with Gulf carriers over luxury travellers by flying its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its Dubai route. The new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will feature a new First cabin with just eight seats, in comparison to the 14 seats on other British Airways long-haul aircraft. The cut-down on seat numbers will give "more exclusivity and privacy to customers", said the Brit...

Singapore, Land of the World's Best Airport, Will Soon Manage a Few in India

Changi Airport in Singapore consistently wins international accolades. Ranked No. 1 in the Skytrax World Airport Awards for the past three years, it's particularly noted for its 500,000 plants and many gardens, which are overseen by a team of dedicated horticulturalists. Now, the same company that manages Changi looks set to take over management and operations of two airports in India....

Report Finds Funding Uncertainty Hampers FAA's Ops

The chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reiterated his call for reform of theU.S. FAA after a government watchdog found that funding uncertainty over the past eight years has hampered the agency’s ability to perform its mission. “This [Government Accountability Office] report further highlights the need for Congress to take...

Have Simulator, Will Travel

You are sitting in the comforts of the spacious business jet cabin when all of a sudden there’s a bang and a vibration and a wisp of smoke wafts up from the floor. The pilot comes on the cabin intercom and announces that the aircraft has lost an engine, while the flight attendant begins preparing for an emergency landing. As smoke begins to billow into the cabin, you brace for the worst...

Traffic Slides Again in Europe

Business aviation traffic in Europe has begun to slide again, erasing the slight gains in activity in early summer, according to the latest WingX Business Aviation Monitor. In November, the 56,200 business aviation departures in Europe represented a decline of 2.5 percent from a year ago. Through the first 11 months of the year, business aviation activity is down 0.8 percent from the same per...

SaxonAir enhances health training for crew

SaxonAir Charter has invested in enhanced training for their crew on in-flight health and safety. The training ensures all staff on board are able to better deal with any illness or injuries that may arise mid-flight, in addition to their standard crew training. The course was held by MedAire and the crew qualified after a period of training at Inflite Jet Centre, Stansted Airport. “I...

Apogee opens Tashkent FBO facilities

Apogee has opened a new office at Tashkent Yuzhny Airport. The company is now offering flight support services in the city. Apogee is able to offer services in all major airports in Uzbekistan, these services are all provided from the International Airport headquarters in Tashkent. The Tashkent headquarters is an very important location as it covers all of the CIS countries. “We foc...

Thailand Adds Airline Inspectors As It Braces for Europe Outcome

Thailand is recruiting airline inspectors to address the most pressing issues highlighted in a safety downgrade of its aviation industry by the international watchdog, as it awaits a European assessment due Thursday. The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization noted more than 1,000 deficiencies when it cut Thailand's aviation safety rating earlier this year, and the U.S. Fed...

Lufthansa, Not Qatar, to Be Airbus A320neo Launch Operator

Airbus is making a last-minute swap and now plans to deliver the first Airbus A320neo to Lufthansa, not to Qatar Airways. According to industry sources, the change was made because of operational restrictions that are still in place for the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine, pending some hardware and software changes. Pratt is working on hardware changes to the bearing of the engine shaft and...

Air Zimbabwe Cabin Flooded by "Raw Effluent" As Liquid Leaked from Bathroom into Aisle

Passengers on board a recent Air Zimbabwe flight were left disgusted after a liquid seeped into the cabin from a lavatory. The airline has denied claims that human waste flowed down an aisle after a passenger's photos of the mess surfaced on social media. The person who snapped the images, which show a long streak of liquid and a flight attendant trying to sop it up with towels, tol...

HondaJet Receives Type Certification from Federal Aviation Administration

The HondaJet received type certification from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday. Honda Aircraft Company and the FAA made the announcement today at the Honda Aircraft headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina. The FAA presented the type certificate to Honda Aircraft Company President and CEO Michimasa Fujino in front of more than 2,000 people, including FAA Admi...

Passengers Removed from Flight After Plane Begins Leaking Fuel on Tarmac at Melbourne Airport

Passengers have been removed from a Virgin Australia flight at Melbourne Airport after a plane began leaking fuel. As the plane was preparing for departure, the fuel leak was spotted and fire trucks were called in as a precautionary measure. "The captain decided to return to the gate at Melbourne Airport in accordance with standard operating procedures after a minor fuel leak,"...

Direct Montpellier-Dakar flights delayed by 3 months

Aéroport Montpellier Méditerranée (AMM), the firm that manages Montpellier airport in France, says the planned launch of direct flights to Dakar, Senegal has been delayed from December 18 to Spring of next year. Flights are organized by Swiss ACMI specialist Jetlease using an A320-200 which belongs to a soon-to-be-established firm based out of Montpellier. No reason...

GAMA/Build A Plane Aviation Design Competition Registration Now Open

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and Build A Plane announced today that they are sponsoring the fourth Aviation Design Challenge. Registration for the competition to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education among U.S. high school students is open to the first 100 schools that enter. In three years, the STEM curriculum upon which the competition is...

Piper Aircraft, Inc. Announces First Scandinavian Diesel Archer to Danish Flight School

Piper Aircraft, Inc.  has announced the first sale of a factory new diesel engine Archer DX into Scandinavia. Billund Air Center (BAC), a leading flight school in Denmark, took possession of the aircraft last week. "The Archer DX's technology and excellent fuel economy is absolutely perfect for flying schools," said Bjarne Jorsal, owner and operator of European Aircraft Sales...

Huntsville council approves GE Aviation development deal

GE Aviation's nearly $200 million silicon carbide materials project in Huntswville will begin taking shape by spring of next year. A map showing where GE Aviation will build two new factories in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County. (Courtesy) The Huntsville City Council unanimously approved a development agreement last week for two adjacent factories on a 100-acre site on the so...

Aviation Water Survival Training Center prepares pilots for worst-case scenarios

Instructors circle the pool keeping a close eye on the students in the water. The students swim to the deep end of the pool and float, waiting for instructions. “INFLATE! INFLATE!” the instructors yell. The students fumble in the water, trying to insert the mouth piece and blow up the orally- inflatable back-up equipment around their necks under the pressure. One student start...

Aviation experts debate pilot exams after Germanwings crash

Aviation experts meeting in Germany said they want to improve psychological and medical testing of pilots following the Germanwings crash in March that killed 144 passengers and six crewmembers. The proposals from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which met this week at a workshop for 150 aviation experts, including pilots, suggest mandatory psychological...

James Hogan named one of 25 most influencial business travel executives

James Hogan, president and chief executive officer of Etihad Airways has been recognised as one of the 25 most influential business travel executives by Business Travel News (BTN), the premier industry publication for corporate travel news. The 2015 list of industry honorees was announced last night at The BTN Group’s Business Travel Trends & Forecasts conference in New York City.&nbs...

Russian Helicopters offers after-sales services to helicopter operators in Egypt

Russian Helicopters is preparing to provide after-sales service and maintenance for Russian-made helicopters operated in Egypt. The repair base in Heluane, Egypt, will be retooled in order to provide technical support for repairs to Mi-8T and Mi-17-1V helicopters operated by the Egyptian Air Force.  Under an agreement reached, Russian Helicopters will authorise the Heluane plant as an a...