The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has completed the first deployment of the AeroVironment RQ-20A Puma AE unmanned air vehicle to the Antarctic, where it supported a US Coast Guard resupply mission. It operated onboard the US Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star in support of the annual operation Deep Freeze deployment, taking on the role of manned helicopters in providing...
Air Serbia will build on Belgrade’s position as a strategic gateway to the United States as it expands its route network across the Balkans and the Atlantic this year. The airline, part-owned by Etihad Airways, on Wednesday reported a 44 per cent jump in its net profit for 2015 to €3.9 million (Dh16.4m) compared with €2.7m a year earlier. “Last year, we c...
VistaJet, the global leader in business aviation, today reached an important milestone in its history when it welcomed its 100th ever aircraft to its fleet. The company has invested billions in jets in the past decade, growing its fleet from just 5 jets in 2006 to over 60 today, with a market value of more than $1.8bn. The company has come a long way in the past decade. In 2006, VistaJet travel...
The Chinese government is setting up a plan that will open up further low-level airspace for business and general aviation. The move follows a meeting of the State Council of The People’s Republic of China that was presided over by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on May 4. In a statement issued on the Council’s English website, the government agreed to open up more low-altitude airspa...
The first European LPV-200 IFR approach was implemented at Charles de Gaulle Airport’s Runway 26L on Tuesday, following publication of the procedure on April 28. The new approach mirrors Cat I ILS approach minimums, including a 200-foot decision height, and it is supported by the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (Egnos), Europe’s satellite-base...
Comlux America, the Comlux Group’s completion and service center in Indianapolis, christened its newly enlarged completion hangar late last week. The project expanded the hangar size to 157,000 sq ft from 128,000 sq ft, allowing the building to house one widebody and up to four single-aisle bizliners simultaneously. Comlux America’s first widebody completion, an&...
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global passenger traffic results for March showing that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs) rose 5.3%, compared to the same month last year, with African airlines continuing to enjoy strong demand, with traffic up 11.2%. Capacity grew slightly faster at 5.9% which pushed the average load factor down by half...
Offshore helicopter operator CHC Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to allow it time to restructure its financial assets. The company said it expects day-to-day operations to continue without interruption during a court-supervised process. The company filed “voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankrupt...
Triumph Group subsidiary Triumph Gear Systems has received the 2015 Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training Supplier of the Year from helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky. Thomas Holzthum, executive vice-president for integrated systems, said: “We are very pleased to receive this distinguished award, which is a testament to the manufacturing expertise, valued-added solutions and exceptio...
Bombardier Aerospace announced late last week that Delta Air Lines agreed to order 75 of the company's C Series airliners in a deal worth up to $5.6 billion. Shortly after the deal's announcement, Bombardier flew one of its C Series demonstrators down to Delta's Atlanta headquarters for journalists and the airline's staff to get a closer look. Although Bombardier has been a glob...
Out of 20 major airlines, Finnair was the least polluting of the world’s largest airlines in 2014, according to a new study. The study was conducted by the U.K.’s University of Warwick in Coventry. They examined data from the annual reports of 20 large airlines as well as from the Carbon Disclosure Project, a voluntary carbon data reporting organization based in London. They looked...
Bell Helicopter has joined the fuselage to the tilting wings and fixed nacelles of the V-280 Valor more than a year in advanced of a scheduled fly-off for the US Army. “This is a major milestone,” says Lisa Atherton, Bell’s executive vice-president for military business development. For the next year, Bell’s development will concentrate on the fly-by-wire flight contr...
There’s no mistaking a 2016 Pilatus PC-12 NG from earlier versions of the aircraft. The third iteration of this 22-year old model sports a five-blade Hartzell prop with scimitar shaped blades made of black carbon fiber. Because of the new prop’s computer-refined blade airfoil and thin chord section, it’s more efficient at converting torque into thrust in all phases of flight...
Chief executive of British Airways’ owner says drones may become serious risk to air passengers. The boss of British Airways’ owner IAG has called for a register of drone users after a series of near collisions between passenger planes and unmanned aircraft. Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, said that “without question” new restrictions should be brought in b...
More than 1,400 incidents of lasers being shone at aircraft were reported to the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2015. The number was slightly lower than in 2014 - but reports by police helicopter pilots more than doubled. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said the increasing power of lasers raised the possibility of a serious accident. One pilot called for the sal...
Captain Kirk from the original “Star Trek” is celebrating Star Wars Day today, so maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising that a Seattle-based branding and design firm helped create the Airbus Group’s state-of-the-art Experience Center in the nation’s capital. Hornall Anderson is behind the look of the exhibit space, which takes up about half of the 20,000-square-foot...
Imagine if instead of wasting hours in traffic, you could one day fly above it for a price only slightly higher than a subway ride. That's the idea behind SkyTran, a self-driving monorail designed to hover 20 feet above roads and travel up to 155 mph. The system would turn a two-hour car commute into a 10-minute trip, SkyTran CEO Jerry Sanders tells Tech Insider. The company just a...
As a world leader in solar protection systems offering bespoke solutions to the aeronautic market, Vision Systems will present its range of solar protection and wireless IFE systems dedicated to business aviation. The exhibited products include Vision Systems' latest innovation, a new concept of EDW integrating interactive content, high-end motorized shades and Electronically Dimmable Windows...
Leonardo-Finmeccanica announced that the third prototype (A/C3) of the AgustaWestland AW609 TiltRotor has completed its first ground run at the company's facilities in Cascina Costa, Italy, marking a critical milestone as the programme advances its testing and plans a resumption of flight testing activities. Aircraft AW609 A/C3 began restrained ground run testing with all engines and system...
An ambitious project is currently reaching its conclusion in Geneva, where RUAG Aviation has been conducting C-check inspections on two aircraft simultaneously. The aircraft in question are a Falcon 2000 Classic, belonging to a VIP customer, and a government-operated Falcon 900B. RUAG Aviation is renowned for its flexible approach and efficient services. It is now harnessing these qualities in...
Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker says Perth is the likely next Australian destination to receive the Airbus A350-900. Although Al Baker declined to say when Qatar’s Perth-Doha service – currently served with Boeing 777-300ERs – would switch to the A350, he noted late deliveries of the new Airbus widebody had pushed back some route chan...
