Safran is easily Europe’s most diversified aerospace company, with a range of businesses covering airliner, helicopter and space rocket engines to security detection systems, and landing gear to unmanned air vehicles. However a year into the top job, chief executive Philippe Petitcolin is keen to slim down the partially state-owned group’s sprawling portfolio, divesting non-core subsid...
Lebanon and Kenya will become the latest nations to procure zero-timed Bell UH-1H-based Huey II helicopters through the US Army. Last week, Bell Helicopter of Fort Worth, Texas received $19 million from the Pentagon to furnish three Huey IIs for the government of Lebanon by March 2017. The same week, the army’s non-standard rotary wing aircraft office began seeking potential sources to...
Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered officials on Monday to examine whether Russia’s flight safety rules need to be tightened up after a passenger jet crashed in southern Russia, killing all 62 people on board. Investigators were trying to repair the voice recorder recovered from the plane, so they could recreate the conversations of the pilots in the moments before their Boeing...
Gulfstream Aerospace has handed over a G650ER to Minsheng Financial Leasing Co. Ltd. (MSFL), marking the first factory-direct delivery of the ultra-long-range jet in mainland China. Minsheng’s aircraft is U.S. registered, since Chinese CAAC type approval of the G650/G650ER is still pending. According to Gulfstream president Mark Burns, “T...
A discount airline based in Iceland offering rock-bottom prices for flights between Canada and Europe says it has been so overwhelmed with demand from Canadians that it is moving up its launch date and offering more flights than originally planned. WOW Air made headlines last October with plans to offer one-way flights from Toronto and Montreal to Iceland starting at $9...
It's one year since Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed, killing everyone on board. There was widespread concern that the captain found himself locked out of the cockpit by the co-pilot, but has anything changed? A year ago, a Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf was travelling over the French Alps. The plane's final contact with air traffic control came at 09:30 GMT. The pilo...
Sunshine Coast Airport’s proposed new runway will allow the fast-growing airport to open new markets and ease operational constraints on existing airlines flying to the Queensland tourist destination, the local council and tourism body says. The new runway at the council-owned airport is the centrepiece of a $347 million expansion project which is still waiting for final approvals. The...
KLM Cityhopper welcomed yesterday its first E175, from Embraer, at Schiphol Airport. The new aircraft will allow KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and KLM Cityhopper to continue their contribution to more efficient and environmentally friendly operations in which quality and passenger comfort hold an important place. The aircraft feature a new wingtip that, among other technical en...
The first Airbus aircraft produced in the U.S. Manufacturing Facility has flown for the first time. The A321, destined for JetBlue took off from the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley in Mobile, Alabama, at 9:36 a.m., performed its test sequences, and landed safely at 1:02 p.m. The aircraft was flown by Test Pilots Mark McCullins and Bruce Macdonald. They were accompanied on the flight by Flight...
Eric Schulz, President Civil Aerospace at Rolls-Royce plc UK, Tami Moses Borowitz, Deputy Chair EL AL and David Maimon, President and CEO EL AL marked the signing of a cooperative agreement for Rolls-Royce maintenance and support services for Trent 1000 engines in EL AL’s new Dreamliner Aircraft. The event was held in the presence of David Quarrey, UK Ambassador to Israel. This...
The nation's first Air Force One, which sat abandoned in the Arizona desert for more than a decade, is almost ready to take flight again. Columbine II, a Lockheed VC-121 Constellation 48-610, which once ushered President Dwight D. Eisenhower, received a VIP farewell reception Friday night. Among the attendees was the president's granddaughter, Mary Jean Eisenhower, who was born in Wa...
StandardAero has been authorized by Honeywell Aerospace as major maintenance provider for repair and overhaul services (MRO) for the Honeywell HTF7000 family of turbofan engines, powering Bombardier Challenger 300/350, Embraer Legacy 450/500, Gulfstream G280 and the recently announced Cessna Citation Longitude business jets. StandardAero will also own and maintain HTF7000 rental bank engi...
Yair Haidu, the sommelier for El Al, has a challenge not faced by others with a similar job: choose world-class wines that also must be Kosher to cater to the airline’s majority Jewish passenger base. Haidu has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and took a summer course at the world-renowned University of California-Davis’ Department of Viticu...
Ryanair and Easyjet are urging governments and the European Commission to take action over a strike by French air traffic controllers. Hundreds of passengers flying with Ryanair, Easyjet and British Airways will continue to face flight cancellations until Tuesday. Ryanair said it had cancelled about 200 flights while Easyjet said it had cancelled 145 flights on Monday. The strike is in pr...
Royal Jordanian will start operating its new regular route to the Chinese city of Guangzhou on March 21, 2016 with three weekly flights. The frequency of the flights will be increased to meet future passenger demand. RJ’s Boeing 787 will depart tomorrow early in the morning. On board the inaugural flight will be a RJ delegation headed by RJ’s Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Ma...
Arrivederci Finmeccanica. Buongiorno Leonardo. Not long after the Italian group announced it was consolidating its businesses around a single corporate identity, it has revealed that new identity – a surprising choice, inspired by the country’s greatest genius. Safran, meanwhile, is to replace Snecma, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty and other venerable brands with a monicker cr...
European online ride-sharing platform Skyüber is gearing up to launch the second phase of its development plan, which will include expanding its reach throughout the continent. The Portuguese firm launched its online and mobile platform in August, to connect pilots of non-complex aircraft, seating more than six occupants, with individuals looking to fly privately. “The cost of the...
BHS Helicopterservice located in Bamberg, Germany has partnered with Stuttgart-based DC Aviation. The company has now expanded its operating licence to include the commercial use of helicopters. BHS operates two helicopters, an Airbus H135 and an AgustaWestland AW109SP, both will be available for charter from early next month. “The basis of our trusting and partner...
Despite policies that have deterred the growth of business aviation in India, aircraft broker ArcosJet remains optimistic about the opportunities for the industry. After notable growth between 2003 and 2008 boosted the fleet in India to about 140 aircraft, an import tax that was introduced in 2007, poor infrastructure and bureaucracy “stopped Indian business aviation in its tracks,” Ar...
On Thursday 10th March 2016 over 40 members of the UK onshore helicopter industry got together at the buildings of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), Farnborough. Senior members of many of the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) operators and maintenance organisations, along with Airbus Helicopters UK, Finmeccanica UK, and Turbomeca UK all contributed to a busy schedule of talks aimed a...
Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week promised to organize a workshop to help business aircraft operators complete the process to obtain an air operator’s certificate (AOC). At the Nigerian Business Aviation Conference in Lagos on March 17-18, local officials acknowledged that they have not communicated well with the private sector, resulting in a confusing and slow approv...
