You don’t often get the opportunity to sample business class in three of the world’s top airlines in the space of a few days, but my recent trip to Venezuela (three days in the air for two on the ground) gave me the perfect chance to assess standards of comfort, service and entertainment in Emirates, Lufthansa and United Airlines. The result was a close-run thing between Dubai and G...
Ashli MCclure, who celebrated her 20th birthday in January, has reached another milestone in her aviation career after successfully achieving her commercial pilot’s license on February 19, 2016. Initially, the former Charlemont High School student she said wanted to become a doctor, but after experiencing flying for the first time as a little girl, she knew what she wanted to be...
The National University of Singapore will soon be seeing unmanned air vehicles flying over its campus, as Airbus Helicopters and the nation’s aviation authority team up to trial parcel delivery at the site. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the aircraft manufacturer and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), which will result in trials under the Skyways...
Domestic flights and services to Finland have been cancelled by the airline as union representatives seek a new agreement with bosses. Passengers travelling between some Swedish cities and to Finland have so far been affected by the strike, which got under way at Monday 7am. Flights to and from Stockholm and Kalmar, Visby, Åbo and Vasa were called off in the Monday morning. Later...
More than 300,000 passengers carried Two years have passed since the signing of the partnership agreement between Air France-KLM and GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes. This agreement has enabled both airlines to optimize and expand their networks to new destinations between Brazil and Europe, with more than 300,000 passengers carried. With more than 215,000 flights operated since the...
The largest airline in the Philippines, Cebu Pacific Air , today launched an exclusive seat sale for Hong Kong travellers looking to visit the Philippines in 2016.The special fares start from just HKD398 for one-way flights from Hong Kong to Manila, Cebu, Kalibo , Clark and Iloilo. Quoted fares are exclusive of travel products such as baggage allowance and meals, and inclusive of air fare, country...
Killing time in an airport is rarely the best part of a trip. But with art, unique amenities and a dedication to doing things the “Dutch way,” Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport makes time before or between flights desirable — especially for the 40% of passengers who transfer here and never get a chance to go into town. Here’s a taste of what makes Schiphol so darn sp...
Airbus Helicopters, says chief executive Guillaume Faury, is on a “journey” of transformation, as it attempts to go from being the “biggest to the best” rotorcraft manufacturer in the world. Faury, who in 2013 was handed the reins of what was then Eurocopter, has wrought impressive change since kicking off its transformation early the following year, but clearly that pro...
At first glance, watchmaking and aviation would seem to occupy opposite ends of the manufacturing spectrum. And yet the watchmaker Richard Mille, whose Swiss brand is best known for fashioning avant-garde timepieces from space-age materials, found enough similarities between the two worlds to co-design a watch with Airbus Corporate Jets, or ACJ. As the ACJ managing director, Benoit Defforge, pu...
Toluca International Airport-based Across was tapped as Embraer Executive Jets’ authorized sales representative for Mexico, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer announced today. Under the partnership, seven-year-old Across will add Embraer business jet sales and fractional ownership offerings to its existing aircraft charter/management and FBO services. “Embraer has establi...
When will we finally pilot our own flying cars? It’s a question that’s haunted anyone who grew up watching sci-fi classics, and one American company claims they’re coming sooner than you’d think. Terrafugia is building the first-ever unmanned prototype of its TF-X flying car. They claim the vehicle will be ready for testing in 2018 and available for purchase by 2025. The...
The recent decision by the U.S. government to re-establish scheduled air service between the U.S. and Cuba is fueling optimism that the remaining travel restrictions will be eased in upcoming months. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx last week signed an agreement with senior Cuban transportation officials that paves the way for renewal of scheduled air servic...
The newest Flagship of SWISS Airlines has arrived to New York, the first revenue transatlantic flight of the airliner. The aircraft touched down at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport at 16:01 local time (21:01 GMT), operating flight LX14 from Zurich. Interestingly, the first triple seven of the airline wears a special “Faces of Swiss” scheme, in which are depicted the faces of...
Israel Aerospace Industries has taken the quadcopter to its logical conclusion: They built a man-hunting flying suicide drone. The ROTEM-L unmanned aerial vehicle is designed to hunt down targets in urban environments and execute a suicide attack, blowing them up with hand grenades. ROTEM-L weighs 9 pounds, carries infrared cameras, and has a flying time of 30 minutes. An op...
Bell Helicopter arrived at Heli-Expo in 1966 with the prototype 206 JetRanger and a business formula that would launch an entire industry: the packaging of a single turbine engine into a light airframe with a price point accessible to an individual entrepreneur. Fifty years later, Bell returns to Heli-Expo with another prototype of a short light single (SLS) helicopter – the 505 JetRanger...
This year’s Singapore Airshow proved a major success for MTU Aero Engines: Germany’s leading engine manufacturer secured orders worth over 500 million euros (some 570 million U.S. dollars), scoring high especially with PurePower® PW1000G-family geared turbofan (GTF) engines. “In the commercial engine business, the GTF programs for single-aisle aircraft are...
The legal action between American and its domestic inflight connectivity provider Gogo, pending in Texas for the past 10 days, has been withdrawn by the airline. American filed a Declaratory Judgment Action on February 12, 2016 as a means to force Gogo to acknowledge the carrier’s right to invoke provisions in the parties’ agreement to serve notice that a rival connectivity provider...
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has delivered a bumper 2015/16 first half profit, with the Flying Kangaroo’s international operations “going gangbusters” as the lower currency fuels demand for travel into Australia and alliance partners funnel passengers onto a domestic network that is also reporting strong profit growth. The airline group reported statutory net profit after...
Shares of Boeing have slumped more than 20% since late December. The primary culprits have been investor concerns around aircraft demand and -- more recently -- reports of a possible SEC investigation into Boeing's accounting for the 747 and 787 widebody jet programs. At an investor conference last week, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg offered a spirited defense of the company's profit and...
Kensington Palace has blamed European red tape for preventing the Duke of Cambridge carrying out more royal duties. The Duke has faced accusations in some quarters that he is “lazy” because he has only carried out two royal engagements this year, in addition to his part-time job as an air ambulance pilot. Palace sources claimed that Civil Aviation Authority rules on rest periods,...
Boeing Co has won an order for 25 current-generation Boeing 737 aircraft from United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N), beating rivals including Canada's Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) for the second time in a month, two industry sources said on Monday. The deal, which is said to involve the 126-seat 737-700 model, would be worth just over $2 billion at list prices. Boeing and United both...
