The Boeing 737 MAX 8 took to the skies for the first time today. The 737 MAX program achieved the milestone on schedule which begins a comprehensive flight-test program leading to certification and delivery. With the latest technology LEAP-1B engines from CFM International and Boeing-designed Advanced Technology winglets, the first member of the efficient 737 MAX family completed a tw...
Civil helicopter deliveries at Bell Helicopter Textron won’t really take off until next year, after the new Bell 505 Jet Ranger X light single enters service late this year and the super-medium 525 Relentless is certified early next year. Thus, shipments this year will be mostly flat, just as they were last year, Textron chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly said yesterday during a...
Textron Aviation has completed an expansion of its certifications to enable each of its U.S. company-owned service centers to support Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker aircraft. This marks another milestone toward the integration of all three brands under the Textron Aviation umbrella. The company had announced plans for the integrated service center network shortly after Textron acquired Be...
France will decide next year whether to advance the timeline for a wide-ranging procurement that seeks to replace hundreds of light and medium helicopters operated by all three branches of its armed forces. Under the nascent hélicoptère interarmées léger (HIL) programme, Paris intends to begin the acquisition process in 2020. However, with a number of aged types r...
On 21 January, Boeing dealt another blow to the 747-8 programme, announcing that from September 2016 it will cut production from the current 1.3 aircraft per month to 0.5 per month. It is the fourth reduction in less than two years – output was already scheduled to drop in March to one aircraft per month – and shows how far, and how quickly, the 747's star has fallen. It is...
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has confirmed that it has ordered three Airbus A380s that will be used on its Tokyo-Honolulu route. Parent company ANA Holdings says in a statement that the aircraft will be used to strengthen its position in the leisure and resort markets. “The A380 allows us to efficiently expand seating capacity at a lower cost per seat while offering a flexible range o...
Bombardier shares were reduced to penny-stock status for the first time since 1991 on Wednesday as the plane and train maker continues to have trouble selling its next generation of aircraft. Bombardier shares were trading hands at 92 cents on the TSX on Thursday, a day after closing below the $1 level for the first time in 25 years. If a company falls below $1 per share on some major exchan...
Not yet tossed the boarding pass from your last flight on Dragonair? Hold fire — you could be clutching a collector's item. Cathay Pacific, Dragonair's owners, have just announced that as of this month, the medium-haul carrier's name will vanish from Asia's airspace. In a repackaging exercise seen as an attempt to bolster the identity of both airlines, Dragonair plan...
China has built a potent military machine over the past 30 years but is struggling to develop advanced engines that would allow its warplanes to match Western fighters in combat, foreign and Chinese industry sources said. The country's engine technology lags that of United Technologies unit Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce, said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for militar...
'You can sit anywhere, because you’re the only passenger', the man was told on his flight from Manila to Boracay. Most people hold their breath for an empty seat next to them on the aeroplane. One man had only empty seats however, when he was the sole passenger on a domestic Philippines Airlines flight from Manila to beach island Boracay. Austrian travel blogger Alex Si...
Airbus announced that Iran Air has agreed to purchase 118 jets from manufacturer valued as much as $25 billion. According to Airbus, the agreement was signed at the Élysée Palace in Paris during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit with French PresidentFrançois Hollande. The deal signed by Iran Air CEO Farhad Parvaresh includes 73 widebody and 45...
Japan unveiled its new fighter demonstrator to the public on Thursday, giving a glimpse of what the future of fighter jets may look like. Meant to showcase a variety of new tech, the X-2 stealth aircraft will almost certainly lead to a sixth-generation fighter aircraft designed to counter the new breed of advanced Chinese fighters. Painted in the red and white colors of Japan, the X-2 was unvei...
Vanuatu’s tourism industry is again under threat after three major airlines suspended flights to the archipelago because of the capital’s deteriorating runway. Over the past week Qantas, Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia have suspended flights and code shares to Port Vila over concerns of the condition of the Bauerfield International Airport strip. Virgin Australia said it wou...
Emirates announced that it will start its first non-stop service from Dubai to Auckland on 1 March 2016, bringing many of its 38 European destinations and cities within just one-stop range of New Zealand through direct connections in Dubai. The new service will be in addition to the award-winning airline’s existing flights, meaning that Emirates will then have five services daily into New...
Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited (MAEL), the engineering division of The Monarch Group, has signed a line maintenance technical handling agreement with Norwegian. The agreement, which commenced on 11th January 2016 will see MAEL’s highly experienced engineering team provide a full suite of line maintenance services for the low-cost airline’s Boeing 737NG operation. The ongoing c...
Cabot Aviation, a division of Air Partner plc and a leading aircraft remarketing broker, is delighted to announce the award of its first exclusive private jet sales mandate since it announced the strategic expansion of its operations into the Private Jet sector at the end of 2015. A Bombardier Challenger 850 aircraft, serial number 8091 and registration number RA-67220, was awarded to Cabot sho...
United Airlines announced that it will introduce daily nonstop flights between its San Francisco International Airport hub and Singapore’s Changi Airport, effective June 1, 2016 (westbound), subject to government approval. United will be the first airline to offer nonstop service between San Francisco and Singapore, and this will be the only nonstop service to the U.S. from Singapore. Uni...
Boeing delivered the 8,888th 737 to come off the production line to Xiamen Airlines. The airplane, a Next-Generation 737-800, features a special livery commemorating the airplane's significance. Just as seven is considered a lucky number for Boeing, eight is considered to be a fortunate number in Chinese culture because it sounds similar to the word that means "prosperity" or...
Hereby we are drawing your attention to the fact that information about liquidation of ANTONOVState Company is not true. The Government of Ukraine took decision on liquidation of the ANTONOV State CONCERN. TheCONCERN consisted of three enterprises: ANTONOV State COMPANY, Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company (KSAMC) and State enterprise Plant 410 o...
ExecuJet Aviation Group will offer handling and ground support services from its FBO at Munich International Airport following acquisition of the former European Business Aviation Services’ (EBAS International GmbH) facility. The Munich FBO is ExecuJet’s second handling facility in Germany after Berlin Schoenefeld, and will begin operation in February 2016. This addition takes...
Marking a milestone for both Pacific Helicopters and aviation operations in Papua New Guinea, the company has taken delivery of the first of three H145 helicopters from Airbus Helicopters. The first H145, leased from international lessor, Waypoint Leasing, has arrived in the Eastern Highlands Provincial capital of Goroka, following final reassembly at Airbus Group Australia Pacific’s Sydney...
